From the Indo-Pacific to the Hudson: US War Games in Korea, IOF Trained NYPD & ICE Terrorism in NYC

From the Indo-Pacific to the Hudson: US War Games in Korea, IOF Trained NYPD & ICE Terrorism in NYC

On August 15th, six cities across the US marked the 80th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonialism with a national day of action for the US Out of Korea campaign, organized by Nodutdol, an organization of Korean diaspora and comrades organizing for a world free of imperialism, and for Korea’s re/unification and national liberation. The Black Alliance for Peace is a proud endorser of the campaign and partner in the struggle to oppose eighty years of US occupation – US Out of Korea!

The New Jersey / New York Citywide Alliance of the Black Alliance for Peace seeks to recapture and redevelop the historic anti-war, anti-imperalist, and pro-peace positions of the radical Black movement. We work to oppose domestic state repression, oppose policies of de-stabilization, oppose subversion, and oppose the permanent war agenda of the U.S. state globally.

Those of us in the Black Alliance for Peace understand that unity in Africa, unity in Korea, and unity in Our Americas is–and always has been–a threat to the imperialist schemes of the US/EU/NATO axis of domination. Because it is a threat, the US Department of the Defense sat down with a map of the world and carved the planet up into 11 combatant commands.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command–the oldest and largest of the combatant commands was established in 1947, just before the Korean War. The US claims that the goal of this command is to enhance stability in the Asia-Pacific region. But one of the Pacific Command’s first tasks was combat operations in Korea, operations which resulted in the slaughter of millions of Korean people and the fracturing of the nation.

In 1963, the US established its Southern Command, or SOUTHCOM. As with the Indo Pacific Command, the US claims that the purpose of SOUTHCOM is to enhance stability in the Western Hemisphere. In reality, SOUTHCOM has facilitated capitalist extraction of resources like lithium from South America, subverted and DEstabilized socialist governments and anti-imperialist forces in places like Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, and undermined self-determination in places like Haiti.

And if that weren’t enough, the US used the same playbook in Africa, by establishing its Africa Command or AFRICOM in 2007. The US claims that AFRICOM was established–once again–to provide security and prevent the spread of “terrorism” in the region. However, since AFRICOM has come into the picture, deaths in the Sahel have risen 2,000%.

In recent days, here in the US we’ve seen the National Guard–in coordination with the US Northern Command or NORTHCOM–deployed in LA and DC to repress dissent. Here in New York, we see the IOF-trained NYPD, which has more resources than many countries’ armies, while also supporting ICE raids and kidnappings, terrorizing and tearing apart our communities on a daily basis, like in the case of Yunseo Chung. This is not new. It extends the decades-long trend of militarization within the US. Across three decades and five US presidents, programs like the 1033 program have empowered the Department of Defense to transfer $6 billion worth of military equipment to domestic U.S. law-enforcement agencies while communities are suffering from austerity cuts. 

We must be clear. Through its combatant command structure and deepening dependence on domestic militarization, the US will continue to terrorize and extract, terrorize and extract, terrorize and extract.

But we in the Black Alliance for Peace will not be intimidated and we will not just sit back and watch this unfold.

We are calling for the end of SOUTHCOM and imperialist meddling in Haitian affairs. 

We are calling on the masses to reject US Imperialism and Make Our Americas a Zone of Peace.

We are calling for the end of AFRICOM and the complete withdrawal of all US forces from Africa.

We are calling for the end of the 1033 Program, the end of ICE, the end of Cop Cities, the end of economic warfare and increased militarization in Black communities here in the US.

As bearers of the Black Radical Peace Tradition, as anti-imperalists, and as supporters of people’s struggles for self-determination, we denounce the Indo-Pacific Command, the war games in Korea, and the tariff threats from the U.S. We demand that the U.S. removes its military bases from Korea, Africa, the Americas, and everywhere in the world. U.S. Out of Korea! U.S. Out of Our Americas! U.S. Out of Africa! U.S Out of Everywhere! 

No Compromise, No Retreat!

Banner photo: Korea Defense Blog