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Summit 2000

Los Angeles Asian Left Forum Makes Statement Against War in Kosovo

Although the so-called "humanitarian" US/NATO bombings of Yuguslovia have ended, the tremendous human toll is becoming clear for all to see. Thousands of Serbs and Kosovo Albanians lie dead (along with the innocent victims of the Chinese embassy attack), while many times more are homeless and impoverished. The Los Angeles Asian Left Forum strongly condemns the US/NATO aggression--the same type of oppressive power which is directed against our people, the working-class, and communities of color here. We say "Let’s bring the fight home" to battle racism, immigrant-bashing, police abuse, poverty, and injustice. We call for governmental actions to focus on addressing human needs, such as housing, education, employment, and health care instead of war and militarism.

The majority of Asian Pacific Islanders were born outside the U.S. As such, we remain greatly concerned with the impact of events taking place around the world, especially the way in which the current war has greatly increased global tensions. We are deeply sympathetic to the plight of the Albanian refugees from Kosovo. However, there is strong evidence that the Serbian withdrawal from Kosovo could have been accomplished through continued negotiations (involving the international community through the UN) rather than US/NATO aggression. The bombings have destroyed hospitals, markets, housing, and schools, and the attacks have delberately targetted the infrastructure of Yugoslavia. Thus, the people of Yugoslavia, especially the children, are destined to live in misery and destitution for years to come, unless they submit total control of their country to the US/NATO powers. Meanwhile, the real beneficiaries are the U.S. weapons industries pocketing the billions being spent by the U.S. government’s war drive.

As Asian Pacific Islanders, war has been an integral aspect of our experience. We have seen how war has torn apart our families, destroyed our communities, led to the murder and rape of "comfort women," and forced our homelands into positions of subjugation under colonial powers. As a result of these experiences, we have learned to question the U.S. government any time it makes claims to use military intervention for "humanitarian purposes" as it currently claims.

"Humanitarian aid" from the U.S. during World War II meant that Japanese Americans were forced into concentration camps "for their own protection." "Humanitarian aid" from the U.S. for many refugees fleeing war in Southeast Asia meant being resettled in slum housing and forced to work in sweatshops to survive. The U.S. makes "humanitarian" objections to nuclear testing in India and Pakistan yet is taking no responsibility for clearing out the land mines it has littered all over the map.

Defending international human rights is a central concern of humanity and cannot be entrusted to the U.S. military, which has always placed the interests of American corporations and politicians ahead of those of the world’s people. Members of the Asian Left Forum are dedicated to the fight for human rights in Burma, Korea, Indonesia, Hawai’i, and Okinawa. In addition, the Filipino movement has been leading an intense struggle against the Visiting Forces Agreement, which is a plan to restore U.S. bases in the Philippines against the wishes of the millions of her people.

In all of these diverse places, we are forced to confront the central role of U.S. military bases, military aid, and transnational corporations in promoting political repression, poverty, violence against women, and exploitation of child labor. Our fight for human rights must be directed against U.S. imperialism. For Asian Pacific peoples and all of the world’s peoples, there can be no human rights or self-determination until the naked aggression of U.S. imperialism is checked.

There seems to be no end to the hypocrisy of the U.S. when it comes to the issue of human rights. Instead of human rights being defended on a consistent basis by the U.S., we see racist policies and selective persecution of those deemed "bad guys" in the media. While millions are starving due to famine in North Korea, the humanitarian aid from the U.S. government has trickled out and has been contingent upon North Korea satisfying political demands of the U.S. Hundreds of thousands died in genocidal war in Rwanda while the U.S. sat back and watched at the request of its ally France. In Africa, thousands of refugees die every month due to lack of water, food, and medicine, and yet, there is no emergency response from the U.S. In Iraq, 1.5 million people have died since 1991 because of U.N. sanctions which the U.S. is backing with military force.

At the same time, the repressive regimes in Indonesia, Columbia and Turkey continue to be supplied weapons and political support from the U.S. as long as they safeguard the economic interests of American corporations. With regards to the international drag trade and trafficking of women, we have seen the U.S. turn a blind eye and in some instances even enact policies which promote such nefarious activities. Even in our own cities, we have seen American cops kill innocent civilians, such as (names of API victims of police abuse) Tyisha Miller, and Margaret Mitchell, in the name of their racist "war on crime."

True "humanitarian aid" should focus on the human needs of people, who have endured decades of impoverishment and oppression under U.S. capitalism and imperialism. Millions of workers now find themselves laboring in sweatshop conditions, earning far less than minimum wage, and struggling to meet basic needs. We must reverse the cuts to welfare, education, and other social programs, which have disproportionately targetted immigrants and refugees through measures such as Propositions 187 and 227 and the Personal Responsibility Act.

When we see undocumented immigrants rot in INS detention camps, suffocate in ships run by smuggling rings, and die at the hands of the border patrol, it becomes clear that the U.S. can make a major contribution to human rights by revoking the repressive laws and enforcement tactics that brand human beings "illegal." Furthermore, if the U.S. government is to retain any credibility whatsoever on the issues of democracy and human rights, it must immediately grant the benefits promised to Pilipino veterans of World War II over 50 years ago and full redress and reparations to Japanese Latin Americans incarcerated in the U.S. during World War II.

Finally, we call for an end to the war that has been declared on our youth. We need a sound educational system and a just economic system, which serve as the basis for providing youth real positive alternatives in their lives. Without such alternatives, millions of youth of color are forced into the military to make a living or thrown into jails. Now, a full-on assault on our youth has been declared in the form of the Pete Wilson-inspired Juvenile "Injustice" Intiative that is set to appear on the March 2000 California ballot. Under the rubric of "stopping gangs," this initiative will greatly expand the punitive power of the state and destroy the whole future of youths over small infractions while making no significant effort to promote youth education or employment. For thousands of youth of color, it will be as if just being alive makes you a criminal.