[downquark1]

In Oct., 1949, 11 top Communist leaders were convicted on charges of conspiring to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government. In June, 1951, the Supreme Court found the Smith Act of 1940, under which the convictions had been obtained, constitutional, and the government proceeded to bring many lesser Communist officials to trial. In 1950 the McCarran Internal Security Act required that all Communist and Communist-dominated organizations register with the federal government the names of all members and contributors, and the Communist Control Act of 1954 further strengthened the provisions of the McCarran Act by providing severe penalties for Communists who failed to register, denying collective bargaining power to Communist-dominated unions, and taking away the †œrights, privileges and immunitiesââ ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ÂÂ� of the Communist party as a legal organization. At the same time many states passed †œlittle Smith Acts,ââ‚ƚ¬Ã‚ÂÂÂ� with such provisions as the requirement of loyalty oaths from state employees and the denial of a place on the ballot to Communist parties. This was also the period of Senator Joseph McCarthyââ‚à ƒâ€šÃ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢s hysterical search for Communists in all branches of government.

The Communist Party in Iraq was illegal under Sadam Hussein and he murdered many of its militants whilst receiving weapons from the then USSR.

Well at least they agreed on one thing.