Daily Archives: September 9, 2011

Today Africa is facing the most notorious gang of armed robbers in history. Africa is like the house. Libya is like the security door. U.S.-NATO bombing is like the robbers using a concrete block to beat open the door. If they open up Libya with their bombing, it will enable the armed robbers to enter with their weapons pointed at the entire African family. Kwame Nkrumah stated, “Military strategy presupposes political aims; all military problems are political and all political problems are economic.” The basis and motive for the U.S.-NATO invasion of Libya is economic.

In response to the four days of fiery rebellion, the U.K. is proposing punitive measures that only add to the pre-existing problems – the closed doors to economic flourishing and decent education – in poor communities that fueled the social unrest in the first place.

Sept. 9 marks 40 years since the uprising at Attica State Prison in upstate New York and the deadly and sadistic retaking of the prison – and mass torture of hundreds of prisoners all the rest of the day and night and beyond – by state police and prison guards on the morning of Sept. 13, 1971. Attica and its aftermath exposed the powder kegs ready to explode inside the U.S. prisons.

From Sept. 9 to 13, 1971, prisoners took control of the Attica Correctional Facility. They made a series of demands to prison administrators and held about 40 people as hostages. After four days of fruitless negotiations, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller ordered that the prison be retaken; 39 people were killed in a 15-minute assault by state police.