Reagan War- Mongering

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Published by Folrose Ltd for the Workers Socialist League, BM Box 5277, London WCIN 3XX. Printed by Morning Litho Printers Ltd (TU), London Not many people can have been very surprised to see that our own Margaret Thatcher was the first foreign dignitary to visit the new US President, Ronald Reagan.

Nor can there have been much amazement at seeing how marvellously Reagan and Thatcher got on together. The only real point of dispute between the two was how fast they should go in attacking working class living standards.

Reagan and his aides, of course, completely agree with Thatcher's monetarist policies. But they claim that the only reason the package of massive public spending cuts, tax cuts for the rich, and high interest rates have failed to rejuvenate British industry is because they haven't been vicious enough!

In line with this theory, Reagan's budget amounts to a massive attack on the American working class. . He proposes to cut income taxes by 10% in each of the next three years. Public spending is scheduled to be cut by £2,000 million in this year and £22,000 million next year.

Unemployment is bound to shoot up, while workers suffer the effects of what will amount to demolition of kelfare programmes. As in Britain, women workers will be the first and hardest hit.

At the same time, military spending is being increased as Reagan acts on his election pledges to pursue a hard-line foreign policy.

He has already promised to restart production of the neutron bomba weapon that has a most useful quality for the imperialists: it destroys life while leaving property intact.

Carter backed away from deployment of the neutron bomb because even he considered it politically unacceptable, Reagan obviously has no such qualms-especially since American lives are not threatened: it is only to be stationed in Europe.

Reagan has also re-started his determination to suppress popular uprisings against repressive right-wing dictatorships. He has threatened to blockade Cuba to prevent arms getting through to guerrillas fighting the junta in El Salvador (see separate article).

Thatcher and Reagan have been egging each other in their war-mongering speeches and have now apparently agreed to a joint rapid deployment' force to police the world, able to intervene where friendly repressive dictatorships are threatened by popular resistance. Even Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington is reported to be surprised at this announcement!

The miners in Britain have shown that the likes of Thatcher can be stopped in their tracks by determined opposition in the organised working class. It is to be hoped that the American working class will soon begin to follow suit.