Countercurrents Archive March 2007

31 March, 2007

The Great Iraq Oil Robbery
By Alan Maass

The oil men of the Bush administration are trying to set up one of the biggest swindles in history--the great Iraq oil robbery.The cabinet of the new Iraqi government--under pressure from the U.S. occupiers who put them in power--approved a law that would undo Iraq's nationalized system and give Western oil giants unparalleled access to the country's vast reserves

Fallujah Fears A 'Genocidal Strategy'
By Ali al-Fadhily

Iraqis in the volatile al-Anbar province west of Baghdad are reporting regular killings carried out by U.S. forces that many believe are part of a 'genocidal' strategy

US Occupation Sets Off Sectarian
Atrocities In Tal Afar
By James Cogan

After suffering four years of US occupation, constant violence and unspeakable living conditions, communities in some of the most traumatised cities in Iraq are facing a new wave of sectarian and politically motivated killings, provoked by the stepped up operations being carried out by American troops and the predominantly Shiite and Kurdish Iraqi government security forces against largely Sunni insurgents

Senate Passes $122 Billion More For
Iraq And Afghanistan Wars
By Kevin Zeese

While the headlines will read that the Senate voted to withdraw U.S. troops in Iraq, the peace movement recognizes that the Senate bill will extend the war not end it. The exit date in the bill is merely a goal for the removal of combat troops, and there are large loopholes that would allow a commander in chief to keep as many troops as s/he wants in Iraq. The bill provides $122 billion to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – nearly $20 billion more requested by Bush

Bush Vilifies Democrats, Vows
Veto Of Iraq War Funding Bill
By Bill Van Auken

In a bellicose speech delivered Wednesday, on the eve of a Senate vote approving a $122 billion spending bill directed primarily at funding the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, US President George W. Bush vowed to veto any legislation proposing troop withdrawals

Why A Vet Disrupted Congress When They Were
Voting $100 Billion More For War
By Lori Purdue

When the applause faded and legislators moved to cast their electronic votes for the record I recognized that my time had arrived. I quickly stood, held my bloody hands in the air and shouted, “Don’t buy this war.” I was grabbed by the Capitol Officer who had stationed himself next to me, expecting just this type of disturbance, and pulled into the aisle. I continued, “You’re buying it and you own it!” Four more officers surrounded me and lifted me by my elbows up the stairs as I shouted, “Troops Home Now! Troops Home Now! Troops Home Now!” as they carried me from the Gallery

Battles In Batticaloa: Too Early To Tell
By Chandi Sinnathurai

Clombo seem to have prematurely claimed victory in Kokoticholai. This Tamil Tiger base in the East has functioned as Tiger HQ since the days of the defected iron-fisted Karuna. Its no doubt a prized trophy – in terms of both the psychological-effect on the Eastern Tamils and in its sheer symbolism. But the problem is, the Government has published only (including photographs) half the story

Mandal Will Have The Last Laugh
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Shockingly, the judgments in the past few years reflect of the growing trend to keep the middle classes happy. We have judges who speak for Hindutva terming it as a way of life. We have a former Supreme Court Judge who did not implicate a single politician in the anti Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984 and later became a Member of Parliament against all the ethics of impartiality of an institution. Right to Strike was also banned by the Kerala Highcourt, which was appreciated by the media and industries

Conflict Rape Victims: Abandoned And Forgotten
By Syed Junaid Hashmi

Deserted by their families, abandoned by society, forgotten by both separatists and mainstream political parties, rape victims during the last seventeen years of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir live an appalling life. Reports of Kashmir based social organizations put the figure of women raped, molested and abused above one thousand

30 March, 2007

Retreating Himalayan Icefields Threatening
Drought In Bangladesh
By Justin Huggler

Notorious for its annual floods, Bangladesh may seem the last place in the world to worry about a drying up of the rivers that flow from the Himalayas. But the country is as much at risk from drought as it is from flooding. Already farmers who used to grow rice have turned to farming prawns because the water in their fields has turned so salty nothing will grow there

Coastal Mega-Cities In For A Bumpy Ride
By Srabani Roy

About 643 million people, or one-tenth of the world’s population, who live in low lying coastal areas are at great risk of oceans-related impacts of climate change, according to a global research study to be released next month

The Racist War On Immigrants
By Stephen Lendman

Immigrants of color, the wrong faith or from the wrong parts of the world are never greeted warmly in "America the Beautiful" that's only for the privileged and no one else. They're not wanted except to harvest our crops or do the hard, low-pay, no-benefit labor few others will do

Regional Implications Of The Iraq War
By Chris Toensing

Contrary to the stated aspirations of Washington hawks before the invasion, the Iraq War has dealt a body blow to the many Middle Eastern activists who were working for democracy and peace long before the Bush administration entered office. On these grounds alone, the war has been an unmitigated disaster

Britain Heightens Confrontation With
Iran Over Detained Sailors
By Peter Symonds

The Bush administration has stationed a huge US naval presence in the Persian Gulf with rules of engagement that oblige US forces to respond to any incident—actual or imagined. Any clash could of course become the pretext for unleashing a devastating assault on Iran using the overwhelming US firepower now in place

Arab Leaders: Peace Making
Could Not Be Unilateral, Divisible
By Nicola Nasser

Arab leaders are again binding themselves and their countries to their “strategic option” of peace with Israel, offering their Initiative as a realistic, pragmatic, affordable and workable platform that could make a comprehensive regional peace within the reach of the living generations, but unfortunately they are reciprocated by a non-committal Israel and United States who instead are dealing tactically and evasively with an historic opportunity that if missed would plunge the Middle East into an open-ended conflict, to the detriment of all parties involved

Spotlight On The Palestinian Struggle:
New Pressure To Relinquish Rights
By Jamal Juma’

The demonstrations and protests all over Palestine for Land Day are thus yet another call to our leadership and the wider region that they at least second, if not lead, the steadfastness and resistance of the people. Approximately 97 villages in the West Bank are completely isolated and slated for destruction or ethnic cleansing and some 4,500 houses are under demolition order to make space for Israeli colonization

Philippines: Death Squad Democracy
By James Petras & Robin Eastman-Abaya

On March 16, 2007, Philippine police arrested veteran journalist, activist, former political prisoner and torture victim, Congressman Satur Ocampo, on the steps of the Philippine Supreme Court. One day earlier, in Washington DC, California Senator Barbara Boxer opened hearings on the mounting death squad executions and kidnappings in the Philippines

As India Goes Global The Public Goes Private
And The State Becomes A Marketplace
By Aseem Shrivastava

It is time that the newspapers and the TV channels woke up from their somnolence and put an end to the charade of glamorizing the rapid encroachments on the best traditions of democracy. The Lockheed-Martins, BAEs and Tatas cannot be expected to behave with a sense of public responsibility. They would not be where they are had they had that. They have to be exposed and restrained. It is impossible without the media

Manhattan Prosecutors Declare War On Families
By David Heleniak

In the October 2006 issue of The Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law School professor Jeannie Suk exposes a disturbing development that had not been commented upon before. In her eye-opening article “Criminal Law Comes Home,” Suk examines a practice in Manhattan that has become routine in criminal cases involving domestic violence, the imposition of de facto divorces in which the government “initiates and dictates the end of ... intimate relationship[s]” by subjecting “the practical and substantive continuation of the relationship[s] to criminal sanction”

29 March, 2007

The Political Burden Of “Team India”
By Badri Raina

With so little else to fall back upon, “team India’s” anti-national surrender leaves a whole nation in limbo. And what if even the 123 nuke deal with uncle Sam should fall through? How then do we persuade the world that we are a super-power? And, remember, there are no free lunches

Iran Plays Into Bush’s Hand
By Matthew Rothschild

When Tehran seized 15 British sailors on Friday for allegedly being in Iranian waters, George Bush and Dick Cheney must have let out a cheer.This is just the kind of thing they’ve been praying for

British Pawns In An Iranian Game
By Pepe Escobar

From Tehran's point of view, for all purposes British Prime Minister Tony Blair is a soft target. The episode has the potential to paralyze both President George W Bush and Blair. Neither can use the incident to start a war with Iran, although Blair has warned that his government is prepared to move to "a different phase" if Iran does not quickly release the sailors

The Hostage Game
By Patrick Cockburn

At 3am on January 11, US military forces raided the Iranian liaison office in the Kurdish capital Arbil and detained five Iranian officials who are still prisoners. The attack marked a significant escalation in the confrontation between the US and Iran

'Israel's Right To Exist':Is It A Real Issue?
By Jeff Handmaker & Gentian Zyberi

The current demand by the Quartet, US, Russia, UN and the European Union, is that Hamas recognise Israel's 'right to exist'. But even if the Quartet were to more properly insist on recognition of Israel's 'right to existence', Hamas is a political party and not a State and thus in no position to exercise any kind of legal recognition at all. Assuming, therefore, that the demand is instead being made for political reasons, we must question why it is made without any reciprocal demands by Israel

David Hicks Bullied Into Guilty Plea
At Guantánamo Kangaroo Court
By Richard Phillips

After more than five years of imprisonment in Guantánamo Bay where he endured torture and protracted periods of solitary confinement, Australian citizen David Hicks finally pleaded guilty to one charge of “providing material support for terrorism” as part of a plea bargain to get out of the US hell-hole

The "Indian Problem" In Peru:
From Mariategui To Today
By Hugo Blanco

I recalled the phrase that was stuck in the mind of Mariátegui: "The problem of the Indian is the problem of land." That was the terrible truth. Now it no longer is so

Strategy, Tactics, Minus The “Blah! Blah! Blah!”
By Chandi Sinnathurai

The Sri Lankan Government is shocked to the core. The aerial-attack on the Air Force Base by the Tamil Tigers’ Air Force on Monday, 26th March has raised many concerns

Militancy Toll; J&K Women Pay Heavy Price
By Syed Junaid Hashmi

Seventeen years of turmoil has not only ruined Jammu Kashmir economically but has turned the state in to a land of widows and orphans. Various human rights organizations put the figure of orphans at twenty-five thousand and that of widows around six thousand. Various organizations contradict the figure and say that it may be more

28 March, 2007

America's Forgotten City
By Max Kantar

In New Orleans, people live without electricity, plumbing, and any kind of economic stability; Black, White and Hispanic people, all multi generationally indigenous to New Orleans. Virtually all businesses, corporate and mom and pops stores alike, remain vacant ruins. Throughout America, people suffer serious ailments from the lack of job availability, but this gave unemployment a new meaning. Many good people, law abiding by nature, have turned to the only market available; drugs, to either psychologically escape their despair or to earn even the littlest of funds to secure food for themselves and their loved ones

One Picture Sits Over Differing Surveys
By Ali al-Fadhily

The two surveys, one following the other, told quite different stories about Iraq. But Iraqis did not need to look at either to know what their own story is like

Surviving At The Pleasure Of The President
By Sheila Samples

We must impeach this unholy gang of war criminals because they have no intention of leaving office in 2008, or ever, if they are left unchecked. We must not allow ourselves and our children to be forced to live in a Kudzu World -- to survive only at the pleasure of the president

Broken Promises And Barefaced Lies-
Democrats Strike Again
By Joshua Frank

The Democrats once again let down their constituents and all the other voters who ushered them in to power last November -- believing, in utter stupidity, that they would somehow halt the madness of the Iraq war by challenging the Bush administration and their Republican allies in Congress

"Another Bacon Burger, Anyone?"
By Jason Miller

While many pets in our country receive better care than billions of deeply impoverished humans in developing countries, we consume the flesh, fat, and muscle of sentient beings merely to satiate our carnivorous desires. Compounding this barbarism is the fact that this behavior enriches those who condemn millions of pigs, cattle, fish, and chickens to abbreviated and miserable existences

Ten Lashes Against Humanism
By Jorge Majfud

Not long ago, Doug Hagin, in the image of the famous television program Dave's Top Ten, concocted his own list of The Top Ten List of Stupid Leftist Ideals. If we attempt to de-simplify the problem by removing the political label, we will see that each accusation against the so-called US leftists is, in reality, an assault on various humanist principles

Has A New Slave Dynasty
Taken Power In South Asia?
By Jawed Naqvi

So why do you suppose the Indian government decided to abandon its own widely awaited project to retrieve Bahadur Shah's remains from Rangoon? The answer is not far to seek. The memory of Bahadur Shah Zafar should haunt our rulers, not just in India alone but also in Pakistan and Bangladesh, if not also Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, like Banquo's ghost had stalked his usurpers. Zafar's tragedy has too many close resemblances with what is happening in Iraq or in Afghanistan, and is being planned for Iran today, to be of comfort to our rulers

27 March, 2007

UN Agrees To New Iran Sanctions
By Chris Marsden

The unanimous March 24 vote by the United Nations Security Council to impose stricter sanctions on Iran is the latest step in the Bush administration’s campaign to isolate the regime in Tehran and prepare the conditions for a possible military attack

UN Security Or United Rape?
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

As I watched Iran being hauled in front of the United Nations ‘Security’ Council, a vivid picture conjured up in my mind – my native country Iran, a vulnerable and defenseless beauty being prepared for violation by brutal savages. As she struggles to defend her honor, no one is prepared to come to her aid, save a few. Even her own children, those raised on her soil hope she will be brutally raped. With lust-filled eyes, they hope to fulfill their ambitions on her ravaged ruins, her broken pride.Who are these beasts, and what has transformed this United body to such a menace?

A Cluster Bomb Treaty: Again,
It's The U.S. v. The World
By Scott Stedjan & Laura Weis

In an historic step forward, Norway hosted the Oslo Conference on Cluster Munitions in late February 2007, where 49 countries met to discuss how to address the indiscriminate and lasting effects of cluster munitions on civilians. The Bush administration did not send a representative to the Oslo meeting and, absent a policy change, is unlikely to participate in subsequent meetings

Without Borders
By Uri Avnery

From kindergarten to the last day of high school, the Israeli pupil does not learn that the Arabs have any right at all to any of this land. On the contrary, it is clear that the land belongs to us alone, that God has personally given it to us, that we were indeed driven out by the Romans after the destruction of our Temple in the year 70 (a myth) but that we returned at the beginning of the Zionist movement. Since then, the Arabs have tried again and again to annihilate us

The Arab Peace Initiative
And The Changing Middle East
By Ramzy Baroud

The rapid, almost hasty, developments on the Arab Israeli front, almost immediately following the Saudi sponsored Makkah Agreement on February 2, should be examined in their proper context, as a part and parcel of the regional shifts, exasperated by the US war in Iraq and the dramatic adjustment in Iran’s position vis-à-vis the region and its sectarian, religious composition

Pat Tillman: Beyond The Hype
By Mickey Z.

Ask yourself this: Who gave up a life of luxury and turned his back on millions to fight in the mountains and caves of Afghanistan for what he believed in and, as a result, is revered by millions as a "hero"? Depending on who you are and where you live, you might answer "Pat Tillman" or you might answer: "Osama bin Laden." The world doesn't need any more "heroes" like Tillman or Osama

The Real Gay Agenda
By Mary Shaw

Those who oppose same-sex marriage say that it would undermine the institution of marriage. But isn't heterosexual infidelity already doing that? I fail to see how legalizing same-sex marriage would have any effect on heterosexual marriages

Time For Musharraf To Go!
By Usman Khalid

The Armed Forces and the Judiciary are the two institutions where performance and conduct of their members are judged by their peers. After a dumb start, the Chief Justice of Pakistan is being judged by his peers. But Musharraf has resisted the judgment of his peers. They have been telling him privately at first and publicly now that it is time for him to go. That way his legacy, the good name, and public confidence in the armed forces can be saved

Touch Me Not
By Chandi Sinnathurai

Nazism was based on racial purity and superiority. The system of Casteism determines a human’s destiny purely on the basis of caste. If Nazism and slavery were abolished, why then Casteism cannot be demolished and its evils uprooted?

Revisiting Babri
By Ram Puniyani

Ram temple issue became the symbol of assertion of affluent Hindutva politics in opposition to the democratic values. Identity, especially religious one, came up in a big way and waylaid the real issues of the poor and struggling majority of Hindus as well as other sections of society

26 March, 2007

India Is Colonising Itself
By Arundhati Roy & Shoma Chaudhuri

Unlike industrializing western countries which had colonies from which to plunder resources and generate slave labour to feed this process, we have to colonize ourselves, our own nether parts. We’ve begun to eat our own limbs

Learning Nandigram Lessons
By Praful Bidwai

The Left, especially the CPM, must decide whether it wants to fight for socialism, or merely manage capitalism Chinese-style, however honestly. If it chooses the second option, it will go into historic decline. It must also make a decisive break with the undemocratic organisational culture it has inherited, which punishes dissidence and encourages a "my-party-right-or-wrong" attitude

Antarctic Melting May Be Speeding Up
By Michael Byrnes

“I feel that we’re getting uncomfortably close to threshold,” said Church, of Australia’s CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research said. Past this level, parts of the Antarctic and Greenland would approach a virtually irreversible melting that would produce sea level rises of meters, he said

The Crushing Fear That Stalks America
By Robert Fisk

There’s a helluva difference between Cairo University and the campus of Valdosta in the Deep South of the United States. I visited both this week and I feel like I’ve been travelling on a gloomy spaceship - or maybe a time machine - with just two distant constellations to guide my journey. One is clearly named Iraq; the other is Fear. They have a lot in common

Democrats Pass “Anti-War” Bill That Funds
The Wars In Iraq And Afghanistan
By Barry Grey

After weeks of public posturing and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, Democrats in the House of Representatives secured passage Friday of an emergency spending bill that grants the Bush administration’s request for over $100 billion in additional funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Another Casualty: Coverage Of The Iraq War
By Dahr Jamail

Iraq is the most dangerous place in the world for journalists. Along with names and dates, the Brussels Tribunal has listed the circumstances under which Iraqi media personnel have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. This extremely credible report cites 195 as dead. If non-Iraqi media representatives are included, the figure goes beyond 200. Both figures are well in excess of the media fatalities suffered in Vietnam or during World War II

The Occupation Of Palestine
By Max Kantar

In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the news media, more times than not, does not reflect the reality or horrors of the situation on the ground. Just last year, according to Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, 660 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Military forces, 21% of which were children. On the Israeli side, Palestinians were responsible for killing 23 Israelis. With a murder ratio exceeding 28 to 1, the Israeli occupation can no longer be disguised as a security measure in the name of peace

Ecuador's Nascent Leftist Government
Victorious In Confrontation With Right
By Roger Burbach

The two month old government of leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and the popular movements that back him have emerged triumphant in their first battle with the oligarchy and the traditional political parties that have historically dominated the country

United Nations Implications In War Crimes
By Count Hans-Christof von Sponeck & Silvia Cattori

For Hans Christof von Sponeck, the former assistant secretary-general of the UN, the United Nations, far from garding the respect for international law and the consolidation of peace, have themselves become a factor of injustice

Murderous Fatwa
By Mike Ghouse

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board or a shadow organization with a similar name has issued a decree against exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, who has been seeking Indian citizenship. A bounty of 5 Lakh Rupees has been offered to the one who murders her. The government of India should prosecute Maulana Ashraf Khan for ordering Murder of another human being under IPC and punish him accordingly

24 March, 2007

Southern Ocean Current Faces Slowdown Threat
By Michael Byrnes

The impact of global warming on the vast Southern Ocean around Antarctica is starting to pose a threat to ocean currents that distribute heat around the world, Australian scientists say, citing new deep-water data

Support The Troops By Sending Them To War!
By Kevin Zeese

As the United States enters the fifth year of the quagmire of the Iraq war and occupation the Capitol Hill leadership claims: we need to continue to fund the war to support U.S. troops. Does this claim pass the straight face test? Is this what the troops want?

Between Insurrection And Reaction: Evo Morales'
Pursuit Of 'Normal Capitalism
By James Petras

Caught between a demobilized popular class, increasingly on the defensive and an ascending bourgeois on the offensive, the leaders of 'Andean capitalism' have no where to turn, except to grant new spaces to party loyalists, neo-liberal technocrats and even more clearly defined neo-liberal concessions

Ecuador’s Nascent Leftist Government
Victorious In Confrontation With Right
By Roger Burbach

The two month old government of leftist Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and the popular movements that back him have emerged triumphant in their first battle with the oligarchy and the traditional political parties that have historically dominated the country

You Can't Arrest Me, I'm On A Book Tour
By Mike Palacek

The first of Mike Palacek's book tour column

Wangari Mathaai: A Global Voice Of Fortitude
By Farah Aziz

An interview with Wangari Mathaai

Status Of Muslim Women:A Historic Review
By Sana Laila Ehtisham & S.Ehtisham MD

The upshot of the resurgence of Wahabi creed is that women are fast losing ground. They are harassed, made to wrap themselves up into a veritable sack like a bag potatoes, have their movements restricted and generally life made intolerable for them. The reverberations have reached Europe, Canada and USA as well

Over 100 Believed Missing In Banihal
By Syed Junaid Hashmi

More than 100 people have gone missing from various parts of Ramban and Banihal during the last 16 years of turmoil says a list compiled by veteran social activist from Banihal Abdul Gani Tantry. The indicted for disappearance of these 100 people are mostly "unidentified Gunmen" and army in a few cases

The Case Of Academic Complicity In The Violence
Against Dalit And Dalit Women In India
By Abhinaya Ramesh

I wish to suggest to the UN related researches that unless sufficient scrutiny is not done by the respective authorities such reports should not be published because they are intentionally crammed with deceived information to create the confusion and further delay in the justice to the relevant communities

Sri Lanka: Capricious Ceasefire;
Accelerating Human Suffering
By Chandi Sinnathurai

The undeclared war in the Tamil territories has brought untold suffering and deaths upon the civilian population in Sri Lanka. The current fighting in the East, in Batticaloa district, between the Tamil Tigers [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] and the Sri Lankan Armed Forces have tragically produced a bumper crop of ‘internal refugees’

23 March, 2007

Nandigram: Horror Stories Emerge

Fact finding report of the delegation deputed by the Calcutta High Court

More Horror Stories From Nandigram

CPI(ML) Team In Nandigram: Summary Of Findings

Global Ruling Class: Billionaires
And How They ‘Made It’
By James Petras

While the number of the world’s billionaires grew from 793 in 2006 to 946 this year, major mass uprisings became commonplace occurrences in China and India

Bush Administration Steps Up
Economic Pressure On Iran
By Peter Symonds

Even as the UN Security Council debates a punitive new resolution against Iran, the Bush administration is threatening to impose unilateral sanctions against foreign corporations and banks engaged in investment and trade with Tehran. The measures to cripple the country economically are accompanied by ongoing US military preparations in the Persian Gulf for an attack on Iran

World's Most Important Crops Hit
By Global Warming Effects
By Steve Connor

Global warming over the past quarter century has led to a fall in the yield of some of the most important food crops in the world, according to one of the first scientific studies of how climate change has affected cereal crops

Rachel Corrie, A Martyr's Voice
As Powerful As That Of Ann Frank
By David Truskoff

The perfect illustration of the blind faith mentality of the new Jew is the pressure brought against a theater to stop the showing of the Rachel Corrie play in New York. They would stop the story of Rachel Corrie, but ask all of us Jews to remember the story of Ann Frank

A Review Of John Ross' Zapatistas
By Stephen Lendman

The book's theme is the heroic ongoing Zapatista struggle for autonomy and liberation as "a dramatic and inspiring effort to make this possibility a reality" matched off against a made-in-Washington world of permanent wars for conquest and domination from the sands and streets of Iraq and desolate rubble of Afghanistan to the Israeli genocidal terror war against the Palestinians to the streets of Mexico City and Oaxaca and the mountains and jungles of Chiapas

The New Palestinian Unity Government
By Uri Avnery

Not only the Palestinians must be breathing a deep sigh of relief after the swearing in of the Palestinian National Unity Government. We Israelis have good reason to do the same. This event is a great blessing, not only for them, but also for us - if indeed we are interested in a peace that will put an end to the historic conflict

Environmental Justice For Palestine
By Alice Gray

Abiding by past agreements with Israel threatens viability of future Palestinian State

Tamils Are A Vanishing Community
By Nilantha Ilangamuwa & Prof. Hoole

Professor S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, Vice Chancellor, University of Jaffna, who was forced to flee Sri Lanka because of death threats by the LTTE, in a no-holds-barred interview, gives his view on political developments in the country, refugee influx in the East, LTTE activities in the Jaffna University, literacy rate in Jaffna and his position as the VC

22 March, 2007

Four Years: One Million Iraqi Deaths
By Gideon Polya

It is now the Fourth Anniversary of the illegal US, UK and Australian invasion of Iraq (March 20, 2003). Mainstream media are still ignoring the carnage – but now the post-invasion Iraqi excess deaths total one million

Iraq: A country Drenched In Blood
By Patrick Cockburn

Four years after US and British troops invaded Iraq, its people are full of fear. Iraqis often have a look of half-suppressed panic in their eyes as they tell how violent death has touched them again and again

In Memory Of Tanya Reinhart
By Noam Chomsky

Tanya's passing is a terrible loss, not only to her family and those fortunate enough to come to know her personally, and to those she defended and protected with such dedication and courage, but to everyone concerned with freedom, justice, and an honorable peace

Remembering Rufina Amaya
By Thomas Riggins

On March 9 The New York Times ran an obituary on Rufina Amaya who died at 64 in El Salvador, of a stroke, the previous Tuesday. We should all remember the ordeal experienced by Ms. Amaya at the hands of troops specifically trained by U.S. Special Forces

Jerusalem And Washington Bring Palestinians
To The Brink Of Starvation
By Jean Shaoul

The House of Commons International Development Committee has recently published a report of the findings of its visit to Israel and Palestine.It paints a devastating picture of the impact of the economic sanctions imposed against the Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority (PA) by the United States and the other major powers, including Britain. In so doing, it demonstrates the collusion of the whole of Europe and of the United Nations with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and its brutal suppression of the Palestinians

Why Musharraf Stays
By Pervez Hoodbhoy

How does he do it? The answer lies in a finely honed strategy, perfected over years, that juggles US demands and the interests of local intelligence chiefs, mullahs, tribal leaders, venal politicians, and a host of fortune seekers. Webs of intrigue and murky players obscure details, but the priorities are unmistakeable

The Justice Or The General? One Has To Go
By Aziz Narejo

The situation won't change if Justice Bhagwandas is allowed to resurface and take over the apex court. That is not the issue here. The people just won't accept any judge to replace Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. And the present regime won't breathe easy if Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry returns to his job. One of the two has to go. That is certain

Missing In Action
By Lucinda Marshall

The Peace Movement’s Silence on the Impact of War on Women

Kashmir: Terrorism Or Freedom Movement?
By Akhila Raman

Despite recent welcome thaw in Indo-Pak relations, Kashmir is continuing to bleed. This article argues that the massive bloodshed continuing in Kashmir is not merely a result of cross-border terrorism as the Indian State would like us to believe, but that there is also a genuine freedom struggle going on against the repressive Indian State by the Kashmiris who are alienated equally with India, Pakistan and the militants and whose grievances have their historical roots in the events of 1947

The Idea Of Bhagat Singh
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

Bhagat Singh's ideas and sacrifice have the strength to bring hope in the lives of millions of struggling masses. Let us salute to this towering icon of our freedom movement for his indomitable spirit. Like Che Guevara, Bhagat Singh will always remain a hope for all those who believe in secular socialist values and reject the caste based hierarchical system

20 March, 2007

Protests Mount Against Musharraf
By Vilani Peiris & Keith Jones

Islamabad and other Pakistani cities have seen violent confrontations in recent days between security forces and lawyers, opposition political activists, and ordinary Pakistanis opposing the attempt of the country’s US-backed military strongman, General Pervez Musharraf, to fire the head of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry

What Solution For Iraq: A Bad War
Tribunal Or A Good Guerilla Attack?
By Agustin Velloso

The reaction to the crimes that are perpetrated in Iraq and in the Middle East should change from asking for war tribunals if there is not enough power to establish them, to support the Iraqi, Palestinian and Lebanese resistance against the aggressors and the occupiers. It is not certain that the resistance will achieve justice, but it is certain that the aggressors will not bring justice. Any effective support given to the resistance is far better than words without action

Open Letter To The Anti-War Movement
By Hana Abdul Ilah Al Bayaty

The national popular resistance in Iraq, in defending the whole of humanity against a culture of force, deserves our recognition and support

A Review Of "The Darker Nations"
By Saswat Pattanayak

The Darker Nations is a critical historiography of the Third World. Vijay Prashad's deeply instructive as well as occasionally mordant looks at events and processes that made up the history of oppressed peoples in the 20th century comprise this brilliant work. It is a book profound for being peremptory, and absolutely necessary for being so relevant today that it is imperative for activists and researchers alike

The Peril Of Taking On Iran
By Stephen Kinzer

American leaders have not forgiven the religious regime for its anti-American acts, beginning with its overthrow of the the shah in 1979 and the subsequent hostage crisis. They should overcome this psychological barrier and explore the possibility of a negotiated "grand bargain" with Iran.The alternative may be violent intervention. That is what the United States tried in 1953. The results were disastrous. They would be no better this time

Into Africa
By Conn Hallinan

Increased U.S. military presence in Africa may simply serve to protect unpopular regimes that are friendly to its interests, as was the case during the Cold War, while Africa slips further into poverty

Young Women Find Peace As Guerrillas
By Mohammed A. Salih

Saria, 20, is a bright and lovely young lady, and she has found peace in her life as a guerrilla. Saria, whose name means a female horse-rider, joined the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) when she was 14. She has in these years been engaged in several battles with Iranian and Turkish troops

Too Guilty To Fly, Too Innocent To Charge?
By Faisal Kutty

The system envisaged by Passenger Protect is wholly inadequate, as it will be over inclusive, with high likelihood of false positives, pose a serious potential for racial profiling, and completely lack any meaningful redress mechanism or process

Authority, Autonomy And Religious Conflict
By Sarbeswar Sahoo

Politicization of religion by the people in authority is one of the important reasons of religious conflict in many parts of the world

19 March, 2007

Musharraf: Beginning Of The End
By Brig (R) Usman Khalid

Musharraf is a person who has never needed to make sense when he talks. So, he talks, and talks but never reflects or listens. The people are tired of him and desperately want to see the back of him. But he talks and talks and cannot see the writing on the wall

Blaming Victims: Covering Up Terrorism In Iraq
By Ghali Hassan

A recent cover story in the Time magazine (March, 2007, Europe and Asia) by Bobby Ghosh, “Why They Hate Each Other”, aimed at removing the Occupation as the generator of violence against the Iraqi people, and portrays the violence as “Iraqis killing Iraqis”. This media distortion obfuscates the U.S. monopoly on terrorism and allows the U.S. to use Iraq as a laboratory for terror at the expense of the Iraqi people

Palestine: Israeli Killing Fields
By Dr. Elias Akleh

Zionism is a newer name for an ancient racist, expansionist, and imperialist political movement, whose aim was, and still is, the establishment of a strong “Jewish-only” empire (Greater Israel) in the Middle East, which was considered the heart of the ancient world, and the center of all trade

Rachel Corrie's Voice
By Bessy Reyna

Today, as I honor the memory of Rachel Corrie, I will continue to wonder if the peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will happen during my lifetime ... perhaps, if both sides of the conflict are given equal voice

If Elected, Hillary Clinton Vows
To Keep US Troops In Iraq
By Bill Van Auken

In a calculated bid to position herself for the 2008 Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Clinton told the New York Times Wednesday that, if elected president, she would keep significant US military forces in Iraq for the foreseeable future

"Revolution Is The Solution"
By Joel Hirschhorn & Jason Miller

Joel Hirschhorn interviewed by Jason Miller

Purple Hearts, Democrats Abroad And Kucinich
By Heather Wokusch

I keep hearing that the goal is to elect a Democrat in 2008. But my goal is to elect a candidate worth my vote. And I'm more than a little disgusted with what I have seen from the Democrats recently. That is, with the exception of Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich

Save The Girl Child
By Sumita Thapar

Since the late 1970s when the technology for sex determination first came into being, sex selective abortion has unleashed a saga of horror. Experts are calling it "sanitised barbarism". Demographic trends indicate India is fast heading towards a million female foetuses aborted each year

Global Fundamentalist Wars
By Gary Corseri

A review of The Gujarat Genocide. Garda Ghista, Author House, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A

17 March, 2007

Pakistan's President At His Dictatorial Worst
By Tarek Fatah

The chief justice had been seen by the military regime as a direct threat to the implementation of their economic, political and social agenda. He was removed because he stopped the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills and was an obstacle in the American neo-liberal agenda for the region

Collapse Of Arctic Sea Ice 'Has Reached Tipping-Point'
By Steve Connor

A catastrophic collapse of the Arctic sea ice could lead to radical climate changes in the northern hemisphere according to scientists who warn that the rapid melting is at a "tipping point" beyond which it may not recover. The scientists attribute the loss of some 38,000 square miles of sea ice - an area the size of Alaska - to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as to natural variability in Arctic ice

Clinton Moves To The Right On War
By Thomas Riggins

According to today’s New York Times Hillary Clinton has decided to keep American troops in Iraq should she become the next president She is quoted in an article by Michael Gordon and Patrick Healy

The Bush Administration Manoeuvres
To Unseat Iraqi Government
By Peter Symonds

Despite denials from Washington, there are growing signs that the Bush administration has issued threats to its puppet government in Baghdad to meet US-dictated “benchmarks” or face the consequences. The White House aims not only to end the military disaster in Iraq and open up the country’s oil for exploitation, but to fashion an Iraqi regime more supportive of US preparations for aggression against Iran

Give Us Some Real Political Leaders
By Ali al-Fadhily

Many Iraqis are now looking to local political leadership to fill wide gaps in a fractured government that is failing to provide security and basic needs

Washington Exploits Guantánamo
“Confession” To Justify Its Crimes
By Bill Van Auken

why such haste to release the transcript—which was from a hearing conducted last Saturday? The most likely answer is that the release was timed for the political benefit of the Bush White House

Israel's Right To Be Racist
By Joseph Massad

Israel is willing to do anything to convince Palestinians and other Arabs of why it needs and deserves to have the right to be racist. Even at the level of theory, and before it began to realise itself on the ground, the Zionist colonial project sought different means by which it could convince the people whose lands it wanted to steal and against whom it wanted to discriminate to accept as understandable its need to be racist

Palestinians Must Redefine Struggle
By Ramzy Baroud

It’s never easy, although a sure assertion, to maintain that the Palestinian front, at home as well as abroad remains as fragmented and self-consumed, thus ineffective, as ever before, but most notably during the disastrous post-Oslo period

A Song Only Obama Hears, A Vision Only Obama Sees
By Ira Glunts

The Presidential Candidate’s Visit To A Remote Palestinian Village Leads Him To Some Strange And Inaccurate Conclusions

Dems, Bush, Fear Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.' Words! Shake 'em Up! Quote King!
By Jay Janson

The third article in the series which appears on the 15th of each month exhorting peace and justice activists to follow the example of Howard Zinn, who, in radio interviews quotes Martin Luther King Jr.'s strong condemnations of U.S. murderous war policies and the use of its military throughout the third world to support inequitable and oppressive trade arrangements. King, "A time comes when silence is betrayal."

16 March, 2007

Iraqi Women:Four Years After The Invasion
By Dr. Nadje Al-Ali

Islamist militants and terrorist groups also pose a particular danger to Iraqi women. Many women’s organizations and activists inside Iraq have documented the increasing Islamist threats to women: the pressure to conform to certain dress codes, the restrictions in movement and behaviour, incidents of acid thrown into women’s faces and even targeted killings

Iraqis In Despair
By Adil E. Shamoo & Bonnie Bricker

While politicians in Washington argue over the future of Iraq, half a world away a bloody battle for the soul of Iraq is being fought by Iraqis who are paying a high price for the U.S. occupation. When asked about Iraq and its future, many Iraqis have the same refrain: there is no more Iraq, Iraq is lost. Others say: make us safe or leave us alone

Closing The Gap Between Torturer And Victim
By John Pilger

John Pilger reports on new revelations that torturers in America's 'war on terror' were directed personally by the US secretary of defence. He argues that the historical antedote to such barbarity is the new exuberant democracy movement in Latin America

Fake Congressional Opposition To War
By Stephen Lendman

No greater force exists than the will of millions of angry determined people set on achieving what governments won't do for them. We may now be heading for that moment of truth that may be the way to end Bush's wars and anyone after him with the same intentions. Stay tuned and never lose hope

US Coercion Of India Against Iran At IAEA
By Siddharth Varadarajan & Abbas Edalat

I believe the US strategy is to so frustrate Iran that the Iranian leadership is trapped into denouncing the IAEA and NPT and walking out of both. Needless to say, the US approach is making more likely, rather than less, the prospects of further nuclear breakout

Redefining The Equations Of Middle East:
US Playing Over Smart
By Farah Aziz

Responding to the need of the hour to react to the imperialist onslaught on West Asia, New Delhi observed an international conference on war, imperialism and resistance from March 12th to 14th. Various political interventionists, human rights activists and senior journalists from Middle East as well as India congregated to brainstorm on diverse issues of human rights violation and fascist ensnare by America

Crouching Tiger, Tumbling US Economy
By Heather Wokusch

Bush and Cheney may be declaring "Mission Accomplished" now that the Iraqi Cabinet has approved the draft of an oil law granting foreign companies unprecedented access to the country's fields. But Beijing is having the last laugh

Exhibit Reveals A Bitter Harvest
By Michael Deibert

A month-long programme in France this spring hopes to shine a spotlight on the working conditions of Haitians labouring in the sugarcane fields of the Dominican Republic, a state of affairs which human rights groups have charged in recent years is little better than slavery

15 March, 2007

At Least 20 People Killed In
Police Firing In Nandigram
By NAPM

As per the latest information, thousands of Police on entering the area, this morning, started firing, and 20 at least are found killed while hundreds are wounded lying on the street. Police are forcibly taking away the dead bodies

Deaths In Police Firing In Nandigram
By Amnesty International

Amnesty International demands an impartial and independent inquiry into the excessive use of force at Nandigram now and the violence in Nandigram in January, promptly make the findings public and prosecute those accused of violence

Land Acquisition In Bastar At A Critical Stage
By Debaranjan Sarangi

The situation in Bastar is at a critical stage, with clashes on 27-28 Feb trying to force land acquisition for Tata's steel plant. The "manufactured civil war" pursued by Salwa Judum continues with at least 80,000 tribal refugees in what are virtually concentration camps

This Time, Israel Is Missing
An Historic Opportunity
By Nicola Nasser

Fulfilling a 60-year old Israeli dream and an American unwavering strategy, the 22-member League of Arab states are now in consensus on a potentially groundbreaking Arab Peace Initiative (API), which pledges their collective and full recognition of the Jewish state and full-fledged permanent peace in return for withdrawing the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) to 1967 lines, the establishment of an independent Palestine with eastern Jerusalem as its capital, and “an agreed, just solution” to the Palestinian refugee issue in accordance with United Nations Resolution 194, but both Washington and Tel Aviv are not forthcoming

From Lawn-Boys To B-2’s: America’s
Penchant For Mowing ‘em Down
By Jason Miller

Mike Palecek interviewed by Jason Miller

Yogi In 'tears', But Can The Drama
Whitewash His Black Deeds ?
By Subhash Gatade

There are very few moments in the house where one comes across instances where a tragicomedy unfolds itself. The zero hour in the Parliament on Monday (12 th March 2007) witnessed one such occasion when a MP of the BJP Yogi Adityanath broke down, and MPs from either side of the ruling dispensation rushed to console him and asked the chair to look at his 'grievances'

14 March, 2007

UK To Lead World In Climate Change Fight
By Joe Churcher

Britain will lead the world towards combating climate change, Tony Blair vowed today. He unveiled a "revolutionary step" in the Government's blueprint for reducing harmful emissions, binding the UK to a 60-per-cent cut by 2050

It's Expensive To Ignore Global Warming
By Bruce Barnbaum

Some leaders -- notably President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney -- have stated they will do nothing to stem global warming if it will harm our economy. Let's examine two examples of what would happen to our economy if we follow their advice and do nothing

Security Meet Ends,Insecurity Does Not
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

The security conference held last Saturday in Baghdad produced statements, drew mortar fire, and brought little hope of security

Send The Bush Twins To Iraq!
By Ralph Nader

Well then, why don't his daughters, 25 year olds Barbara and Jenna join the armed services and share in the sacrifice? Or is the sacrifice only to be borne overwhelmingly by lower-income whites, Hispanics and African-Americans who comprise the bulk of the casualties?

The Bush Regime Needs To Be Stopped Somehow?
By Ted Bohne

Now the Bush people are ordering soldiers out of their sickbeds to Iraq. Soldiers that already served multiple “tours” in many cases. Soldiers recovering from wounds physically and mentally

The Fraudulent Iraq Exit Plan That Is Likely
To Lead To A Bigger Middle East War
By Kevin Zeese

The “Democratic Supplemental” Fails to Deal with Iran and Has Big Loopholes That Will Leave Tens of Thousands or More Troops in Iraq

Dealing With The Extremists
By Mike Ghouse

How do you deal with the extremists? You have to have to have dynamite confidence. The first lesson I learned in my childhood was dealing with the Monkeys, the second one was on Tim Russet’s “Meet the press” program called “Interfaith in America”. In the program, a Catholic Nun says that the reason people are wooed towards neo-cons is because they give confidence. When there is fear, people do not really care about logic or reason; they fall for hope from any given source

Olmert's Testimony Reveals The Real
Goal Of The War In Lebanon
By Jonathan Cook

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert's leaked testimony to the Winograd Committee -- investigating the government's failures during the month-long attack -- suggests that he had been preparing for such a war at least four months before the official casus belli: the capture by Hizbullah of two Israeli soldiers from a border post on 12 July 2006. Lebanon's devastation was apparently designed to teach both Hizbullah and the country's wider public a lesson

Ms. Shilpa Shetty And Her Sisters Of A Lesser God
By Ramesh Kamble

Ms. Shetty achieved both quick publicity and huge money. But, the marginalized women India, for that matter in the world, neither seek publicity nor they seek money. They just seek recognition and action, from both Indian and world community, against violence, harassment and discrimination they suffer in their every day really ‘real’ lives

For Signs Of Peace,Look Out For Vultures
By Jawed Naqvi

The opening line of the scarcely noticed press release issued after a second meeting of the India-Pakistan Joint Commission in New Delhi on February 21 said: The working group on environment has discussed the decline in vulture population.The news was extremely comforting. It was deeply reassuring that the two countries that had on several occasions threatened to annihilate each others human population were expressing a shared concern for the survival of a raptor bird

Sri Lanka: Plausible Deniability
By Chandi Sinnathurai

Hundreds of thousands of indigenous Tamils from both the East and the North in Sri Lanka are fleeing to relative safety from the indiscriminate air attacks and multi-barrel rocket launchers from the Sri Lankan Armed Forces even as we write. A public statement released on 9 March by the Amnesty International reported

13 March, 2007

America's Perpetual Nuclear War
By Robert Weitzel

The world should note that America has been waging a “low yield” nuclear war that has been killing civilians for almost two decades. Missing from this war are mushroom clouds and very loud booms. Present is nuclear fallout with its insidious long-term effects on both combatant and civilian and its perpetual contamination of land and water resources

Olmert's Truth
By Uri Avnery

The truth, according to the Prime Minister's testimony before the Inquiry Commission headed by Judge Vinograd that was leaked to the media yesterday, is that this was not a spontaneous reaction to the capture of the two soldiers, but a war planned a long time ago. We said so right from the start

The Mecca Charity Show
By Roni Ben Efrat

We should not wonder that Israel, having bound its fate to America, would display political shortsightedness and a lack of social sensitivity. What is worrisome, rather, is that the Palestinian people, having suffered so long, hitches its interests to the wagon of the Saudi kingdom, instead of cultivating, from within itself, an alternative voice that will reflect its needs

No Easing Of US-Iranian Tensions
After Baghdad Conference
By Peter Symonds

The much-vaunted international conference on Iraqi security took place in Baghdad on Saturday without any diplomatic breakthrough or thawing of relations between the US and Iran

Lost In The Lust Of Werewolves
By Sheila Samples

I wonder why so many denizens of this Christian nation seem unable or unwilling to wrap their minds around the reality that Iraqi people are human beings just as they, themselves, are -- not rabid dogs to be hunted down and slaughtered. Perhaps it's because, in order to remain sane or to avoid being targeted by the Bush administration, they traded their Christianity for Religion, their Love for Hate -- their Life for Death

Taking Democracy Seriously
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Abraham Lincoln spoke of government "of the people, by the people and for the people.” If you really believe in these words, then speak out to increase voter turnout to resuscitate America’s half-dead democracy

At last - Let Us All Do Something!
"Step It Up!" April 14th
By Kerry Martin

I would like your help with two things... One is to make "Step It Up!" into a successful Global Day of Gathering - not just a parochial American thing! .Second is to step up the idea of Step It Up! and introduce the concept that April 14th is only the beginning of a Global Gathering Movement that is going to gather momentum and evolve as needs be over the coming months and years.

Democratizing Blame
By Somnath Mukherji

There still are many societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America living closer to nature with capacities to evaluate the costs in their entirety; societies that have defined progress and pursue happiness in more benign and sustainable ways. Instead of pushing them to the margins, the “developed” world should be learning from them

In A Land Of Plenty
By Siv O'Neall

Nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty.But poverty is invisible to most affluent people. The high and mighty deliberately close their eyes and minds to the existence of poverty-stricken people in the United States, the land of plenty

11 March, 2007

US Military Begins Operations In Sadr City
By James Cogan

American and Iraqi government forces have initiated regular patrols this week in northeastern Baghdad’s densely populated, predominantly Shiite, working class suburb of Sadr City. More than 1,200 troops have entered the area since Sunday, searching homes and establishing vehicle checkpoints. Thus far, they have encountered no resistance

A Predator Becomes More Dangerous
When Wounded
By Noam Chomsky

Washington's escalation of threats against Iran is driven by a determination to secure control of the region's energy resources

CNN Sold Us The War. Now It Sells Us The Heartbreak
With Unctuous Consoling, "Heroic! Brave!"
By Jay Janson

CNN sold us on the War, and no matter how often CNN praises our dead and wounded as brave and heroic, we remember that CNN sold us the war on Iraq

The Church Of Business
By Bill Henderson

Isn't the first necessary step in protecting against the worst dangers of climate change the destruction of The Church of Business?

Praxis And Pragmatism In Sri Lanka
By Chandi Sinnathurai

The fundamental human rights and civil liberties of the people have to be restored urgently in Sri Lanka. Whether the person is a Sinhala or a Tamil. Whether it is the Tamil Tigers or the Sinhala State: both sides have to be held accountable for human rights breaches

Industrialization Without A Human Face Part II
By Aseem Shrivastava

If something (energy and resource-intensive industrialization) was once good for the presently enriched nations it does not imply that it would be good for the impoverished nations and for the world as a whole. There may not be a world left to experience the benefit!

Psychosis And Mania: ADHD Drug Warnings
Come Too Late For Many
By Evelyn Pringle

The makers of drugs used to treat attention disorders have known about the serious health risks associated with the medications for years but instead of warning the public, the industry has consistently focused its efforts on expanding the market and colluding with FDA officials to keep warnings off the labels of ADHD drugs

Terrorism: Biased Investigation
By Ram Puniyani

Its time Central government intervenes, and inquiry of all the terror incidents in Maharashtra is handed over to CBI or preferably to the committee headed by a judge of impeccable credentials. Are Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh listening?

Pakistan Continues To Need Assistance
From Effects Of 2005 Quake
By Brian McAfee

While the 2005 earthquake continues to wield a crisis situation for the thousands still living in tents and the personal loss of huge numbers of our fellow humans the help and outreach by relief workers and agencies in many cases has been exemplary. Recent reports indicate that approximately 35,000 are still living in 44 temporary camps throughout the earthquake effected area

10 March, 2007

Democrats Plan Paves Way To Escalation Of
Iraq War
By Bill Van Auken

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic congressional leaders unveiled a toothless plan Thursday that they claim would result in the withdrawal of US combat troops from Iraq a year and a half from now. The main purpose of this political exercise, however, is to unite the party behind supplemental funding legislation that will provide at least $100 billion more to pay for the escalation of the illegal war and occupation that has been waged by Washington for the past four years

Are The Congressional Democrats Spineless?
By John A. Murphy

Democratic Party loyalist themselves have often suggested that the congressional Democrats are spineless; that they fear a real confrontation with the Republicans and that this explains why the Democratic Party has drifted so far to the right as to be no longer recognizably different from the Republican Party

Democrats Beginning To Pay A Political Price
For Failing To End The War
By Kevin Zeese

Is the conflict between the interests of their donors and the views of their voters who oppose the war making it difficult for Democrats like Sen. Mikulski to take action to end the war?

George Bush's Samson Option
By Stephen Lendman

US engaging Iran may now hinge on resolving the Washington power struggle between Bush administration neocons and more practical trilateralist types in the camp of Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jim Baker, and other powerful Washington figures including the president's father. It's also up to Congress to decide which side it's on and whether it will act or watch from the sidelines and risk nuclear war and its fallout. It may not be long finding out how events will unfold

Just Look What "Your Country" Did To You
By Adam Engel

Have I mentioned the spirits of 30 million slain Native Americans reaching through the TV sets to choke Boobus Americanus on his livingroom sofa? Or the ghosts of 100 million-plus African slaves tearing down the buildings they were forced to erect

US Normalising Relations With The Axis Of Evil
By Abid Mustafa

But when measured against the backdrop of Iranian influence in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan, the confrontational posturing between the two countries belies reality. America knows full well that without Iranian assistance, she would not be able to control the Shia population in the South of Iraq

Perhaps We can Still Avoid The Third Civil War
By David Truskoff

It is time for all Americans to turn away from the tube and face reality. I beg you now to join me and look back. Remember when Blacks and Whites were joyously singing "We Shall Overcome" and believing it before President Johnson turned it into a political slogan? Remember when we believed that integration was not only possible, but also workable? I ask you to remember when we were all reaching for a better tomorrow together. Let us try to recreate that momentum because another showdown may not be that far off and the senseless acts of burning ones own community may be repeated

War On Terror, War On Women
By Heather Wokusch

Under Bush, the US has become more militaristic and less tolerant of diplomacy and dissent. Women's rights have deteriorated accordingly.Sabotaging programs for women has become something of a sport for this administration - in fact, one of Bush's first acts as president was to shut down the White House Office for Women's Initiatives and Outreach

New Zealand: Images And Reality
By Ghali Hassan

New Zealand prides itself on human rights, social compassion and political “neutrality”. Moreover, New Zealanders pride themselves on being “peace loving” people. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. These images are a distortion of reality. New Zealand is a fully-fledged member of America’s war on Muslims

Losing Focus: Peace And Justice Movement
In Britain At Crossroad
By Ramzy Baroud

While taking a moral stance against racism in all of its forms is a requisite to for any genuine peace and justice activist, the intense debate in some instances is reaching such grievous points that is threatening to tear apart the peace and justice movement

Development Through Industrialization?
Or Environmental Colonialism Leading To Catastrophe?
By Aseem Shrivastava

The question is whether city-based media outlets are reporting the facts adequately and accurately and whether urban elites have the integrity and courage to face the monstrous injustices that their leaders are busy inflicting on the countryside and its hapless populations

08 March, 2007

Climate Change Disrupting Life Cycles With
Fatal Results
By Terry Kirby

The behaviour of Britain's wildlife is raising alarm about the seriousness of climate change as animals' breeding patterns are thrown into confusion. The second mildest winter on record has resulted in mammals, reptiles, birds and insects emerging from shelter far too early.They are getting caught out by cold snaps or wet weather and the young of many species are dying. Baby hedgehogs, baby squirrels, even baby grass snakes are being found in distress in many places

Protect The Planet, And Hurry
By Lawrence Smith Jr.

When even tomorrow's weather forecast often enough turns out to be inaccurate, it is fair to question projections of the world's climate 100 years from now. But if the best scientific evidence available overwhelmingly concludes that global warming is an "unequivocal fact," prudence, if nothing else, suggests that we act with all deliberate speed to protect and preserve a planet that we do not own, but for which we have been granted temporary stewardship

How Barack Obama Learned To Love Israel
By Ali Abunimah

On Friday Obama gave a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Chicago. Reviewing the speech, Ha'aretz Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner concluded that Obama "sounded as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani. At least rhetorically, Obama passed any test anyone might have wanted him to pass. So, he is pro-Israel."

Dump The Dems, Unite Against The War
By Joshua Frank

The time is now for us to come together under a unified antiwar banner despite what our political leanings may be. Liberal, radical, conservative, libertarian, it doesn't matter. Ending the war and our government's imperialist polices is just that important

The Big Mouth Of Israeli Fascism
By Uri Avnery

"Patriotism," said Dr. Samuel Johnson over 200 years ago, "is the last refuge of a scoundrel." If we substitute racism for patriotism, then we have a perfect match with the Esterina Tartman affair

03 March, 2007

What Is La Niña, And Will It Cause
Serious Climate Disruption?
By Steve Connor

One of the greatest concerns is that La Niña is associated with an increase in Atlantic hurricanes. It can also cause drier-than-usual conditions in the southern United States, which experienced a serious drought during the last La Niña some seven years ago

US To Join Iran At International Talks:
Another Round Of Threats And Ultimatums
By Peter Symonds

Despite widespread media speculation of a “shift” in US policy toward Iran, the announcement this week that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will take part in a regional conference with her Iranian counterpart does not represent any softening of the US stance. Amid a mounting confrontation with Iran, the US will undoubtedly use the forum to heighten, not lessen, the tensions with Tehran

America's Musharraf Dilelmma
By Najum Mustaq

The disastrous result of propping up a seemingly moderate and liberal dictator is evident in the content as well as the context of Cheney's Pakistan sojourn

Migrants: Globalization’s Junk Mail?
By Laura Carlsen

Migrant workers are central to cross-border economic integration. A political system that ignores them -- or worse, treats them as junk mail -- is not only hypocritical but severely out of touch with reality

Rape Cases Emerge From The Shadows
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

Reports of the gang-rape of 20-year-old Sabrine al-Janabi by three policemen has set off new demands for justice from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government

Outrage Over Imminent Execution Of Iraqi Women
By Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

Three young women accused of joining the Iraqi insurgency movement and engaging in "terrorism" have been sentenced to death, provoking protest from rights organisations fearing that this could be the start of more executions of women in post-Saddam Hussein's Iraq

Leaders Don't Kill People...
By Michael Boldin

So, who is responsible for the death and destruction in Iraq? Who? The pilots who dropped the bombs? The commanding officers? The secretary of defense? The President? Or, as the war hawks would like us to believe, is it the people defending their homeland from invasion? If they'd just stop resisting.Our peace-loving, democracy-spreading military wouldn't have to defend themselves and kill these people, right?

International Women’s Day 2007:
We Stand With The Women Of The World
By Lucinda Marshall

International Women’s Day , which is observed on March 8 is a time not only to celebrate women’s lives and achievements, but also a chance to join hands in solidarity with women around the globe and to focus much needed attention on the many problems women face today

Controlling The Men In Shadows
By Firdaus Ahmed

Given the increasing cooperation between India and the US including the Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism and the India-US Defence Policy Group, India is likely to learn from its stronger partner strategies that may prove inappropriate for our part of the world and democratic status. There is therefore, at a minimum, a need to be alert to the possibility of subversion of the state from within, and, more widely, to ascertain if those vested with power without having to account for it have a sustainable ethical grid

"Build It Now": An Interview With Michael A Lebowitz
By Radical Notes

Michael Lebowitz's Build it Now: Socialism for the Twenty-First Century is not just another book about the specificities of the Bolivarian Revolution. Like the Communist Manifesto, its purpose is to identify the participants in the ongoing class struggle - the fundamental struggle between the needs of capital and the needs of human beings - underlying contemporary capitalism and its crisis, exposing the contours of their practices. It refreshes the classical Marxist notion of a continuous and uninterrupted revolution of radical needs as practice of the working class, as its struggle for self-emancipation

Task Ahead For New Government:
Green Agenda For Sustainable Punjab
By Umendra Dutt

The SAD-BJP government has taken the reins at a very crucial juncture; the new government can play a historic role by evolving a Green Agenda for Sustainable Punjab. The new government should demonstrate that it is highly concerned about the ecological and agricultural catastrophe leading to farmer's suicides, depleting natural resources, degraded environment, and intense environmental health crisis posing a serious socio-economic and ecological challenge to the state. The new government should resolve to adopt the green agenda for a sustainable Punjab with an imperishable prosperity which will be free of debt, suicides, displacement and diseases caused due to environmental discrepancy

02 March, 2007

Nemesis:The Last Days Of The American Republic
By Chalmers Johnson & Amy Goodman

In his new book, CIA analyst, distinguished scholar, and best-selling author Chalmers Johnson argues that US military and economic overreach may actually lead to the nation's collapse as a constitutional republic. It's the last volume in his Blowback trilogy, following the best-selling "Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire."

A Review Of Chalmers Johnson's Nemesis
By Stephen Lendman

Volume three is Nemesis and the subject of this review. In it, Johnson "tried to present historical, political, economic, and philosophical evidence of where our current behavior is likely to lead." He believes our present course is a road to perdition in the form of fiscal insolvency and a military or civilian dictatorship

Never Again To Antiwar Battle Fatigue
By David Howard

From the Holocaust witnesses we have learned to say never again to regimes of racism and fascism. From Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors we have learned to say never again to nuclear weapons. From the Iraq War we must learn to say never again to preemptive war, to torture, and to the insidious ideology of democratizing by the sword

Haiti: Poor Residents Of Capital
Describe A State Of Siege
By Wadner Pierre & Jeb Sprague

Nearly two months since U.N. troops began launching heavy attacks that they say are aimed against gang members in poor neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, roadblocks and barbed wire remain in place and the atmosphere is grim

Kashmir: The Land Of Widows And Orphans
By Pradeep Mohinder

Seventeen years of turmoil has not only ruined the Jammu Kashmir economically but, has turned the valley in to the land of widows and orphans. It is matter of fact that that in the state there are more than twenty-five thousand orphans (25,000) and approximately six thousand 6000 widows

Arabia In Disarray - Part II
By Mustapha Marrouchi

The Saudi family business cannot go on forever, and if it does not change it will court ruin. That at bottom is the fate of the kingdom of sand and mirth

Democrats Buy War From Bush And Use It
To Fund Projects For Their Constituents
By Kevin Zeese

The Democrats Iraq War may be even more disgusting than the Republicans. They are using it as a Christmas tree to fund a host of projects that they could not get funded in any other way

Truth Trickles Out: The Gujarat Pogrom
Five Years Later
By Zahir Janmohamed

Some have accused assessments by anti-communalism activists of what transpired in Gujarat as being excessively sentimental. This indeed may be the case, but it is not without reason

01 March, 2007

How The War On Terror Made The World
A More Terrifying Place
By Kim Sengupta & Patrick Cockburn

Innocent people across the world are now paying the price of the "Iraq effect", with the loss of hundreds of lives directly linked to the invasion and occupation by American and British forces

In Iraq, The Killing Of 18 Teenagers
Is A Horrible Routine
By Robert Fisk

This is a story with a caution. Eighteen teenagers were killed on Monday at a football field east of Baghdad. On Sunday, equally young students of Mustansiriya University - the oldest in Baghdad - were blown up by a suicide bomber. It has become a routine, at one and the same time more horrible and more normal each day

Global Markets Slide After China Sell-Off
By Nick Beams

Global stock markets tumbled on Tuesday after a near 9 percent drop in the Chinese market—the biggest fall in a decade—sparked fears that a series of financial imbalances in the global economy could start to cause serious problems

Getting A Bit Anti-Climatic
By Michael Major

If we attempt to make climate braking profitable for corporations then we greatly delay the date at which any real reversal may begin. Like peak oil we will see the occasion of reversal only in the rear view mirror. The climate is not broken. We cannot usefully act directly on the climate. Climate change is not a discrete illness but a valuable symptom reflecting a lethal underlying global disease

Engagement And Confrontation
In The Middle East
By Nicola Nasser

Two-pronged U.S. tactics of confrontation and engagement unfolded last week and described by some media as "turnabouts" in the strategy of containment of what Washington perceives as adverse regional roles in the Middle East, but in the Iraqi context and in historical perspective these tactics are revealed only as old diplomatic manoeuvres in the drawers of the State Department

This Spring America's Target
Is Not Iran But Pakistan
By Abid Mustafa

America knows full well that she will not be able to crush the Pushtun resistance and that Musharraf may not survive. But the US has no choice-it is make or break for the US in Afghanistan and the calculus of Musharraf survival is irrelevant

The Case For Withdrawal From Afghanistan
By Tariq Ali

The lesson here, as in Iraq, is a basic one. It is much better for regime-change to come from below even if this means a long wait as in South Africa, Indonesia or Chile. Occupations disrupt the possibilities of organic change and create a much bigger mess than existed before. Afghanistan is but one example

America's March Madness
By Mickey Z.

Last month, I touched on a fraction of February's forgotten history vis-à-vis America's long history of global brutality. Here's a small taste of March's madness

"You And I And The Next War"
By Uri Avnery

An American and/or Israeli adventure would be a disaster. Bombs can devastate a country, but not a people like the Iranians. Only the wildest imagination can foresee how the more than a billion Muslims in scores of countries - including all our neighbors - would react to the destruction of a Muslim country (even a Shiite one). This is playing with fire, which may start a world-wide conflagration

A Democracy In Crisis: Who Is Really In Control?
By Ramzy Baroud

If I could only present these questions to my dear professor of many years ago; if he is still alive, I wonder what his answer would be. Would he contend that our system of checks and balances and the foresightedness of the founding fathers would eventually prevail over the corruption of the ruling elites and big businesses? Or would he finally admit that a nation that compromises on its freedom under false pretexts is a nation that is destined to lose its own democracy, once the greatest on earth?

Five Years After Godhra And The Pogrom
By Dionne Bunsha

There is no violence but the atmosphere of fear and prejudice still prevails. Gujarat is a society divided — where minorities are segregated and face social and economic boycotts. Muslims have been pushed into ghettos

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