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30 June, 2007

Around The Globe Farmers Losing Ground
By Lester R. Brown

Whether the land is in northern Syria, Lesotho, or elsewhere, the health of the people living on it cannot be separated from the health of the land itself. A large share of the world’s 852 million hungry people live on land with soils worn thin by erosion

Intelligence Services, The Media
And Anti-Iran Propaganda

By Paul Ingram & Mehrnaz Shahabi

Mehrnaz Shahabi interviews Paul Ingram on the role of the intelligence services in the anti-Iran propaganda in the Western media

Tony Blair: A True Friend Of Israel
By Arjan El Fassed

It should not come as a surprise that Israeli government officials welcome Blair to his new job. Although he has long claimed to be interested in supporting justice for the Palestinians, Blair has an unremitting record of bias towards Israel. After George W. Bush, Blair is probably the most disliked and distrusted individual, among Palestinians as well as in the Arab world in general

Gaza: From Economic To Humanitarian Disaster
By Sonja Karkar

Now, in an outrageous abuse of human rights and political intrigue, the Palestinians in Gaza are being isolated and pushed deeper into destitution and despair while the funds Israel and the West withheld for 18 months are pouring into the government coffers of the Palestinians in the West Bank. Such man-made decisions used to further political interests are a crime against humanity

Thanks For Dick Cheney
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Our Constitution should not allow the government to make us victims and our nation hated by so much of the world. That’s what Cheney should teach us. Now, it’s up to us. Pray that a petulant Bush does not learn from Cheney, exploit the Constitution by resigning, and create President Cheney

A Pipeline Into The Heart Of Europe
By M K Bhadrakumar

Russian President Vladimir Putin, a published expert in judo, has used his skills to throw the US off balance in the competition for energy. In the past few weeks he has defeated all Western-backed projects to bring gas from Central Asia into Europe, and now he is aiming at the Balkans. As any judo expert can confirm, brute force is not required. The bigger they are, the harder they fall

Paradise Lost: The Endless War In Sri Lanka
By Joseph Grosso

After decades of ethnic and religious nationalism along with cutting edge violence, it is long past due for Sri Lanka to overcome a legacy of colonialism and bigotry. However long the short-term odds, on this the world cannot abdicate

Russell, Rousseau, And Rationality:A Marxist Critique
By Thomas Riggins

I propose to show that Russell's interpretation of Rousseau in The History of Western Philosophy (HWP), is both unfair and inaccurate and misrepresents Rousseau's historical legacy

A Different Kind Of Peace Candidate For President
By Kevin Zeese

Dal LaMagna is running for president by working to end the Iraq War. The independently wealthy businessman just returned from a trip to Amman, Jordan and Baghdad, Iraq where he met with members of the Iraq Parliament, Iraqi tribal leaders, representatives of the resistance and U.S authorities, including Generals Petraeus, Lamb and Newton. He told me that the road to the White House is through Iraq

Muslims In Kerala And Elsewhere:
Accounting For The Difference

By Yoginder Sikand

Although the Kerala Muslim model cannot be wholly replicated elsewhere in India because each region has its own specific context, there is much that can be learnt from it. Muslim organizations and social activists in other parts of India could consider arranging for study tours to visit Muslim institutions in Kerala and interact with their counterparts there

29 June, 2007

Fallujah On The Boil Again
By Ali al-Fadhily

Strict curfew and tight security measures have brought difficult living conditions and heightened tempers to residents of this besieged city.The siege in this city located 60km west of Baghdad has entered its second month. There is little sign of any international attention to the plight of the city. Fallujah, which is largely sympathetic to the Iraqi resistance, was assaulted twice by the U.S. military in 2004

Iraqi Court Hands Down 22 Death
Sentences In Four Weeks

By James Cogan

Over the four weeks from May 6 to June 2, the Central Criminal Court in Iraq (CCCI) sentenced 22 people to death, 21 to life imprisonment and dozens more to terms of between 10 and 30 years. At this rate, the US-backed Iraqi regime will order the judicial murder of well over 250 people by the end of the year and condemn another 2,000 to lengthy prison terms. In numerous cases, the “crimes” for which Iraqis have been convicted were acts of war against US occupation forces

The Failing Of Gaza
By Philip Rizk

The democratically elected Hamas government was doomed to failure when the world refused to recognize the last election outcome. Now, the new mini state of Gaza will fail, because the world will not allow it to succeed

How To Destroy An African-American City
In Thirty Three Steps – Lessons From Katrina

By Bill Quigley

Every fact in this list actually happened and continues to happen in New Orleans after Katrina

Big Oil And Big Media V. Hugo Chavez
By Stephen Lendman

On June 27, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal vied for attention with feature stories on oil giants ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips "walking away from their multi-billion-dollar investments in Venezuela" as the Journal put it or standing "Defiant in Venezuela" as the Times headlined. Both papers can barely contain their displeasure over Hugo Chavez wanting Venezuela to have majority ownership of its own assets and no longer let Big (foreign) Oil investors plunder them

Mcmansions, SUVs, Mega-Churches
And The Baghdad Embassy:
Life Among Dim And Brutal Giants

By Phil Rockstroh

The bone-grinding giants of the American corporate and political classes have shot the Golden Goose full of growth hormones, enclosed her in an industrial coop, and hoarded her voluminous output of eggs. Yet, nothing satisfies them

The Bottom Line: Profit
By Emily Spence

We must resist purchase of products by companies responsible for these outrageous horrors. We must, likewise, forego endorsement of all war efforts and turn our back on support of any government representatives choosing to serve their own best interests in lieu of their constituents. Similarly, we must let all parties involved in transgressions know of our deep and adamant ire over their unconscionable practices

Reviewing Linda McQuaig's
"Holding The Bully's Coat"

By Stephen Lendman

"Holding the Bully's Coat - Canada and the US Empire" is Linda McQuaig's eighth book. McQuaig explains how corporate-Canada, its elitist "comprador class," the Department of National Defense (DND), and mainstream commentators want Canada to be Washington's subservient junior partner. The result is Ottawa abandoned its traditional role in peacekeeping, supporting internationalism, as a fair-minded mediator and conciliator, and it's continuing downhill from there

27 June, 2007

The U.S. Role In The Gaza Tragedy
By Stephen Zunes

There is much blame to go around regarding the tragic turn of events in the Gaza Strip. While Hamas is the most immediate culprit, responsibility also rests with Fatah, Israel – and the United States

Our Obligation To The World
By Paul Buchheit

30,000 people die every day from hunger and disease, 10 times more than the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Over 18,000 children die every day, mostly from hunger. They die from malaria because they can't afford mosquito nets. They die from diarrhea because they don't have clean water. They die from accidents in African mines, where they're forced to work in the heat and toxic dust for 70 hours a week. These are extreme conditions. These people are living in terror. This is happening every day. But what can WE do about it?

Overgrown Kids, Unshackled Ids,
And The Death Of The Superego

By Jason Miller

Frightening as it may be, the Earth’s fate rests in the hands of children. With incredibly formidable military firepower at its disposal, the United States could catalyze Armageddon at any time. And while they may be adults chronologically, our sociopolitical structure is dominated by emotional infants

King Hemp- Part II
Battle Lines: Natural, Or Synthetic...Life, Or Death?
By Rand Clifford

Will We The People find the wisdom, coordination and motivation to take back what CorpoGov stole from us through lies and manipulation seventy years ago...lies and manipulation still robust today?

Police Spy Agencies Target Australian Universities
By Laura Tiernan

Last week’s revelation that police intelligence sought to recruit University of Sydney Students Representative Council (SRC) leader Daniel Jones to spy on fellow students points to increasing state surveillance of political activity on university campuses

Hizbullah—Party Of God - Book Review
By Yoginder Sikand

Much has been written about Hizbullah, 'The Party of God', the Lebanon-based resistance movement. Yet, as the editor of this book, Abdar Rahman Koya, points out, most of this has been by Western writers, who represent a distinctly Western and, therefore, biased, perspective. This book, a collection of essays that originally appeared in the columns of the Toronto-based monthly 'Crescent International', provides an alternative perspective on the movement

Muslim Dalits Denied Justice
By Irshadul Haque

According to a special provision in article 341 of the Indian Constitution, 'untouchable' or Dalit communities, termed as Scheduled Castes (SCs), get several special rights, including reservations in education, employment and membership of Parliament as well as states assemblies. But this special right has been extended to only those who declare themselves to be Hindus, Buddhists or Sikhs, while Muslim and Christian Dalits are denied these rights

26 June, 2007

Fallujah-Style Offensive Underway In Baqubah
By Peter Symonds

A huge US offensive codenamed “Operation Arrowhead Ripper” is underway in the Iraqi city of Baqubah, as part of extensive American operations aimed at suppressing insurgent groups in Baghdad and areas to the north and south of the capital. US troops, backed by armoured vehicles, artillery, helicopter gunships and warplanes, have sealed off the city of 300,000

After The Spaniards, Who Will Be
Next To Die In Lebanon?

By Robert Fisk

Which United Nations contingent in southern Lebanon will be next? It is a ghoulish, terrible question after the car bomb attack that killed six Spanish soldiers of the 13,000-strong international army on Sunday evening, but one which the officers of the UN Interim Force - Unifil - are asking at their intelligence meetings

Can The Arab World Be Turned Into Gaza’s Jailers?
By Jonathan Cook

Israel looks as if it is dusting off yet another blueprint for how to manage the Palestinians and their irritating obsession with sovereignty. Last time, under Oslo, the Palestinians were put in charge of policing the occupation on Israel’s behalf. This time, as the Palestinians are sealed into their separate prisons masquerading as a state, Israel may believe that it can find a new jailer for the Palestinians -- the Arab world

Goodbye To The City Upon A Hill
And To Its Fabled Economy

By Paul Craig Roberts

America is being destroyed. Many Americans are unaware, others are indifferent, and some intend it. The destruction is across the board: the political and constitutional system, the economy, social institutions including the family itself, citizenship, and the character and morality of the American people

Terrorism Inc.: Violence And
Counter-Violence (of the Letter- Part III)

By Mustapha Marrouchi

Sixty years ago, German soldiers shaved off the beards of Orthodox Jews. Now the US army is doing the same to Islamists captured in Africa and elsewhere, before flying them to Guántanamo to be tortured, degraded, and interrogated in all sorts of ways that involve electric shock, forcible feeding, and sleep deprivation

"Demonstration" Government In Palestine
By Stephen Lendman

Everything happening in the Middle East in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and Afghanistan in Central Asia is interconnected. In all of it, Washington is partnered with Israel and the EU aiming to subdue the people in both regions, control their resources, and rule over this vast area in colonial-occupier fashion directly on the ground or ideally with puppet-installed governments

The Proof Of climate Change
And The Inevitability Of 2 C

By Dr John James

Were we to instantly stop all emissions, stop everything today, average global temperature would continue to rise as follows: Current temp + latent heat + dimming = 0.78 + 0.45 + 20% = 1.5 C. This is double the increase of the past two centuries

China's New Weapons
By John Chuckman

An excerpt from John Chuckman's new book "What's It All About? The Decline of the American Empire"

It’s The Crude, Dude - War, Big Oil,
And The Fight For The Planet

By Jime Miles

A review of Linda McQuaig's book "It’s the Crude, Dude - War, Big Oil, and the Fight For the Planet"

Immunity, Floating Of Norms Encourages
High Rate of HR Abuse In Jammu And Kashmir

By Syed Junaid Hashmi

In a state where impunity rules the roost, procedural safeguards designed to prevent torture and other mistreatment of persons in custody are allegedly being routinely floated by security forces. Those arrested merely on suspicious grounds are allegedly tortured, humiliated and abused

Mughals And Backwardness Of Indian Women
By Adv. Irfan Engineer

The Presidential nominee of the UPA made an unnecessary statement linking the ghunghat of Hindu women to the Mughal rule

Democracy In The Line Of Fire
By Hassan N. Gardezi

When Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s memoir, In the Line of Fire appeared last year it was perhaps dismissed too quickly by progressive readers and commentators as a military ruler's attempt at self promotion. Yet, as Pakistan is about to celebrates its 60th anniversary, once again under the rule of a military man, it is worthwhile to revisit his book and try specifically to figure out who this man is, how he rose to power, how his mind works as a military politician, and how does his rule link up with previous military regimes in shaping the kind of political system and the civil society we have in Pakistan today

A Hallowed Institution That Mirrors
The Split Personality Of A Nation

By Jawed Naqvi

Pratibha Patil appears to be as qualified as Shekhawat if not more with a law degree and years of experience as a state minister. More recently she was the governor of Rajasthan. If elected she would be the first woman to hold the office of the president. But she has said somewhere recently that Mughals invaders were responsible for the veil that Hindu women wear. The remark is being interpreted as implicitly communal if also rooted in ignorance

25 June, 2007

Victory In Iraq?
By Adil E. Shamoo & Bonnie Bricker

While the American people are seeking a way to bring the troops home from Iraq, the President and his administration are aiming to stay for much longer by redefining “victory” in Iraq once again—this time as a permanent occupier

Saving President Abbas
By Uri Avnery

At present, all Olmert's actions are endangering Abbas. His embrace is a bear's embrace, and his kiss is the kiss of death

Bolivia: The Clash Of Autonomies
By Federico Fuentes

The election of the indigenous government in Bolivia is the high-water mark in this struggle for indigenous self-determination in the Americas, a major leap towards consolidating the right of the indigenous people to assert majority rule within a plurinational state. Today, this same indigenous majority is putting its hopes for this new Bolivia in the constituent assembly

Violence Of The Master, Violence Of The Slave
By Jorge Majfud

From a humanistic point of view, the violence of the slave is always engendered by the violence of the master and not the other way around. But when we impose the idea that the violence of the slave engenders more violence, we are equating what is not equal in order to maintain an order that, in fact and in its discourse, denies the very notion of human equality

Political Attention Deficit Disorder –
New Psychiatric Condition

By Joel S. Hirschhorn

According to a report not yet released, the Council on Science and Public Health of the American Medical Association has recommended that a chronic and widespread affliction of Americans be officially declared a psychiatric disorder. It has been named the Political Attention Deficit Disorder (PADD)

Can The Real Shekhawat Ever Stand Up?
By Subhash Gatade

Nobody seems to recapitulate Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's his highly controversial statement warning the state government to desist from 'appeasement of Muslims' if it wants to avoid a 'Gujarat type situation' when the genocide in Gujarat was on. And nobody seems to remember the manner in which he graced the occasion of the birth anniversary celebrations of Golwalkar, the second Supremo of RSS, while he was still a Vice President of India

Sparks From "The Notes Of A Vagabond Mind"
By Prasanna Ratnayake

A review of The Sri Lankan film director and writer Tissa Abeysekara's new book "The Notes Of A Vagabond Mind"

23 June, 2007

The Fight For The World's Food
By Daniel Howden

Population is growing. Supply is falling. Prices are rising. What will be the cost to the planet's poorest?

The Desecration Of Democracy
By Philip Rizk

A fear overtook the Gaza Strip after Hamas took control of institutions this past week, which are rightfully theirs to control. Few outside realize that the Gaza Strip can hardly be more isolated, or sink into a worse economic depression, save starvation, than it has in the past two years

Everything Is Possible
By Yigal Bronner

The machine of displacement never tires. It continues its work in the occupied territories and in Israel proper, from Rafah to the Negev, from Hebron to Jerusalem, from Budrus to Bil'in, from Jenin to Sakhnin. It grabs an acre here and an acre there. Let me be clear: no solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is possible so long as it continues its work. But dismantle it, and everything is possible

Who’s Responsible For The Palestinian Political Crisis?
By Jamal Juma'

The question where the responsibility lies, with Hamas or Fatah, is utterly out of place. The real plotters of the current situation are Israel, the US and Europe

How Can Blair Possibly Be Given This Job?
By Robert Fisk

I suppose that astonishment is not the word for it. Stupefaction comes to mind. I simply could not believe my ears in Beirut when a phone call told me that Lord Blair of Kut al-Amara was going to create "Palestine". I checked the date - no, it was not 1 April - but I remain overwhelmed that this vain, deceitful man, this proven liar, a trumped-up lawyer who has the blood of thousands of Arab men, women and children on his hands is really contemplating being "our" Middle East envoy. Can this really be true?

Bush Administration Rushes
To Pakistani Dictator’s Aid

By Keith Jones & Vilani Peiris

Top Bush administration and Pentagon officials have held intensive consultations with Pakistan’s embattled military regime during the past two weeks with the aim of bolstering the autocratic rule of General Pervez Musharraf and securing increased Pakistani military support in staunching the insurgency against Afghanistan’s US-installed government

Out Of Afghanistan And Iraq And Into Kyoto
By Jeff Berg

For the first time in our history North America is uniquely disadvantaged when it comes to fundamental resources. This fact combined with our extraordinary level of accrued wealth and the sophistication of our information systems gives us every opportunity and motive imaginable to lead ourselves out of Afghanistan and Iraq and into Kyoto

Bolivia: On The Verge Of A Racial Revenge?
By Pablo Stefanoni

Ever since the inauguration of Evo Morales, the right wing have begun to raise the spectre of a "racial revenge", supposedly promoted by the new government

Rubber Boom Raises Hope Of Repatriates
By K A Shaji

Rubber is back in demand again. With the international market picking up, happiness is back in the faces of scores of Tamil repatriates from Sri Lanka, who have been rehabilitated in rubber plantations located at Punalur in Kerala and Dakshina Kannada in Karnataka

22 June, 2007

Palestinians At A Cross-Road
By Dr. Elias Akleh

Many believe that what happened in Gaza last week was the result of a failed American/Israeli policy. The opposite is true; that was exactly what Bush’s administration, Israeli government, and some Arab leaders were hoping and planning for. The Hamas resistance phenomenon was to be destroyed for fear of spreading to the rest of the Arab countries. Hamas government was set up and given no choice but to pre-emptively defend itself against Dahlan’s death squads

All In The Family: Disharmony In Gaza
By Remi Kanazi

Rubbing Hamas' face in the dirt (along with the 1.4 million people of Gaza) like schoolyard bullies may seem like an after school delight, but it will only foment more hatred against Israel and more disgust with Fatah

In Search Of Justice In The Middle East
By Ali Abunimah

Intra-Palestinian dialogue without outside interference, and South Africa or Northern Ireland-style peace talks aimed at ending all forms of military occupation, inequality and discrimination, with strong outside support, may yet save the situation. But so far there are no signs that the Bush administration will heed these obvious rudiments of peace

Democracy Defeated
By Ramzy Baroud

All my forewarnings have suddenly been actualised, all at once: Gaza has descended into total and utter chaos; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has capitulated to Israel and to the United States without a shred of reservation; and the Palestinian democratic experiment, which was until recently an astounding success, has been smashed to pieces

An Active Complicity In Israel’s Terror
By Ghali Hassan

On June 5, 2007, the pro-Zionist U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 152, endorsing Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and Israel’s illegal and violent “reunification of Jerusalem”. The passing of the Resolution was a deliberate violation of UN Security Council and in contempt of world peace

Fears For Democracy In India
By Martha C. Nussbaum

What we see in Gujarat is not a simplistic, comforting thesis, but something more disturbing: the fact that in a thriving democracy, many individuals are unable to live with others who are different, on terms of mutual respect and amity. They seek total domination as the only road to security and pride

Displacing Farmers: India Will Have
400 Million Agricultural Refugees

By Devinder Sharma

Almost 500 special economic zones are being carved out. What is however less known is that successive government’s are actually following a policy prescription that had been laid out by the World Bank as early as in 1995

Are Americans Unready To Boil?
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Support the effort to get the nation’s first Article V convention, especially if you sense our societal waters becoming hotter – sometimes faster, as under Bush. Sign up at www.foavc.org. Don’t let self-delusion and false hope in Republicans or Democrats blind you. Let freedom ring. Make Thomas Jefferson proud

Northern Light
By Jason Miller & Tony Sutton

Tony Sutton of ColdType interviewed by Jason Miller

21 June, 2007

Saving Darfur Or Salvation Delusion?
By Steve Fake & Kevin Funk

In addition to funding relief organizations, which is evidently of less importance to Washington than saber rattling, there are other paths to pursue, if one cares to seek them. Activists must push the West to support negotiations between Khartoum and Darfurian rebel groups, instead of advocating an agreement such as the DPA that does not reflect popular demands

The Mask Of Imperial Power Is Dying
By Jim Kirwan

The charade is over in Palestine. The farce that tried to pass itself off as a pathway to peace has clearly ended. The ‘West’ led by Israel and the US has finally begun to show the world the duplicity of their joint criminality as that has most recently been underscored in “Gaza vs. The West Bank.”

The Light At The End Of The Gaza-Ramallah Tunnel
By Omar Barghouti

This latest dose of American -- Israeli-inspired -- "constructive chaos" in the occupied Palestinian territory may well wreak havoc on US-Israeli policy in the region. With the imminent dissipation of the illusion that a national Palestinian sovereignty can be established under the overall colonial hegemony of Israel, many Palestinians are now seriously questioning the wisdom of the two-state mantra and considering to repose their plight as one for equal humanity and full emancipation, within the framework of a unitary, democratic state solution in historic Palestine

West Chooses Fatah, But Palestinians Don't
By Saree Makdisi

Fayyad and Abbas have the support of Israel, but it is no secret that they lack the backing of their own people

Palestinians Must Have Hope To Move Forward
By Mona El-Farra

We, too, have the right to be free. But we must first free ourselves from fighting over the scraps of power.Like oppressed people everywhere, we yearn for our rights. Out of this ugly period, we must promote a new vision of equality for all peoples living on this land, regardless of race or religion

Uruguay's Frente Amplio:
From Revolution To Dilution

By MIchael Fox

How one of Latin America’s most radical progressive coalitions finally achieved their country’s presidency, and how those at the helm are now turning their backs on their radical base

Sceptical After Second Shrine Attack
By Ali al-Fadhily

The second bombing of the Shiite shrine of al-Askari in Samarra, Iraq, last week brought reprisal attacks, but it also brought solidarity against the occupiers

Shrill Lies Getting Louder And More Shrill
By David Truskoff

A statue purported to be a memorial to victims of Communism worldwide was unveiled on June 13,2007 In Washington D.C. The propaganda show kicked off a barrage of lies that would even make the wild eyed claims of the Hearst press and the New York times of 1933 seem mild

The Democratic Party And The Infantile
Omnipotence Of The Ruling Class

By Phil Rockstroh

We've waited and we've seen. Consequently, since the Republican leadership have not taken ceremonial swords in hand and disemboweled themselves on nationwide TV, it's time we pulled the plug on the Democratic Party, an entity that has only been kept alive by a corporately inserted food-tube. In my opinion, this remains the last, best hope for the living ideals of progressive governance to become part of the body politic

Sri Lankan President’s “Peace” Mask
Starts To Slip Off

By Wije Dias

During a visit to the Middle East late last month, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse defended his government’s war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in an interview with Al Jazeera that was notable for its crudeness, arrogance and incoherence. Taken as a whole, the interview reveals that the mask of peace is starting to slip, exposing a communal warmonger who is directly responsible for the terrible crimes being carried out by the Sri Lankan security forces

Living Under Fear
By Aftab Alexander Mughal

The murder of a Christian in Landi Kotal, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, in a very recent incident, once again endangered Christians of Charsadda, who received two different messages in May to be converted to Islam

Panchayats Can Deny Permission For
Field Trials Of GM crops

By Kavitha Kuruganti

The Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) - which is the apex regulatory body for looking into GM crop research and development in the country – brought in a new condition for any GM crop field trials to be conducted in India from this year onwards. As per this, Panchayats have to give prior permission for such a trial to take place in their jurisdiction before the GEAC considers any application. Panchayats have to make good use of this authority that they enjoy now

20 June, 2007

The Scramble For Africa's Oil
By Christopher Thompson

The world's most neglected continent is assuming an increasing global importance as the international oil industry begins to exploit more and more of the west coast of Africa's abundant reserves

The General’s Report
By Seymour M. Hersh

How Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, became one of its casualties

US Military Launches Massive Assault In Iraq
By Bill Van Auken

Backed by armored columns and helicopter gunships, some 10,000 US troops have launched a massive assault on the provincial capital of Baquba and other areas north and east of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.The operation, dubbed Arrowhead Ripper, is one of the largest since the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003

Northern Iraq’s Tangled Web
By Conn Hallinan

There are few areas in the world more entangled in historical deceit and betrayal than northern Iraq, where the British, the Ottomans, and the Americans have played a deadly game of political chess at the expense of the local Kurds. And now, because of a volatile brew of internal Iraqi and Turkish politics, coupled with the Bush administration’s clandestine war to destabilize and overthrow the Iranian government, the region threatens to explode into a full-scale regional war

Taliban Put Up A New Fight
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

With the Taliban geared for their biggest push of the year to take control of southern Afghanistan, district by district, coupled with suicide attacks in the cities, Western intelligence believes that the killing of Mullah Dadullah was a big mistake

Sorry We Killed Your Children
But It Couldn't Be Helped

By Thomas Riggins

Its getting harder and harder to believe U.S. government spokespersons when they imply that the killing of Afghan children is something we try to avoid. The more you read the news reports the more it looks like our policy is one of just not giving a hoot about children and other civilians. It seems like we just don’t care if we kill them or not

Terrorism Inc.: Violence And
Counter-violence (of the Letter)-Part II

By Mustapha Marrouchi

To turn from the argument I have been making in section one to the speech given by Pope Benedict XVI, the bile secreted by Martin Amis, and the diatribe led by Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to be sharply reminded of the point at issue: From what vantage point could the West label Islam as inferior, backward, and vengeful?

The Record Of The Newspaper Of Record
By Stephen Lendman

This article focuses on one example of New York Times duplicity among many other prominent ones equally sinister and disturbing - its venomous agitprop targeting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

Visible Fist And The Budget Matrix
By Anu Muhammad

The thin allocation in the present budget of Bangladesh to mineral resource division reflects government's unwillingness to do minimum efforts to build own capability to ensure authority over national resources, explore and make best possible utilization after ensuring energy security. That certainly makes global lords and local allies happy

King Hemp
By Rand Clifford

The sordid tale of hemp prohibition in America is a superlative example of power working against the population, of corporate profits trumping We The People

Trauma Of Daily Violence In Jammu
And Kashmir Telling Upon Mental Health

By Syed Junaid Hashmi

Ravaged by conflict, traumatized by lack of accountability and strangled by social taboos, people in Jammu and Kashmiri have been both witness to and victims of violence which has had a significant effect on their mental health. While a sustainable political solution to "K" problem seems far away, psychological wounds inflicted by violence and impunity on the Kashmiri society continue to increase and go well beyond socio-economic problems

19 June, 2007

The Earth Today Stands In Imminent Peril
By Steve Connor

Six scientists from some of the leading scientific institutions in the United States have issued what amounts to an unambiguous warning to the world: civilisation itself is threatened by global warming. Instead of sea levels rising by about 40 centimetres, as the IPCC predicts in one of its computer forecasts, the true rise might be as great as several metres by 2100. That is why, they say, planet Earth today is in "imminent peril"

Global Warming To Multiply
World’s Refugee Burden

By Allistair Lyon

If rising sea levels force the people of the Maldive Islands to seek new homes, who will look after them in a world already turning warier of refugees? The daunting prospect of mass population movements set off by climate change and environmental disasters poses an imminent new challenge that no one has yet figured out how to meet

Hamas’ Shock And Awe
By Sam Bahour

The recent overrunning of Gaza by Hamas militants was the equivalent to the United States’ Shock and Awe campaign in Iraq. Both campaigns were conducted outside the realm of international law and were violent and brutal, albeit each relative to their respective resources and internal contexts; both claimed to be ‘preemptive’ in nature; and both events placed the Palestinian people and struggle for national liberation in even a more precarious position

Entangled Insurgencies–Hezbollah And Hamas
By Jim Miles

In the past year, two completely unexpected events have surprised all the politicians and pundits who never even came close. The first event was the surprising victory of the Hezbollah forces against the Israeli attack in Lebanon. The second is the recent surprise of Hamas taking full control of Gaza, in spite of the overwhelming favour granted Fatah financially and with armaments by Israel and the U.S. Behind these two actions is a history replete with commonalities

Whose Coup, Exactly?
By Virginia Tilley

The Fayyad Government has no democratic mandate, is not operating by the very rules that establish its democratic legitimacy, and so is only a facsimile of the 'government' with which many of the world's states established diplomatic relations. It does not help that the United States, an obedient Europe, and legless Arab states have trotted up to anoint it as the sole legitimate authority. Nor does it help to pretend that Hamas -- a broad movement with popular legitimacy -- will simply disappear through decrees from Abbas and some nice political theatre

Towards A Geography Of Peace: Whither Gaza?
By Ilan Pappé

When the Wall of Apartheid is removed and the electric fences of Zionism dismantled -- Gaza will become once more a symbol of Fernand Braudel's coastal society, able to fuse different cultural horizons and offer a space for new life instead of the war zone it has become in the last sixty years

A Dream Called Electricity
By Ali al-Fadhily

Simmering in the summer heat, Iraqis now have a dream called electricity.It is a part of the bigger dream of reconstruction that collapsed. On all measurable levels, the infrastructure is worse than under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, even when it was crippled by the harshest economic sanctions in modern history

Reviewing Michel Chossudovsky's
America's War on Terrorism

By Stephen Lendman

The book is in four parts, each discussed enough to convey the essence and flavor of the heavily documented power-packed amount of information in the volume's 365 pages - a healthy serving for each day of the year

No MedGuide For Zyprexa After Eleven
Years Of Death And Injury

By Evelyn Pringle

Considering everything revealed about Zyprexa in the filings of all of this litigation, medical professionals and patient advocacy groups are infuriated over the fact that Lilly is still profiting from the drug. In the first quarter of 2007, sales were up 11% in the US from last year, and Zyprexa earned Lilly more than $1.1 billion, according to the company's April 16, 2007 SEC filing

Socio-Cultural Empowerment Of Indian Muslims
By Yoginder Sikand

Paper presented at a conference on the Sachar Committee Report in Kochi

Looking For Common Remedies
To A Rabid Malaise

By Jawed Naqvi

A couple of weeks ago an Indian TV channel showed men, women and children somewhere in the country drinking water from an open gutter because they believed it was a foolproof prevention against rabies.The gut wrenching sight of a father lovingly scooping up brown liquid into a glass, with everything floating in it, and offering it to his young ones revealed a sickening reality for a nation aspiring to become some kind of a superpower

18 June, 2007

The Battle For Bolivia's Future
By Federico Fuentes

The breaking of a six-month deadlock in Bolivia's constituent assembly has paved the way for the opening of an intense debate on the future of this politically polarised country nestled in the heart of South America. Beginning to lose the battle within the halls of the assembly, the right-wing opposition has threaten to take the fight onto the streets, announcing that it may reject any new constitution that emerges out of the body

Bolivia: Why Do They Fear
Indigenous Autonomy?

By Carlos Cuasase Surubi

Why do they fear indigenous autonomy? Is it not the best option for the democratic life and tranquillity that all us Bolivians want, that our rights be written into the constitution and respected by governments?

The Gaza Cage
By Uri Avnery

The timing of Hamas' decision to take over the Strip by force was not accidental. The Hamas leaders decided that they had no alternative but to destroy the armed organizations that are tied to Fatah and take their orders from President Mahmoud Abbas. The US has ordered Israel to supply these organizations with large quantities of weapons, in order to enable them to fight Hamas

Oslo's Baleful Legacy
By Nimer Sultany

The fighting in Gaza is shameful. Fatah and Hamas bear the main responsibility of the bloodshed. Oslo, it turns out, was a mistake. The reality of Palestinians killing each other over a meaningless authority (while the occupier is laughing down the road) is tragic

The Battle Of Gaza
By Mike Whitney

The battle of Gaza is just a macrocosm of a much larger phenomenon which now extends from Mogadishu to Kabul. Change is coming, but it might not be to Bush’s liking. That’s the real lesson of what happened in Gaza

US Needs To Exit Iraq
By Mikhail Gorbachev

U.S. withdrawal from Iraq is inevitable. But is it not better to withdraw when the major players inside and outside of Iraq agree on key issues?

War Foretold: Mark Twain
And The Sins Of Our Race

By Ramzy Baroud

The war is real and frightening and hurtful; it’s not an intellectual argument; it cannot be reduced to a few images and captions and editorials; nothing can ever capture a moment where a mother receives the corpse of a son or the scene of a father kneeling before the shattered body of a daughter. It’s all real, and it’s all our own doing, whether by supporting, financing and fighting the war, or by staying silent as it rages on

Dr. Rafil A. Dhafir At Terre Haute Prison’s
New Communications Management Unit

By Katherine Hughes

CMU Prisoner Dr. Rafil A. Dhafir and The War on Muslim Charities Some of the major casualties in the government’s “war on terror” have been Muslim charities and their principals. Two CMU inmates, Enaam Arnaout of Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) and Dr. Rafil A. Dhafir of Help the Needy (HTN), were defendants in Islamic charity cases. Neither has been convicted of charges that have anything to do with terrorism

AFSPA In Jammu And Kashmir
By Syed Junaid Hashmi

With Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in "application", people across the state who have been battered by impunity being enjoyed by security forces under this law, desire the law to be revoked at the earliest. However, separatists and mainstream "representatives" of these voices are yet to reconcile and demand revocation of the act in one voice

16 June, 2007

Awaking To A Different Gaza
By Philip Rizk

Although the final Fatah stronghold was still standing by the evening Hamas fighters were already making the rounds in the streets, three and four jeeps at a time, loaded with armed men wearing all black, their faces covered with masks, holding their guns in the air, a few, rather uncomfortably, waving to the people. On al-Aqsa, the only remaining radio station being aired from Gaza belonging to Hamas, these areas are being called "freed" from the traitors

Welcome To 'Palestine'
By Robert Fisk

No one asked - on our side - which particular Israel Hamas was supposed to recognise. The Israel of 1948? The Israel of the post-1967 borders? The Israel which builds - and goes on building - vast settlements for Jews and Jews only on Arab land, gobbling up even more of the 22 per cent of "Palestine" still left to negotiate over ?

Laboratory Rats: Palestinians Of Gaza
And Our Contemporary Josefs Mengeles

By Agustin Velloso

Faced with the fear that things may get even worse, one must not lose sight of the causes of the events in Gaza, their connection with the situation in Lebanon and Iraq and above all the lies the media use to defend the interests of the West and Israel at the expense of the Palestinians

Gaza: Not Just A Prison, A Laboratory
By Naomi Klein

At a glance, things aren’t going well for Israel. But here’s a puzzle: why, in the midst of such chaos and carnage, is the Israeli economy booming like it’s 1999, with a roaring stock market and growth rates nearing China’s?

The Pentagon v. Peak Oil
By Michael Klare

How Wars of the Future May Be Fought Just to Run the Machines That Fight Them

Suicidal Attacks In Pakistan: Only One Of Its Kinds
By Akhtar Ali Syed

The combination of sectarian and political agendas in suicidal killing exist no where else other than in Pakistan

Pakistan: What Are We Leaving Behind?
By Abid Ullah Jan

We are approaching the 60th year of national denial and treachery. We don’t have any independent national foreign or national policy. We have forgotten the reason d’être of Pakistan. We have become the mirror opposite of who and what we said we will be if we achieved an independent state

Canada: Funding Faith-Based Schools
By Tarek Fatah & Salma Siddiqui

In 2003, in an attempt to break into the Liberal-dominated, vote-rich urban ridings, the government of Ernie Eves started funding private religious schools with public funds. It did not work and he was voted out of office. Now, Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory has embarked on the same venture

Looking Beyond ‘K’ Issue
By Zafar Choudhary

What Jammu and Kashmir would look like the day after Kashmir conflict is amicably resolved with a consensus between New Delhi, Islamabad and separatist leadership of Srinagar

Cuppa Of Woes Brimmeth Over
By K A Shaji

The tea industry in India is now on the road to recovery. However, the slow increase in prices and the growing demand across the globe are yet to be reflected in the faces of thousands Tamil repatriates and refugees, who work in tea plantations in Nilgiri hills

15 June, 2007

A Tragedy For Palestinians?
By Donald Macintyre

Mr Abbas's move, which Fatah hopes will underpin its dominance of the West Bank after the near-total defeat of its forces in Gaza, underlined the growing separation of the two Palestinian entities and prompted talk among some Israeli analysts of a "three state solution" ­ involving Israel, Gaza and the West Bank

A Setback For The Bush Doctrine In Gaza
By Ali Abunimah

The dramatic rout of the US and Israeli-backed Palestinian militias in Gaza by forces loyal to Hamas represents a major setback to the Bush doctrine in Palestine

Amid This Chaos,Suffering Will Get Worse
By Sami Abdel Shafi

The suffering for civilians here can only grow worse. We have not abandoned hope for an eventual peaceful outcome, but right now it feels as if Gaza is staring into an abyss

Fatah-Land And Hamastan?
By Chris Marsden

The fall out could be the de-facto creation of two Bantustan-like ghetto formations. One, “Fatah-land,” would be presided over by Abbas, functioning as a Western puppet, and would leave Israel in control of the prime land it has seized, including East Jerusalem. The other, “Hamastan,” with more than a million Palestinians huddled in a 360 square kilometre strip, would be hemmed in on one side by Israel and on the other by Egypt and a possible UN force. Both could be attacked at will by Israeli forces

Reviewing Noam Chomsky's "Interventions"
By Stephen Lendman

"Interventions" is a collection of 44 op-ed pieces, post-9/11, from September, 2002 through March, 2007.This review covers a healthy sampling of Chomsky's book dealing mostly with foreign policies but also some domestic ones in a post-9/11 world

Terrorism Inc.: Violence And
Counter-Violence (of the Letter)

By Mustapha Marrouchi

Today’s discourse on terrorism is an altogether more streamlined thing. Its scholarship is yesterday’s newspaper or today’s CNN bulletin. Most of the writing about terrorism is brief, pithy, and totally devoid of the scholarly armature of evidence, proof, or argument. Its paradigm is the television interview, the spot news announcement, the instant gratification one associates with the Bush White House’s “reality time,” the evening news based entirely on the sound bite

A World Without Oil
By Daniel Howden

Scientists challenge major review of global reserves and warn that supplies will start to run out in four years' time

Tantrums Of Mass Destruction or
The Enduring Beauty Of Ugly Truth

By Phil Rockstroh

Recent news reports have revealed that the Bush Administration has bestowed upon itself the right to grant itself absolute power if "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions" might come to pass

Avandia Hearing Exposes FDA As Negligent Watchdog
By Evelyn Pringle

The FDA has ignored repeated warnings about the potential cardiac risks associated with the diabetes drug Avandia, and medical experts predict Americans will likely pay a heavy price for trusting its negligent watchdog because US doctors wrote 13 million Avandia prescriptions in 2006 alone, according to IMS Health a medical information tracking firm

Political Hindutva : The Countdown Has Begun?
By Subhash Gatade

A report prepared by one of the national secretaries of the BJP Mr Prabhat Jha analysing the election results to UP, provide enough proof of the pathetic situation in which the party itself finds today. This report would be presented before the national executive meeting of the BJP to be held in last week of June and much fireworks are expected there

Entry To Lord's Abode: Who Can Qualify?
By Ram Puniyani

On June 11(2007) the Guruvayur temple trust issued an apology for the purification ritual carried out by them, in the aftermath of the visit of Vayalar Ravi with his family to the temple. The purification was performed to cleanse the temple as Mr. Ravi's wife Mercy is a Christian

13 June, 2007

Gaza Erupts In Violence
By IRIN News

Patients are dying in crossfire as hospitals have been overrun by gunmen in a new wave of Gaza violence, which the UN has warned is jeopardising the delivery of essential humanitarian aid

20,000 Children Affected By Conflict
In Lebanese Camp

By IRIN News

With the violence now in its fourth week, UNICEF estimates that some 15,000 children from Nahr al-Bared camp, once home to up to 40,000 people, and 5,000 children from the smaller Beddawi camp have been adversely affected by the conflict

The Secret War Against Hizbollah
By Alberto Cruz

In March the journalist Seymour Hersh said that the US Vice-President Dick Cheney, National Security Council adviser Elliot Abrams and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, himself his country's Security Minister, had agreed to fund Fatah al Islam "as a counterweight to Hizbollah".Hizbollah itself, via its Al Manar television station confirms the thesis, alleging that the presence of jihadists in Lebanon is part of a US, Israeli and Saudi strategy seeking a regional war between Sunni and Shia which would see the partition of Iraq followed by the partition of Syria and Lebanon

Bush Administration Embarks On
Reckless New Tactic In Iraq

By Peter Symonds

With its much-vaunted “surge” showing no signs of success and American casualties continuing to rise, the US military has begun to arm and equip sections of the Sunni insurgency, supposedly to fight against intransigent layers such as Al Qaeda-linked groups. Weapons, ammunition, cash, fuel and supplies are being provided to selected Sunni militia

Phony Terror And Black America
By Margaret Kimberley

Black Americans, Muslims and immigrants are being targeted as terror suspects without terror plots

A Black Day For Pakistan's Press
By Omar Waraich

With the government loath to allow journalists to report from Baluchistan and the tribal areas, much of Pakistan's own war on terror has gone largely unreported

Daw Suu Kyi And Movement For Democracy,
Freedom And Human Rights In Burma

By Dr. Habib Siddiqui

The SPDC's tactics to ignore Daw Suu Kyi on its proposed roadmap shows their naked hypocrisy or insincerity. This so-called blue-print for democracy will not have any better luck than dozens of other efforts that were tried out before that did not have people's support. The sooner the SPDC planners understand the importance of Daw Suu Kyi in restoration of democracy, human rights and freedom, the better

SEZs For The Rich,Poor To Bear The Brunt
By Arun Kumar

With ‘growth-at-any-cost’ being the sole motto of the Special Economic Zone policy, the cost of this new brand of industrialisation is falling on the marginalised, Indian farmers and tribals. Economist Arun Kumar analyses the phenomenon called SEZs

12 June, 2007

U.S.To Arm Sunni Arab Groups
By Kevin Zeese

The U.S. military has decided to provide arms to Sunni Arab groups some of who have been suspected of involvement in attacks on Americans. This act of desperation shows the deceit in any claims of success of the “surge.” The DoD would not be taking this risky approach if the U.S. military strategy was working

106 Journalists Killed In Iraq
By Patrick Cockburn

Sahar al-Haideri, an Iraqi journalist, had received 13 death threats before she was murdered in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last week. Her killing brings to 106 the number of journalists, almost all Iraqi, murdered in the country since the US invasion in 2003 along with 39 support staff

The Neoconservative Threat To American Freedom
By Paul Craig Roberts

The neoconservatives also believe that nuclear attack on Iran will isolate America in the world and, thereby, give the government control over the American people. The denunciations that will be hurled at Americans from every quarter will force the country to wrap itself in the flag and to treat domestic critics as foreign enemies. Not only free speech but also truth itself will disappear along with every civil liberty

The Hariri Tribunal: A Fait Accompli?
By Nisrine Abiad & Victor Kattan

While we welcome the establishment of the tribunal, the manner in which it has been adopted presents itself as a fait accompli, rather than a genuine attempt to hold those accused of serious criminality to account for their actions

‘Cleansing’ The Two-State ‘Vision’ In Jerusalem
By Nicola Nasser

“Israel Slides towards the Disastrous One State Trap,” The Baltimore Sun’s editorial concluded on June 5. The conclusion is no more true than in Jerusalem, where systematically and persistently Israel is accelerating her “Israelization” plans for eastern Jerusalem that will in the foreseen future doom the “land-for-peace” formula as obsolete, outdated and dead letter, and rule out the widely trumpeted solution of the two-state “vision” based on it as “unrealistic” wishful thinking

Testimony: Man Used As Human Shield
Injured In Jenin Camp

By B'Tselem

Majd Mufid Abd al-'Aziz Ghanem, 20, is a student and a resident of Jenin refugee camp. His testimony was given to 'Atef Abu al-Rub on 19 May 2007

Hundreds Of Tamils Forcibly Expelled From Colombo
By W.A. Sunil

In a blatantly illegal action on June 7, the Sri Lankan government ordered police to raid cheap boarding lodges in Colombo and forcibly evict Tamil residents from the capital. Police rounded up hundreds of ordinary Tamils at gunpoint, packed them into buses, drove them to the distant towns of Vavuniya in the North and Trincomalee in the East, and dumped them

International Aid And Economy
Still Failing Sub-Saharan Africa

By Rajesh Makwana

A recent report by the United Nations has revealed that not a single country in sub-Saharan Africa is on track to achieve the internationally agreed target for halving extreme poverty by 2015. This dire failure is unsurprising given the G8’s undelivered aid commitments, the inability of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to negotiate development-friendly trade rules, and the financial burdens imposed on many African countries by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and The World Bank

The Wrath Of 2007: America's Great Drought
By Andrew Gumbel

America is facing its worst summer drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Or perhaps worse still

Confessions: Cindy re Casey,Bill Moyer re Vietnam,
Jimmy Carter re Funding Terrorism

By Jay Janson

While we await Cindy's return, Bill Moyer, please tell all, and Jimmy Carter please come clean for the sake of the people of the world, and for your own reputation and peace of mind and heart. Silence from both of you will not erase the truth already well documented for future reference. We wish to think highly of you and continue to appreciate your help

A Bridge Too Far
By Satya Sagar

A communist stronghold for ages, Nandigram, along with Singur, is going through hell in a state where the Left Front has never been dethroned in the last three decades. All this because West Bengal has been bitten by the latest brainchild of India’s economic liberalisers for attracting global capital. Weeks after unimaginable State-sponsored brutalities on farmers, Satya Sagar travels through the restless districts and discovers intense fury amidst the wounds that will take a long time to heal

10 June, 2007

“Two States or One State”
By Uri Avnery & Ilan Pappe

A debate between former Knesset Member Uri Avnery and Doctor Ilan Pappe

40 Bad Years
By Uri Avnery

Beyond all the bad things the occupation has brought upon Israel, inside and outside, there is something that concerns each of us. Every human being wants to be proud of his country. The occupation deprives us of this

Jerusalem: Endorsing The Right Of Conquest
By Stephen Zunes

In a flagrant attack on the longstanding international legal principle that it is illegitimate for any country to expand its territory by military means, the U.S. House of Representatives, by an overwhelming bipartisan majority, passed House Concurrent Resolution 152 congratulating Israel for its forcible “reunification of Jerusalem” and its victory in the June 1967 war

Turkey Not Done With The Kurds
By M K Bhadrakumar

Over and above all, the fabulous oilfields of Kirkuk beckon US and Israeli business interests. Evidently, it is in the interests of the US and Israel that the region must remain an oasis of stability. Israel, in particular, would gain immensely if Kurdistan gained full independence

Hidden Wars: US Troops In Germany
By Heather Wokusch

There's an unexpected front in the Bush administration's "war on terror" - Germany. And the roughly 68,000 US troops stationed across the country often find themselves in the center of controversy over US foreign policy

Widespread Lies: An American Woe
By Emily Spence

Many Americans (50% in 2006 according to a Harris Poll) still believe that weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq and provided a sufficient reason for US to preemptively attack. A considerable portion, also, think that the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq and that the Iraqi government had ties to Al Qaeda (64% according to same tally). Yet, none of this has been proven one iota true. Indeed, evidence suggests quite the contrary

Lies, Damn Lies, And Lies That Unleash Hell
By Jason Miller

The people of the United States are not freaks or anomalies. 96% of us have a conscience and can act empathetically. It is simply a matter of time, and perhaps a few more doses of pain, before reality obliterates what is left of the fiction we have been inculcated to embrace as the United States of America

A Few Good Reasons To Remember
Pablo Neruda Today

By Jawed Naqvi

How many poets or intellectuals or for that matter politicians in India or Pakistan are willing to arm themselves with the "terrorist's sonnet"? Let's look for them. Neruda's 103rd birthday falls on July 12, a good time as any to redeem an old pledge

Forward March Of Capitalism In Orissa
By Sarbeswar Sahoo

The Orissa government’s patrimonial and profit oriented policies by permitting corporations for extracting mineral wealth indiscriminately and pushing thousands of people into destitution reveal the exploitative and exclusionary development agenda and unstoppable forward march capitalism in Orissa. The primacy of profit over people has severely violated the human rights of the people

Trouble In The Blue Hills
By K A Shaji

Nilgiris, the summer retreat of British Raj in the then Madras Presidency, now holds not much promise either to its residents or to those who visiting it once in a while. It only has a dying legacy to tell. Forget both Ooty and Coonoor, destroyed by the tourism mafia in their bid to make easy money by throwing all rules and regulations to the wind. Even other destinations like Gudalur and Kotagiri are under the tight hold of land sharks and mafia groups. Deforestation is rampant and the exodus of repatriates, refugees and migrants is still continuing

10 June, 2007

Losing Afghan: Firepower
Doesn’t Always Win Wars

By Ramzy Baroud

The Taliban could soon find itself in a strong bargaining position, that even the Americans themselves cannot ignore; the Taliban’s “Spring Offensive” might’ve been delayed, but the balance is clearly tipping in favor of the Taliban, in a war that promises more of the same sorrows

Safety Of Afghan Civilians Appears
Not To Be Paramount In Afghan War

By Brian McAfee

The apparent disregard of women, children and old men in attacks on civilians from both sides indicates a lack of legitimacy. Another situation where the "War on Terror" has become a "War of Terror."

Expulsion Of Malalai Joya From Afghan Parliament
By Zia -Ur-Rehman

The most outspoken female MP of Afghanistan, Malalai Joya, has been expelled from parliament for speaking truth and her straightforwardness. The removal of this outspoken feminist demonstrates the hollowness of the claims of women's advancement under the occupation by Karzai’s government

Pakistan’s US-Backed Dictator Lashes Out
By Keith Jones & Vilani Peiris

Having failed to intimidate the populace by orchestrating violent attacks in Karachi on the weekend of May 12-13 that left more than 40 people dead, the regime of General Pervez Musharraf has lashed out with new repressive measures and threats. These include “preventative arrests” and a raft of regulations aimed at intimidating the press and silencing dissent

The Missing Links In The Debate
On Disappearances And Torture

By Abid Ullah Jan

Unlike Bush who detains foreigners away from the US mainland, General Musharraf is detaining his own people in hundreds on his own land. CIA and other US forces are torturing and killing foreigners. ISI and Pakistan armed forces are detaining, torturing and killing their own people. They are invading and carrying out occupation forces like operation in their land

Forty Years Later, Searching For Truth
By Ward Boston, Jr.

Forty years ago this week, I was asked to investigate the heaviest attack on an American ship since World War II. As senior legal counsel to the Navy Court of Inquiry it was my job to help uncover the truth regarding Israel’s June 8th 1967 bombing of the USS Liberty.For decades, I have remained silent. I am a military man and when orders come in from the Secretary of Defense and President of the United States, I follow them. However, attempts to rewrite history and concern for my country compel me to share the truth

Al Gore: ‘To The Ramparts Of Reason!’
By Martin LeFevre

Al Gore obviously sees himself, as do many of his erstwhile supporters, as a victim of something that has gone “terribly wrong in America.” But in fact he was the historical pivot upon which our long punishment under Bush Junior turned

A Blind Spot In The Anti-War Movement
By Alex Wolfson

The anti-war movement must move away from politics of the individual (including its obsession with the Bush/Cheney regime) and begin to analyze and discuss in depth the fundamentals of why American power is being spent on Iraq, and the very real difficulties faced in helping to free the Iraqi people from imperial control. Otherwise, we are in danger of running around in circles, barking loudly, but only grasping at our own tails

Lawmaker Confirms Kurd-Shia Clashes In Baghdad
By Ali al-Fadhily

Speaking on condition of strict anonymity inside the heavily-fortified Green Zone of central Baghdad where the Iraqi government meets, the MP told IPS that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki "sold Kirkuk in exchange for Kurdish support for his collapsing government, and other matters such as not being in the way of Shiite militias in Baghdad

Behind Venezuela's "Student Rebellion"
By George Ciccariello-Maher

But it's worth asking: who are "the students," and what do they represent? In recent days, it has become clear that these student mobilizations have been, in fact, largely directed and supported by sectors of the opposition, all in an effort to provoke, in Chávez's own words, a "soft coup" against the revolutionary government

Oil And Water, Corporatism And Truth
By Rand Clifford

Lies are all we’ve been fed regarding our invasion and occupation of Iraq: "Saddam has Weapons of Mass Destruction"; "We are giving the Iraqis Democracy"; "We are giving Iraqis Freedom"; "We are Liberating the Iraqis"; "Saddam Hussein was involved in 9-11"; or the latest, "If we don’t fight The Terrorists there, they’ll follow us home!".... The cluster bombs of lies cannot conceal the fact that we invaded Iraq firstly to plunder their oil, and will continue our current massive military occupation at least until passage of the New Iraqi Oil Law

Victimising Religious Minorities
In Pakistan Under Blasphemy Laws

By Dr.Tahmina Rashid

Recent upsurge of invoking blasphemy laws to incriminate Christians (PIMS nurses) reflects the inability of the state to protect religious minorities; increased public display of intolerance towards christens and amplified vulnerability of religious minorities in Pakistan

09 June, 2007

Climate Compromise Masks Mounting Conflicts
By Peter Schwarz

On a closer look the alleged breakthrough on the climate question proves to be nothing other than a hollow compromise. The G8 have agreed to aim for a “substantial reduction” of greenhouse gas emissions. Concrete goals, however, have not been determined—not to speak of binding obligations

We’re Nearing Climate’s Tipping Point
By P. H. Liotta

With the continuing failure of decision makers to deal with climate change and its impact, we are entering a future from which we may not be able to turn back. Indeed, the last time in history carbon dioxide (CO{-2}) levels were at levels similar to today’s was during the time of the mid-Pliocene “warm” period — some 3.5 million years ago

The Real Reason For Bush’s Invasion Of Iraq
Is A National Security Secret

By Paul Craig Roberts

War without cause is murder, not war.That Bush persists with a war for which he can provide no legitimate reason indicates that there is a secret agenda that has not been shared with the American people. Are we experiencing the privatization of the US government by police agencies, the military-security complex, and the Israel Lobby?

Lies And Outrages... Would You Believe It?
By Robert Fisk

("Believe It or Not, 17,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon"), no major casualty tolls ("Believe It or Not, up to 650,000 Iraqis died in the four years following the 2003 Anglo-American invasion of Iraq"). See what I mean?

Report Details CIA Prisons In Europe
By Joe Kay

A report released Friday by the Council of Europe confirms that the CIA has used interrogation centers in Europe, including in Romania and Poland, to secretly hold and torture prisoners captured in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the globe

Turkish Troops Chase Kurd Guerrilla Into Iraq
By Patrick Cockburn

Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas early Wednesday. The incursion, though limited in scope, gives the crisis in Iraq a new twist

Water And Resistance
By Timothy Seidel

The view from the Palestinian village of Nahhalin, in the west Bethlehem area, is sobering. This small village -- along with the villages of Husan, Battir, Wadi Fuqin, and Al Walaja -- are becoming more and more isolated from Bethlehem

Three Flat Tires
By Dr. Marcy Newman

The intense media coverage has died down and seems to have forgotten that Palestinians are still being killed in Nahr al-Bared, that tanks are now lined up facing Ein al-Helweh, that Palestinians inside Nahr al-Bared and around the country are hungry, are tired, are scared, are in need of safe homes. We need to simultaneously remember that Palestinians have a right to safe homes in Lebanon even as we fight for every Palestinian's right of return to their original homes in Palestine

Wall Street Journal's Looking Glass World
By Stephen Lendman

She's at it again on the Journal's editorial page in her June 4 article called "The Young and the Restless," subtitled "Is this the beginning of the end for Hugo Chavez?" The writer is self-styled Latin American expert Mary Anastasia O'Grady always getting top grades in vilification and disinformation but failing ones on regional knowledge and legitimate journalism

The Theology Of Senator Brownback
By Thomas Riggins

In the first debate of the Republican candidates, Brownback raised his hand when the question was put as to which candidates did not believe in “evolution.” Now he has written an article, “What I Think About Evolution”, in the New York Times published as an op-ed piece on 5-31-07. Brownback wrote the article to clarify his views. It is not, I think, a good article for a man who wants to be president for it shows that he has no understanding of science and that he does not use valid evidence or reasons to ground his beliefs. We have just had two terms of such a president, who has left the country in a mess, and we can ill afford another president whose views are not grounded in reality

Spurious Textbooks
By Suvi Dogra

A small book – Schools or Hate-Labs by Apoorvanand — based on the findings of an NGO about textbooks being taught in schools of Rajasthan highlights attempts to initiate children into a particular ideology, courtesy the state government. This, besides being against the secular spirit of the Constitution and ethos of the country, is detrimental to the interests of children

08 June, 2007

Losing Iraq, Nuking Iran
By Paul Craig Roberts

More evidence that the war is lost arrived June 4 with headlines reporting: "U.S.-led soldiers control only about a third of Baghdad, the military said on Monday." After five years of war the US controls one-third of one city and nothing else

Iraq Occupation Coming To A Head Over Oil
By Kevin Zeese

The situation in Iraq is coming to a head. Oil workers have been on strike for three days and are being threatened by the Iraqi government and surrounded by the Iraqi military. The Parliament passed a resolution urging an end to the U.S. occupation and has refused to act on the oil law the U.S. is demanding

Kokesh Stripped Of Honorable Discharge Status
By Mark Rainer

A US military panel has recommended that decorated combat marine and Iraq war veteran Adam Kokesh be stripped of his “honorable discharge” status for wearing his uniform in an antiwar demonstration

The British Army Rebels Against Propaganda
By John Pilger

An experienced British officer serving in Iraq has written to the BBC describing the invasion as "illegal, immoral and unwinnable" which, he says, is "the overwhelming feeling of many of my peers". In a letter to the BBC's Newsnight and Medialens.org he accuses the media's "embedded coverage with the US Army" of failing to question "the intentions and continuing effects of the US-led invasion and occupation"

It's Not Just The Occupation
By Ali Abunimah

Israelis will not easily give up their privileges any more than whites in Alabama, Georgia or Mississippi did in the face of the American civil rights movement. But racism is not a lifestyle choice the rest of the world is obligated to respect. Determined movements can bring about transformations that seem scarcely imaginable from the depths of the gloom. We have seen enough shining examples to maintain our hope and inspire us to action

Four Decades Of Occupation
By Sandy Tolan

For the 2.4 million Palestinians who live on the West Bank, their movements are controlled by checkpoints, they are denied permission to pray at the Jerusalem holy sites, their homes and workplaces, in many cases, are subject to random search by the occupying military authorities, and their teenaged children blankly speak of having no future. For them the occupation is as intolerable in 2007 as it was on the day, 40 years ago, when it began

Cementing Israeli Apartheid:
The Role Of World Bank

By Jamal Juma

In Palestine, the World Bank has played a key role in facilitating the cooperation of global capital and occupation

The G8 Should Not Forget The Congolese 60 Million
By James Waters

If they want to have any claim of humanitarian concern for the world’s poor, the G8 leaders meeting this week in Germany should not ignore the plight of the 60 million people in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Sangh Spreads Its Cloak In American Campus
By Girish Agrawal

Hindutva forces are systematically spreading their ideology in American universities, reports Girish Agrawal from New York

Annals Of Mendacious Punditry:
When The Shill Enables The Kill

By Jason Miller

Jonah Goldberg is the living, breathing embodiment of virtually all that is pernicious in the malignant socioeconomic and political structures collectively known as the American Empire. Yet tragically, this scheming sycophant to the cynical, privileged criminals of the US plutocracy reaches countless millions through myriad corporate media conduits as he weaves his sophistic arguments supporting nearly every morally repulsive aspect of United States foreign policy

Exiles In Their Homeland
By K.A.Shaji

Illiterate migrant workers from north Kerala who were stuck in Pakistan after Partition have waged a fruitless lifelong struggle to regain their Indian citizenship

07 June, 2007

Countdown To War On Iran
By Alain Gresh

Silently, stealthily, unseen by cameras, the war on Iran has already begun. Many sources confirm that the United States, bent on destabilising the Islamic Republic, has increased its aid to armed movements among the Azeri, Baluchi, Arab and Kurdish ethnic minorities that make up about 40% of the Iranian population

Republican Presidential Candidates
Back Nuclear Strike Against Iran

By Patrick Martin

Nine of ten candidates for the Republican presidential nomination explicitly or tacitly supported a US attack on Iran using nuclear weapons, in response to a question at Tuesday night’s nationally televised debate in New Hampshire

Iran Forces The Issue In Afghanistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

Iran's expulsion of thousands of Afghan refugees indicates the twofold motive behind the move. First, Iran wanted to weaken Sunni-led insurgents in its bordering areas, and second, it believed that the return of the refugees would fuel the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan

In Antarctica, Proof That Action On
climate Change Is More Urgent Than Ever

By Steve Connor

Fears that global sea levels this century may rise faster and further than expected are supported by a study showing that 300 glaciers in Antarctica have begun to move more quickly into the ocean

Is Bill Gates Trying To Hijack Africa's Food Supply?
By Bruce Dixon

Genetically altered crops will rescue Africa from endemic shortfalls in food production, claim corporate foundations that have announced a $150 million "gift" to spark a "Green Revolution" in agriculture on the continent.Of course, U.S.-based agribusiness holds the patents to these wondercrops, and can exercise their proprietary "rights" at will. Are corporate foundations really out to feed the hungry, or are they hypocritical Trojan Horses on a mission to hijack the world's food supply --- to create the most complete and ultimate state of dependency

Where Do I Stand?
By Rania Masri writing from Beirut

A dear friend of mine told me yesterday that I'm taking sides. That it seems as if I'm condemning only one form of violence. I thank him for that note -- it forces me to clarify my position. So, here is my position on what is happening now in Lebanon

Turkish Military Flexes Its Muscles In Northern Iraq
By Peter Symonds

Reports of a Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq yesterday have highlighted the escalating tensions between the two countries along the border. In recent weeks, Turkish leaders have repeatedly warned that the Turkish army would take action against separatist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) camps in Iraq, if US and Iraqi forces failed to do so

Democrats And Republicans: Two Peas In A Pod?
By Thomas Riggins

The great debate rages on! Democrats are really different from Republicans. No, they are the same. I think the confusion results from not looking at this from a dialectical perspective

Paradoxes Of Globalization
By Md. Saidul Islam

Evidence shows that Friedman's propagation on globalization is nothing but a "mere dream" and a form of deception, as even in the USA the middle class is gradually shrinking. On the other hand, the middle class/Disney land is now moving to the wretched of the earth. From priests to prostitutes all are selling their labors in capitalism as long as their labor is valued in the market. The capitalists will move to any place where labor is poor and cheap

Freedom Next Time: Resisting The Empire
By Jim Miles

A review of John Pilger's book "Freedom Next Time:Resisting the Empire"

I Wish To Rule India One Day, says Mayawati
By Sharat Pradhan

After creating history by becoming chief minister of the country's largest state for the fourth time, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has set new goals for herself - to rule India some day and build a "casteless society"

06 June, 2007

Resource Wars: Can We Survive Them?
By Stephen Lendman

This article addresses reckless living unmindful of the consequences. It's about endless wars and resources they're waged for. It's about gaining control of what we can't do without, but must learn to, or we'll risk losing far more, including the planet's ability to sustain life. If we reach that point, it won't matter except to resilient beetles and bacteria free at last from us. Instead of being an asset, superior human intelligence has us on the brink of our own self-destruction

Mukesh Ambani To Build $1 Billion “Home”
By Parwini Zora

The richest man in India, Mukesh Ambani, is reportedly building a 27-storey skyscraper mansion in the heart of the country’s commercial capital, Mumbai (Bombay). The total cost of the project is expected to be US$1 billion, roughly the average annual income of 1.5 million Indians

G8: Watch What They Do,Not What They Say
By George Monbiot

The leaders of the G8 nations present themselves as a force for unmitigated good. Sometimes they fail, but they seek only to make the world a kinder place. Bob Geldof and Bono give oxygen to this deception, speaking of the good works the leaders might perform, or of the good works they have failed to perform; but not mentioning the active harm. They refuse to acknowledge that what the rich nations give with one finger they take with both hands

Climate Change Flap At The G8
By Walden Bello

A close look at a leaked draft of the G8 declaration reveals that the Merkel-Bush quarrel concerns details not substance. The guiding principle of the document’s approach to climate change is to “decouple economic growth from energy use.” In other words, economic growth remains central and sacrosanct, meaning that the G8 will not likely propose any cuts in consumption levels

Defending Israel From Democracy
By Jonathan Cook

So now we know. As Israel's Palestinian politicians have long been claiming, a Jewish and democratic state is intended as a democracy for Jews only. No one else is allowed a say -- or even an opinion

Imprisoning A Whole Nation
By John Pilger

Israel is destroying any notion of a state of Palestine and is being allowed to imprison an entire nation. That is clear from the latest attacks on Gaza, whose suffering has become a metaphor for the tragedy imposed on the peoples of the Middle East and beyond

Tormenting My Palestinian Christian Mother
By Abe W Ata

A letter from a Bethlehem born Paletinian christian living in Australia

Refugee Resentment Simmers As Fighting Escalates
By Jackson Allers

Palestinians in the camps in Lebanon are gathered around their television sets, or keeping close watch on news through their mobile phones and at Internet cafes, waiting to see what the body count will be for those civilians trapped inside the Nahr al-Bared camp

Can The Lebanese Army Fight
America's War Against Terror?

By Robert Fisk

So can the Lebanese army really fight America's war in the north of this country? Though composed of Shias, Sunnis, Druze and Christians, it has held together. But it was not created to fight the West's wars in the Middle East

Turkish Media Ramps Up Anti-Kurdish Attacks
By Martin Zehr

As the sectarian warlords seek to undermine governments around the region, the Turkish media and the military in Turkey seek to escalate the level of criticisms leveled on the Kurdish Regional Government

Counterfeit Encounters And The 'Nation'
By Harsh Mander

The current wave of outrage in the country over the horrific murders by the men in khaki in Gujarat is likely to be transient, a passing squall. The dust that it raises will rapidly settle, and we will forget, in the same way as we have expelled from memory so many similar inequities of the recent past

05 June, 2007

Fightback To Save Our Planet
By Frank Field

Protecting the rainforests offers the world one last crucial breathing space

Haiti, We're Sorry
By Deniece Alleyne LL.B

Haiti dared to violently throw off the yoke of bondage, colonialism, imperialism and all notions of racial inferiority in a relentless 10 year war of attrition that in the words of Prof. George Lamming proved that black men were men. For this daring audacity the Haitians have been made to suffer. Their country has been turned into a terrible cautionary tale to the rest of us that if we don''t drink the swill from the swine trough of white supremacy we too will be imprisoned in a barren wasteland desperately seeking the means of escape

Film On Plantations Spurs Backlash
By Michael Deibert

However disjointed, the mysterious man's interjections appeared of a piece with similar interruptions and protests that have greeted events attempting to discuss the ever-more contentious issue of the treatment of the estimated 650,000 to one million Haitians living in the Dominican Republic, fleeing the political violence and economic stagnation of their often-tumultuous homeland

Humanitarian Disaster Looms As Lebanese
Attack On Palestinian Camp Continues

By Chris Marsden

The Lebanese military siege of the Palestinian refugee camp at Nahr al-Bared in the north continues, even as fighting spreads to the Ain Al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp in Saida in the south

40th Anniversary Of Racist
Zionist Kidnap Of Palestinians

By Gideon Polya

June 5 1967 marks the 40th anniversary of the carefully planned, criminal attack of Racist Zionist-run Apartheid Israel on Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Egypt – and the beginning of a 40 year forcible, abusive and traumatizing Occupation of the Palestinian Occupied Territory by a criminal, racist and genocidal Occupier

40th Anniversary Of The Six-Day War
By George Bisharat

Forty years ago this week, Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza Strip, re-establishing a political system in which one sovereign ruled over all of former Palestine. Unnoticed by the world, this brought about a version of a "single state solution" to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- albeit one in which Palestinians and Jews do not have equal rights

Turkish Threat Echoes Across Iraq
By Sami Moubayed

Beleaguered Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who could be days away from losing US support and with it his job, is seeking renewed Kurdish support, even expressing his full backing for the Kurds in a potentially disastrous confrontation with Turkey

Kurdish Rebels Attack Turkish Military Outpost
By Selcan Hacaoglu

Kurdish rebels fired rockets and grenades at a Turkish military outpost yesterday, killing 7 soldiers in a bold attack that heightened tension at a time when Ankara has threatened military action against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq

The JFK “Plot”: Another Grossly Inflated Threat
By Bill Van Auken

The obvious question is why these six unnamed “individuals” have not been charged. One likely explanation is that they too were, in one form or another, participants in an elaborate effort to ensnare a hapless and sometimes homeless retiree and others in a plot that was fundamentally staged by the US government for its own purposes

Indian Muslims And The Media
By Nigar Ataulla

Muslims are severely under-represented in the Indian media: they are only 3 % among the key decision makers, compared to 13.4% in the country's population

Pakistan Parliament Rejects
Changes In Blasphemy Laws

By Aftab Mughal

The National Assembly (NA), lower house of the parliament, crushed a bill on May 8, which was moved by a Parsi member MP Bhandara, seeking amendments to the controversial blasphemy laws

Hotspot As Trouble Spot
By K A Shaji

The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, one of the world's top bio-diversity hotspots which hosts several endemic species of plants and animals, might just fall off the world biosphere map altogether if the proposed multi-dam Pandiar Punnapuzha Hydro-electric Project comes up at Gudalur near Udhagamandalam, better known as Ootty

04 June, 2007

Internet Radio May Soon Be Dead
By Davey D

In a cruel sense of irony, what has become a viable alternative and a place of solace for many is threatened. The major record labels along with their organization Sound Exchange successfully petitioned the US Copyright Board and convinced them to increase royalty fees a whooping 300-1200% to be applied retroactively. The rates which were supposed to kick in May 15th threatened to bankrupt the Internet Radio industry

Connect The Dots Of Those Who Are Connected
By David Truskoff

Tens of thousands have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the oil barons are running amuck. Murdoch’s media still controls the minds of millions of people. Realists are wondering are the people going to allow the 9/11 commission report to stand? Should we not be demanding a new investigation? Do we not owe that to the children of Iraq and the millions of other suffering people including Americans?

Veterans Groups Unite Behind Kokesh
Battle With Marines For Free Speech

By Kevin Zeese

I’m writing this while on the road to Kansas City, MO in what the Veterans of Foreign Wars, in supporting Adam Kokesh in his fight for the free speech rights of vets, has described as a "circus" but which is a very real effort to muzzle veterans of the Iraq War and preventing the public from hearing their views of what is going on in Iraq

All They Have Is Each Other
By Sheila Samples

To Bush, body bags and deaths are simply an inconvenience and, with the help of the corporate media, he is very adept at hiding them from prying eyes. Bush is on a righteous mission -- he is the President, the Decider, the Commander-in-chief and God has chosen him to lead this country to its destiny. And the troops? They have learned when it comes to support, all they have is each other

Four Decades Of Occupation
By Zahi Khouri

On this anniversary of the 1967 war, the United States should fully engage and commit to winning the war of peace. The first step is for the occupation to end. Surely 40 years has been too long

Ritter's Repudiation Ritual
By David Swanson

Ritter thinks that if we impeach and remove Bush and Cheney we will simply replace them with new tyrants. The authors of our Constitution considered that entirely possible. Their advice would have been to impeach the new tyrants as well. But here's what we know for certain. If we do not impeach Bush and Cheney and remove them from office, we will not end the occupation of Iraq any time soon, and we will elect nothing but tyrants to follow the current ones, tyrants with a precedent licensing their tyranny

FDA And Glaxo Share Blame For Avandia Disaster
By Evelyn Pringle

On May 21, 2007, the New England Journal of Medicine reported a study that found GlaxoSmithKline's diabetes drug Avandia is associated with a 43% increase in heart attacks and possibly a 64% increase in cardiovascular death

The Disappearing Act Of A
Character Called Sukhi Lala

By Jawed Naqvi

It is Sukhi Lala who supports Narendra Modi in Gujarat as the model chief minister, then strikes a deal for various industrial projects with the communists in West Bengal. He controls the politics of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana that surround Delhi. He has his liaison officers masquerading as party apparatchiks in the Congress, BJP and most regional parties. Therefore, even though Sukhi Lala of Mother India is still going about his business, plundering economically vulnerable village folk, in his new avatar he is no longer regarded as a villain but the harbinger of a world order of which India would be an integral part

New Wave Of Political Arrests In Bangladesh
By Wimal Perera & Sarath Kumara

The military-backed interim government in Bangladesh instigated a new wave of arrests of top political and business figures last week in a bid to consolidate its grip over the country. In the name of “fighting corruption” and maintaining stability, the so-called caretaker regime headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed has assumed the character of a military dictatorship

Gujarat: Symptoms Of Hindu Nation
By Ram Puniyani

As far as the gross violations and that too the one's related to minority community are concerned, Gujarat is the worst state without any shadow of doubt. In other BJP ruled states like MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarhg also, the violations are of severe degree, still they do not match with the ones in Gujarat

The Green Man Of Kerala
By K A Shaji

A 60-year-old Economics professor, who planted more than one lakh trees in Kozhikode district of Kerala, wins the prestigious Indira Priyadarshini National Vriksha Mitra Award this year

03 June, 2007

Global Warming Is Three Times Faster
By Geoffrey Lean

Global warming is accelerating three times more quickly than feared, a series of startling, authoritative studies has revealed. They have found that emissions of carbon dioxide have been rising at thrice the rate in the 1990s. The Arctic ice cap is melting three times as fast - and the seas are rising twice as rapidly - as had been predicted

Baghdad Burns, Calgary Booms
By Naomi Klein

The invasion of Iraq has set off what could be the largest oil boom in history. This isn't the boom in Iraq sparked by the proposed new oil law--that will come later. This boom is already in full swing, and it is happening about as far away from the carnage in Baghdad as you can get, in the wilds of northern Alberta

To Be Palestinian In Lebanon Is To Be
Wished A Thousand Deaths

By Sami Hermez

By denying Palestinian civilian deaths we effectively commit a double crime: The first is the indiscriminate death of the victim; the second is the denial of this original crime. I suppose the victim is meant to carry a camera and document her own death to truly confirm it in the public's eyes

For Boycott To Be Effective, An International
Coalition Is Indispensable

By Ramzy Baroud

Calls for boycotting Israel have dotted the political landscape of the Arab-Israeli and later Palestinian-Israeli conflict for years. The main obstacle to utilising civil societies in compelling Israel to end its brutal policies against the Palestinians is that these efforts are neither centralised nor do they emanate from a respected Palestinian authority and leadership

The US Media “Discovers” Pakistan’s
Musharraf Is A Dictator—Why Now?

By Keith Jones

If sections of the press have now “discovered” that Musharraf is a despot, it is because they fear that the general is losing his grip and are anxious about the consequences for US interests and influence in Pakistan, as well as for the US’s larger strategic ambitions in South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East

Uncovering The Myth Of “Fair Go” Australia
By Ghali Hassan

While Anglo-Australians can be proud of a long-time forgotten truth of “Fair Go” Australia for the privileged, today’s Australia is an unequal and unfair society. The myth of “Fair Go” Australia is just a shield, protecting Australia against criticism of Australia’s unfair treatments of Indigenous Australians and Australians from other minority groups

The Ugly Canadian – Embracing
The American Empire

By Jim Miles

A review of "Whose War Is It? How Canada Can Survive In The Post 9/11 World" By J. L. Granatstein

Boston Muslims Forgive Israel Advocates
By Karin Friedemann

The furor over the Roxbury mosque has exposed the ways Israel advocacy groups pollute discourse on US foreign and domestic policy, which have until now remained mostly invisible to American political scientists

Nilgiri Rail Road: Trouble In Jumbo Heartland
By K.A.Shaji

Guess who is going to inherit the dubious legacy of forest brigand Veerappan in the Sathyamangalam range of forests, which form part of the highly sensitive Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve? The Indian Railway, it seems. Sounds strange….?

India's Lower Castes
By Nishikant Waghmare

An empowered India bereft of the respect for women, values of civilised existence and morality will collapse in the face of the disaffection and discontent of those who have suffered for centuries. Day in and day out we take pride in claiming that India has a 5000-year-old civilization. But the way the Dalits and those suppressed are being treated by the people who wield power and authority speaks volumes for the degradation of our moral structure and civilized standards

01 June, 2007

The Destruction Of Iraqi
Healthcare Infrastructure

By Adil Shamoo

Ten thousand doctors have fled the country. Two thousand have been killed. Some hospitals lack the rudimentary elements of care: hygiene, clean water, antibiotics, anesthetics and other basic drugs. Oxygen, gauze, rubber gloves, and diagnostic instruments such as X-rays are absent or rarely evident. This is Iraq today

Tribunals, Trials And Tribulations In Lebanon?
By Laurie King-Irani

Finally, an international tribunal will be tasked with investigating and prosecuting murder and mayhem in an Arab country. For human rights activists who have railed against continuing impunity for grave crimes in the Middle East, whether committed by Israelis or Arabs, whether orchestrated by states or non-state actors, this should be an occasion for unalloyed celebration, or at least relief

Lessons Learned By Grassroots Katrina
And Tsunami Social Justice Activists

By Bill Quigley

The Christmas Tsunami that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives along the coasts of the Indian Ocean did not destroy the people's will to rebuild on land that was their birthright. But "disaster capitalism" has apparently triumphed in the United States, where rights can be washed away with no trace

The Problem With The Global Warming Skeptics
By Joshua Frank

Alexander Cockburn has been making waves with his recent series on global warming, which has been published in The Nation and online at CounterPunch.org where he serves as co-editor. In them, Cockburn attacks the logic of those fear-mongering scientists and all of us uneducated “Greenhousers” who believe humans, and our industrialized economy, are negatively impacting the planet’s climate

For A Secular Democratic State
By Saree Makdisi

For, having unified all of what used to be Palestine (albeit into one profoundly divided space) without having overcome the Palestinian people's will to resist, Zionism has run its course. And in so doing, it has terminated any possibility of a two-state solution. There remains but one possibility for peace with justice: truth, reconciliation--and a single democratic and secular state

An Open Letter To Cindy Sheehan
By Emily Spence

It is up to each and every one of us to decide the type of world we want to help create. What version of the future do we want? I do know yours and need the hopeful vision that it creates. It helps makes life worthwhile and serves to propels me onward. So, thank you for it and for the time you dedicated to improving our collective condition

Gender Identity And Homophobia In Pakistan
By Tahmina Rashid

Pakistan is in the grip of homophobia after the same sex couple was imprisoned for three years for perjury. The sensational response that this incident received in Urdu and English newspapers highlights our homophobic attitudes, Issues surrounding gender identity and lack of empathy as human beings

The Only Solution To Reservation Imbroglio
By Satinath Choudhary

100% reservation for all segments of the society (as far as practicable) is the best way for amicable and peaceful coexistence. Otherwise a segment that has bigger control over power will succeed in appointing larger and larger percentage of its members to positions of power leading to what we currently see in the judiciary, armed forces and the media

Who Wants Democracy?- Book Review
By Sarbeswar Sahoo

Writing from a subaltern perspective, Javeed Alam in his slender volume on Who Wants Democracy? presents a concise yet comprehensive overview of the complex dynamics of democracy in India since independence

 

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