CounterCurrents.org November 2004 Archive

Countercurrents Archive
November 2004

20 November, 2004
US Forces Raid A Mosque And Murder
By Dahr Jamail

U.S. soldiers raided the Al- Hanifa mosque in Baghdad during Friday prayers, killing two worshippers and wounding nine others

The War Is Over, But The Killings Go On
By Abbas Ahmed Ibrahim

This is a strange time in Fallujah. They say the war is over, but there is no peace. Every day there is shooting, and there are still killings going on. There is also a terrible smell. We know what it is - it is the smell of dead bodies

A Return To Barbarity
By Amira Howeidy

The standards of the ongoing offensive seem far removed from the modern world's rules of war. The Iraqis are again faced with mediaeval images emerging from Fallujah of decomposing bodies floating in the river, children left to bleed to death in the wreckage of their homes and wounded and helpless prisoners summarily executed

19 November, 2004

Melting Glaciers Threaten
World Water Supply
By Ed Cropley

Mountain glaciers, which act as the world's water towers, are shrinking at ever faster rates, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people and the future of countless species

Media Repression In 'Liberated' Land
By Dahr Jamail

Journalists are increasingly being detained and threatened by the U.S.-installed interim government in Iraq. Media have been stopped particularly from covering recent horrific events in Fallujah

The Streets Of Baghdad
By Dahr Jamail

Walking and driving on the streets Baghdad I find myself in a sea of chaos. Traffic is mayhem for many reasons. The current fuel crisis being the lead cause. Lines at petrol stations stretch for miles at some of the stations

The Sanitation Of War
By Frank Thomas

The language of technology, the action movie campaign names like ‘Shock and Awe’, are used to set the terrain to conceive warfare as a smooth business-like transaction, a routine project with few casualties and little destruction.One of the big lies to have gone down is this sanitation of war

US Profits From Jihadist Terrorism
By Gideon Polya

The post-9/11 "extra" profits to the US War Economy total some US$400 billion - the sum of extra US military budget funding of $250 billion since 9/11 and additional funding for the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars of about $150 billion

Religion, The Election, And The Politics Of Fear
By Todd May

Those who argue about whether it is terrorism or gay marriage that sunk the Kerry campaign miss the point. They are two aspects of the same consciousness. And they are at the heart of the Bush administration's politics of fear

America's Radioactive War
By Brita May Rose

There has been virtually no mention of the use of depleted uranium (DU) in this latest Gulf War, yet the US military has scattered this radioactive substance all over the desert in even larger quantities than it did in the Gulf War of 1991

What Constitutes A Legitimate Target?
By Faisal Bodi

If, as the saying goes, truth is the first casualty of war, the second victim - in modern warfare at least - must be the distinction between combatants and civilians

The Opium Country
By Nick Meo

In Afganistan every farmer grows opium because they would be 'fools' to grow anything else

The Politics And Economics Of Astrology
By S. Anand

In India astrologers have emerged as a new priestly class, raking up huge amount of money from the believers. They also act as the perpetuaters of the caste system

Death In The Womb
By Anna Dani

The desire for a male child at all costs in India has now resulted in an alarming scenario. The child sex ratio for the country stands at 927 in 2001, down from 945 in 1991

18 November, 2004

Over 15,000 Species Face Extinction
By Sonny Inbaraj

Over 15,000 animal and plant species face extinction, reveals the World Conservation Union or IUCN in its '2004 Red List of Threatened Species'

Who Killed Margaret Hassan?
By Robert Fisk

If Margaret Hassan can be kidnapped and murdered, how much further can we fall into the Iraqi pit? There are no barriers, no frontiers of immorality left

Slash And Burn
By Dahr Jamail

“The first thing they did is they bombed the hospitals because that is where the wounded have to go. Now we see that wounded people are in the street and the soldiers are rolling over them with tanks"

Horrific Scenes From The Ashes Of Fallujah
By James Cogan

Fallujah has been laid waste. It is a hell on earth of shattered bodies, shattered buildings and the stench of death. The city will enter history as the place where US imperialism carried out a crime of immense proportions in November 2004

What Palestinians Should Do Now
By Ali Abunimah

The first priority for Palestinian leaders now must be to defend their people against Israel's relentless colonization and violence and not to negotiate with Israeli guns to Palestinian heads

Africa's Children Of War
By Meera Selva

More than 100,000 children have been abducted, tortured and sexually abused before being recruited to fight in Africa's long-running civil wars in the past three years

Kashmir's Endless Autumn
By Rehana Hakim

In Kashmir, the battle lines are drawn: 'Either you are with us - the militants or the security forces - or you are against us. And whichever side you are on, prove it.' There is no sitting on the fence, no such entity as neutral observer

17 November, 2004

Congratulations American Heroes
By Baghdad Burning

They killed a wounded man. It's hard to believe. They killed a man who was completely helpless- like he was some sort of diseased animal. I had read the articles and heard the stories of this happening before- but to see it happening on television is something else

Margaret Hassan 1944- 2004
By Jason Burke

The reported murder of the aid worker Margaret Hassan is another one of those horror stories to have emerged from the slaughter house of Iraq

800 Civilians Feared Dead In Fallujah
By Dahr Jamail

According to estimates by a Red Cross official at least 800 civilians are believed to have been killed during the U.S. offensive in Fallujah

Mass Slaughter In Fallujah
By Doug Lorimer

The deliberate destruction of Falljuah hospitals was a clear indication that the US military wants to ensure that dead or injured Fallujah residents are not brought to the city's hospitals — so as to conceal the scale of civilian casualties

Children Pay A Price For Assault On Falluja
By Rory McCarthy and Osama Mansour

Evidence began to emerge of civilians, including children, who were seriously injured in the US assault on the Iraqi city of Falluja

Hebron: The Street
By Am Johal

There won't be peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians until there is peace in places like Hebron

The Power Of Sustenance
By Goldy M. George

Stories giving hope that marginalized people can lead the struggle for jusice

16 November, 2004

Aid Convoy Turned Back From Fallujah
By Aljazeera

An aid convoy has been forced to turn back from the beleaguered city of Fallujah as more evidence emerged of a mounting humanitarian crisis on the eighth day of a US offensive to crush resistance forces

Eye Witness Account
AP Photographer Flees Fallujah
By Katarina Kratovac

Bilal Hussein watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross the Euphrates. Then, he "helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands."

Eye Witness Account
Doctor Is Haunted By Siege Of Fallujah
By Alissa J. Rubin

"I think if the Americans let us treat the injured, even in the streets," Dr. Ahmed Ghanim said, "we could have saved hundreds."

The Other Face Of U.S. 'Success' In Fallujah
By Dahr Jamail

The real face of the 'success' of the U.S. military assault in Fallujah is now beginning to present itself. Thousands of families remain trapped inside Fallujah with no food, clean water or medical assistance

Dogs Eating Bodies In The Streets Of Fallujah
By Dahr Jamail

The media repression by the military around Fallujah continues to run thick, as a journalist for the al-Arabia network who attempted to get inside Fallujah was detained by the military

Sharon's Gaza Pullout: Not Gonna Happen!
By Tanya Reinhart

For the first time in the history of the occupation, we are seeing joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle. Along with Israel of the army and the settlers, a new Israel-Palestine is forming

The Brahminist Citadel Shaken
By Ra Ravishankar

"Am I Veerappan?", Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati asked after he was arrested this Thursday on charges of instigating the murder of his bete noire Sankararaman. His character is evident from those who have spoken out in his favor

15 November, 2004

Falluja Is A Ghost Town
By Michael Georgy and Kim Sengupta

Another body lay stretched out on the next block, its head blown off, perhaps in one of the countless explosions which rent the city day and night for nearly a week. Some bodies were so mutilated it was impossible to tell if they were civilians or militants, male or female

Inside Fallujah: One Family’s Diary Of Terror
By Dahr Jamail

“I cannot get the image out of my mind of her foetus being blown out of her body.” One family reveals the horror of being caught in the conflict in Falluja

Eyewitness Account
Falluja Calls For Help
By Fadhil Badrani

When people in Falluja feel the world is not interested in their fate, they start asking if the media is doing its job

Play It Again Bush And Blair
By Sam Bahour and Michael Dahan

President Bush and Prime Minister Blair have basically regurgitated the same empty statements as in the past, only this time they choose to do so on the day President Arafat was laid to rest

After Arafat
By Uri Avnery

Ariel Sharon has absolutely no interest in sitting opposite a democratically elected Palestinian leadership enjoying international legitimacy and respect. He will do everything to prevent elections, and, of course, blame the Palestinians

India's Top Secrets
By Chandrabhan Prasad

Those who condemn Lord Macaulay for imposing the 'wrong' education on India, never tell us as what was the education system which he fought, and eventually got replaced

Two Gods, One Message
By Vidya Subrahmaniam

Narendra Modi returned to power in the Indian state of Gujarat after the genocide in 2002 on the back of a majoritarian campaign centred on Hindutva, terrorism, security and Muslim-bashing. George Bush returned to the White House on the back of a majoritarian campaign centred on religion, family values, terrorism, security and gay-bashing

With Love, From India
By Syed Said Mahmood

"The moment your "Indian" identity is disclosed, you find oodles of people rushing up to you, wishing to talk to you, offering local assistance and wanting to load you with gifts" - Experiences of an Indian in Pakistan

13 November, 2004

Humanitarian Disaster In Falluja
By James Cogan

The city, a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote, is “a tableau of destroyed buildings, burned-out cars, battered mosques and piles of rubble”. Embedded journalists have noted the stench of decomposing bodies that hangs over the city

Murder In Falluja
By Baghdad Burning

People in Falloojeh are being murdered. The stories coming back are horrifying. People being shot in cold blood in the streets and being buried under tons of concrete and iron... where is the world? Bury Arafat and hurry up and pay attention to what's happening in Iraq

Iraq Is Burning With Wrath , Anger And Sadness…
By Dahr Jamail

“Certainly the US military can eventually suppress Fallujah, but for how long? Iraq is burning with wrath, anger and sadness…the people of Fallujah are dear to us. They are our brothers and sisters and we are so saddened by what is happening in that city.”

Die, Then Vote. This Is Falluja
By Naomi Klein

With all the millions spent on "democracy-building" and "civil society" in Iraq, it has come to this: if you can survive attack by the world's only superpower, you get to cast a ballot. Fallujans are going to vote, goddammit, even if they all have to die first

Do You "Support The Troops"?
By Ghali Hassan

If you relax your vigilance to "support the troops" and failed to bring them home soon, their sacrifice will be in vain

Palestinians Bid Farewell To Arafat
By Donald Macintyre

Palestinians bid an emotional farewell to their president Yassar Arafat. "We vow to respect your will and to place the Palestinian flag on every house in Jerusalem, on its churches and on its mosques. We will continue the march. We will make our blood like water for Jerusalem."

God Bless America
By John Chuckman

Some have characterized the Bush victory as marking the beginning of a third Great Awakening. America's fundamentalists want to escape the social consequences of such inevitable developments as gay marriage, abortion, and scientific research that begins to peel back the mysteries of Creation

12 November, 2004

New Insurgency Confronts US Forces
By Rory McCarthy & Michael Howard

The violence suggests the four-day operation in Falluja may have cleared out the most important insurgent stronghold in Iraq, but has done little to curb the insurgency

Falluja Facing Humanitarian Crisis
By Aljazeera

Fighting in Falluja has created a humanitarian disaster. A pregnant woman and her child died in a refugee camp west of the city after the mother unexpectedly aborted and no doctors were on hand.In another case, a young boy died from a snake bite that would normally have been easily treatable

Eye Witness Account From Falluja
Smoke And corpses
By Fadhil Badrani

It is hard to know how much people outside Falluja are aware of what is going on here. I want them to know about conditions inside this city - there are dead women and children lying on the streets.People are getting weaker from hunger. Many are dying from their injuries because there is no medical help left in the city whatsoever. Some families have started burying their dead in their gardens

Prayers For Vengeance, More Death
By Dahr Jamail

“When I was a child, it was common to have some family member who was killed in the war with Iran,” he says, “But now, everyone is dying everyday.”

Iraq: The Unthinkable Becomes Normal
By John Pilger

Mainstream media speak as if Fallujah were populated only by foreign "insurgents". In fact, women and children are being slaughtered

Re Reporting Iraq Civilian Deaths
By Gideon Polya

Using UN and UNICEF data it has been conservatively calculated that total "excess mortality" (excess death, avoidable mortality) in war-ravaged Iraq since 1991 has been about 1.5 million (with under-5 infant mortality totalling 1.2 million) and that the "excess mortality" has been about 1.2 million in post-invasion Afghanistan (with the under-5 infant deaths totalling 0.9 million)

Who Killed Yasser Arafat?
By Ghada Karmi

No one knows what killed Yasser Arafat. Rumours are circulating that Israel poisoned him. The evidence is entirely circumstantial and probably no more than fantasy though, when dealing with Israel, nothing can ever be ruled out

Woes Of Warming Arctic To Echo
Worldwide Via Birds
By Alister Doyle

The decline of migratory birds due to an accelerating Arctic thaw may also disrupt the delicate ecosystems of their far-flung winter homes from Africa to South America, experts said this week

Suspicions Stir Belief That
US Presidential Election Was Hijacked
By Greg Guma

Could sophisticated CIA-style "cyber-warfare" have helped George W. Bush change a three percent defeat, as measured by exit polls, into a victory of about the same margin? Yes, at least in theory

Kashmir- Thinking Out Of The Box
By M B Naqvi

Joint control of Kashmir by both India and Pakistan is one of the interesting suggestions that have been thrown up

11 November, 2004

Yasser Arafat, 1929-2004
By The Electronic Intifada

Arafat's death will not change any of the essential underpinnings of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There are still 3.5 million Palestinians living under a brutal Israeli military dictatorship. Millions of Palestinians still live in enforced exile.These stark facts ensure that suffering will continue

Palestine Greater Than Arafat
By Sam Bahour

The international media that has flooded the city of Ramallah, Arafat’s last place of refuge, is poised to analyze every minute aspect of his death and burial. What they will most likely miss is the most important part of his legend, which lies in the fact that the struggle for Palestinian freedom and independence, which Arafat symbolized, will not be buried with him

Who Will Succeed Arafat?
By Roshan Muhammed Salih

Death of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat has thrown open the question who will succeed him.It is uncertain if the Palestinians - confronted by the reality of Israeli occupation - will get to choose a new leader, or have one foisted upon them through a back-room deal

Fallujah In Ruins And Unknown Numbers Dead
By James Cogan

“Every minute, hundreds of bombs and shells are exploding... The north of the city is in flames. I can see fire and smoke. Fallujah has become like hell..."

Squeezing Jello in Iraq
By Scott Ritter

Far from facing off in a decisive battle against the resistance fighters, it seems the more Americans squeeze Falluja, the more the violence explodes elsewhere. It is exercises in futility, akin to squeezing jello. The more you try to get a grasp on the problem, the more it slips through your fingers

Economy Hurting More Than Violence
By Dahr Jamail

Violence is taking a heavy toll in Iraq, but everyday economic difficulties could be hurting people more.Nearly 20 months into the occupation, Iraqis find themselves in a desperate situation, with countless struggling to survive

Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man
By John Perkins & Amy Goodman

"This empire, unlike any other in the history of the world, has been built primarily through economic manipulation, through cheating, through fraud, through seducing people into our way of life, through the economic hit men. I was very much a part of that"

A Blueprint For Kashmir
By Kuldip Nayar

My suggestion is that both Kashmirs should be given autonomy. The border between the two Kashmirs should be made soft so that the citizens of the two sides travel freely, without any passport or papers, in both parts

10 November, 2004

Carnage In Falluja
By Aljazeera

Muhammad Abbud watched his nine-year-old son bleed to death at their Falluja home, unable to take him to hospital as fighting raged in the streets and bombs rained down on the Iraqi city

'I Got My Kills ... I Just Love My Job'
By Toby Harnden

"It's like a video game. We've taken small arms fire here all day. It just sounds like popcorn going off."

Rule Of Assassins
By Baghdad Burning

Being a 'civilian' is a relative thing in a country occupied by Americans. You're only a civilian if you're on their side. If you translate for them, or serve them food in the Green Zone, or wipe their floors- you're an innocent civilian. Everyone else is an insurgent

The Siege Begins, Outrage In Baghdad
By Dahr Jamail

“The first priority is that who makes the law should be legally authorized. Here in Baghdad, the martial law is genocide against the resistance in Iraq who are against the invasion. The theme of the law is to kill the resistance and to stop people even from thinking. Do you think they can limit how Iraqis think?”

The Fire Is Spreading…
By Dahr Jamail

The fighting in Falluja will not end when the Americans take the city. The fighting will begin in other places like Baghdad, Baquba, Latifiya, Ramadi, Samarra, Khaldiya, Kirkuk and elsewhere

Falluja's Defiance Of A New Empire
By Sami Ramadani

The US generals will no doubt deliver Falluja to Bush and Blair after bombarding its neighbourhoods with artillery and rockets. But they are doomed to deliver neither the Fallujans nor the people of Iraq. Perhaps they are unaware that Fallujans defied Saddam's rule during his last years in power

Who Are The "Barbarians"?
By Ghali Hassan

Destroying and occupying the city of Fallujah will have no bearing on the Iraqi Resistance to US Occupation of Iraq. It will generate unity among the people and fuel more resistance against the Occupation

Religion Of The Rich
By George Monbiot

There is a precedent for the Bush Project, but it’s not fascism

Free Trade – A war against Dalits & Adivasis
By Goldy M. George

Dalits and Adivasis (Indigenous people) have never been the part of the conventional trade systems in India. Today they are faced with the horrible hostility of trade and market policies

Dalits In Jammu: Demanding To Be Heard
By Yoginder Sikand

Dalits account for almost a tenth of the population of Jammu and Kashmir or about a third of the population of Jammu province, but in discussions about the Kashmir question the Dalit voice is almost completely absent

09 November, 2004

Assault On Falluja Under Way
By Aljazeera

Thousands of US and Iraqi troops backed by heavy air support and armour have stormed into Falluja in an effort to recapture the anti-US stronghold.Warplanes staged ferocious strikes on targets after interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gave US-led forces the go-ahead for a full-scale attack on the city on Monday afternoon

Pray For Pain, Peace
By Shaik Ubaid

An American muslim's anguished reflections on the Ramadan battle of Falluja

Falluja - All the Makings Of A War Crime
By Tony Kevin

Falluja, which has become a symbol of Sunni-Iraqi political resistance to the occupiers, is to be made an example of, to deter others. The message the siege of Falluja sends is brutally simple: resist us and we will destroy you

Falluja's Looming Gendercide
By Adam Jones

"U.S. troops sealed all roads to Falluja and urged women, children and non-fighting age men to flee, but said they would arrest any man under 45 trying to enter or leave the city."

Peak Oil - A Seismic Shift
By Jeff Berg

WIth the advent of peak oil the world is about to change radically. Most of us on the continent of North America are set to become much poorer monetarily. What 'staying the course' will mean for China and India I can only shudder to think

The End Of The Arafat Era
By Am Johal

The Yasser Arafat that lies on his deathbed in Paris today, the one who has Jews and Arabs leaving him flowers outside his hospital, was not ever going to be the leader that brought home the peace or signed the final deal. "It will be the Arafat legacy, that he kept the fight alive; but his dream unfulfilled."

Things Grow Better With Coke
By John Vidal

Indian farmers have come up with what they think is the real thing to keep crops free of bugs. Instead of paying hefty fees to international chemical companies for patented pesticides, they are spraying their cotton and chilli fields with Coca-Cola

Fast Arctic Thaw Threatens People, Polar Bears
By Alister Doyle

Global warming is heating the Arctic almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet in a thaw that threatens millions of livelihoods and could wipe out polar bears by 2100, an eight-nation report said on Monday

08 November, 2004

US Troops Surround Falluja
By Aljazeera

Fierce fighting has erupted east and south of Falluja, as a full-scale attack on the city seems imminent. Large numbers of US troops have taken up positions on the outskirts of the city as they prepare for an attack on Falluja

Carnage And Martial Law
By Dahr Jamail

“My mom tells me to save money for the future, and I keep telling her that I’m a dead man. I’m going to die here, so what’s the use? I try to get her ready for it…but she can’t get used to the thought.”

Screams Will Not Be Heard
By Madeleine Bunting

This is an information age, but it will be months before we learn the truth about the assault on Falluja

Electronic Prophets
By Greg Guma

Religious Right broadcasters long ago learned an important lesson: Repeat almost anything often enough and many people will believe you -- even if it leads them to act against their own interests. A 1996 article which is even more relevant now

A Divided Nation
By Shaik Ubaid

One of the things that has become clear with the 2004 elections is that today America is a country divided against itself. President Bush and Senator Kerry both have vowed to work towards bridging the divide. Chances are they will not succeed as healing takes both time and efforts

Colombia: Who Is Committing The Abuses?
By James J. Brittain

For more than four decades, Colombia has been in the grip of a civil war between the people and the state. The state sponsored paramilitary forces surreptitiously cooperate with the military to attack oppositional social organisations created by the people

Religion, Identiy And Democracy
By Asghar Ali Engineer

We should not allow religion to be politicised at any cost and democracy should remain a source of people's participation in decision making and for welfare of common masses. One must understand the difference between religion as a faith and religion as a political ideology

07 November, 2004

Global Warming Will Redraw Map Of World
By Geoffrey Lean

Maps of the world will have to be redrawn, as global warming melts the Greenland ice cap, inundating coasts and major cities

Dont Say We Haven't Been Warned
By Mark Townsend

Rising temperatures, disappearing coastlines and dire predictions that climate change poses a greater threat than global terror ... Yet still we fly, drive, consume and pollute like never before. Where will it all end?

The Psychopaths And Fallujah Resistance
By Ghali Hassan

The world “only” superpower is posed to flatten the city of 300,000 people in order to pacify (kill) its citizens because of their opposition to US Occupation. This new massacre is sold by the Bush Administration and mainstream Western media as a “necessary step to hold election” in Iraq

How Bush Tapped Into A Well Of Faith
By Paul Harris

There has been a new dawn in America's politics and it is shining on a political landscape shaped - not by war or jobs or healthcare - but by the role of faith in government and so-called cultural values on abortion and gay marriage. It is this landscape that will shape the United States in the next four years

A Man And His People
By Uri Avnery

Wherever Arafat may be buried when he passes away, the day will come when his remains will be reinterred by a free Palestinian government in the holy shrines in Jerusalem

Misguided Generosity
By Beena Sarwar

But like 'terrorism' elsewhere, the Maoist insurgency in Nepal is the symptom of a problem, rather than the problem itself. Over the years, the government has consistently ignored the problems of remote rural areas, leading to a deep power and political vacuum

Oh, That Other Hindu Riot Of Passage
By Khushwant Singh

The assassins of Mrs Gandhi were hanged within four years, while 20 years later, the killers of 10,000 Sikhs remain unpunished

06 November, 2004

Putin Signs:Kyoto Saved
By Oleg Shchedrov

President Vladimir Putin gave his seal of approval for Russia's crucial backing of the Kyoto Protocol, clearing the way for the U.N. environment pact aimed at curbing global warming to come into force early next year

Spiraling Into Occupied Iraq
By Dahr Jamail

Today Iraq is yet another country. As I type this a gun battle of automatic weapons rattles down the street, Falluja has been sealed prior to imminent attack and the mood in Baghdad is tense with gloomy expectation. The feeling is that of a war zone, people are downtrodden, tense and angry, chaos reigns and nobody is safe…anywhere

Fallujah And The Reality Of War
By Rahul Mahajan

The assault on Fallujah has started. It is being sold as liberation of the people of Fallujah; it is being sold as a necessary step to implementing "democracy" in Iraq. These are lies

Smallness Of Vision
By T. Patrick Donovan

We must step back and recall the world as it looks from outer space; what demands, actions, and demonstrations serve our common human future? War, pollution, and injustice are non-negotiable organizing touchstones in our new vision

Crime and Reward: Immunity To The World Bank
By Anu Muhammad

The government of Bangladesh has submitted a bill seeking legal immunity for multilateral lending agencies, especially the World Bank on 31st October 2004 in the national parliament

The World Of International Finance
By C.P Chandrasekhar

The global operations of financial firms have registered a galloping growth, leading to a deluge of capital into developing countries irrespective of their needs and, ultimately, limiting the policy space of their governments

India's Transaction Tax Disproves All Fears
By Kavaljit Singh

On October 1, 2004, the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) came into implementation in the Indian financial markets. The market players and analysts who had predicted that the introduction of STT would bring Indian financial markets to a standstill have been proved completely wrong

05 November, 2004

Uncertainty In Palestine
By Charmaine Seitz

For Palestinians, the implications of Arafat's absence are not so clear. Only an Islamist movement backer dismisses fears of a power struggle in the president's prolonged absence

Hamas Prepares For Post-Arafat Era
By Khalid Amayreh

Hamas has joined other Palestinian political factions in wishing the ailing Yasir Arafat a speedy recovery, but it is also readying for life after Arafat

Before Arafat's Eternal Rest
By Jude Wanniski

If Arafat's passes away at this crucial moment he will have handed his last gift to the Palestinian people. He can no longer be an excuse in Tel Aviv or Washington or in the Arab League to delay yet again the realisation of his lifelong dream of a Palestinian state

Bush, America And The Middle East
By Ali Abunimah

The next four years will be a transition point for the Israel -Palestine conflict: We are likely to see the decisive defeat of the two-state concept by the reality Israel is creating on the ground, accompanied by sharp escalation

Massacre Looms In Fallujah
By James Cogan

The reelection of the Bush administration is expected to be followed in short order by a massive US military push into the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The attack will be the spearhead of a broader offensive to bring 22 rebellious Iraqi cities and towns under US control by the end of the year

The Great Divide
By Shazman Shariff

The issue of Indian-Pakistani couples facing difficulty in getting visas or acquiring nationality after getting married tops the list of problems faced by divided families

04 November, 2004

The Nightmare Goes On
By Jonathan Freedland

Once it looked like an aberration. Now it is an era. George W Bush's tenure seemed to be the accidental presidency, one that would stand out in the history books as a freak event. Yesterday that changed, changed utterly

Bad News For Fallujah
By Paul McGeough

As Republicans prepare for a second term, the world is braced for more violence

Sleep Tight America!
By Am Johal

It was a big, giant "fuck you all" to the critics of America. It was an affirmation of the Bush White House and his handling of the wars, the economy, his leadership and his cabal of right wing ideologues

Who to Blame This Time?
By Alexander Cockbun and Jeffrey St.Clair

If there was a visual premonition of why George Bush would achieve a popular majority beyond challenge it was probably the photographs of gay couples celebrating their marriages outside San Francisco's city hall.The applause of the French in Cannes for Michael Moore's 9/11 was the sound of the cement drying over the corpse of Kerry's chances of carrying the Midwest. Soros's dollars were like flowers on the grave

Peace And The New Corporate Liberation Theology
By Arundhati Roy

The 2004 Sydney Peace Prize lecture delivered by Arundhati Roy, at the Seymour Theatre Centre, University of Sydney

Fresh Hopes In Babri Masjid Demolition Case
By Rizvi Syed Haider Abbas

CBI, now has taken some active steps into tightening the noose against Babri Masjid demolition accused, an attitude found missing during the last BJP led NDA government

India's Far Right Drops Its Mask
By J. Sri Raman

India's far right Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), drops its mask and and takes a more assertive and aggressive stance

03 November, 2004

Has A ‘Runaway’ Greenhouse Effect Begun?
By Norm Dixon

In recent weeks, scientists have released two separate findings that indicate the consequences of global warming due to the emission of “greenhouse gases” may be far greater than previously estimated

Meet Some Terrorists
By Baghdad Burning Blogger

It makes me crazy to see Bush and Allawi talking about the casualties in Falloojeh like every single person there is a terrorist lurking not in a home, but in some sort of lair, making plans to annihilate America

The Importance Of Being “Irrelevant”
By Uri Avnery

Yasser Arafat who years ago was officially declared by the Israeli government to be “irrelevant”, was headline news all over the world this week. There are very few leaders around whose state of health would command similar attention

Killing Children
By Khalid Amayreh

Since the beginning of October, as many as 33 Palestinian children and minors under 17 have been killed by the Israeli army. All in all, nearly 158 Palestinians, the bulk of them civilians, were killed in October

Verdict Maharashtra: 2004
By Ram Puniyani

We are witnessing the 'mini Pakistans' and 'borders' right in our cities and small towns. Surely no society Can progress under these circumstances. The need is that we try to build bridges between our communities at social level

Roy, The Imperialist
By Chandrabhan Prasad

Was Raja Rammohun Roy an imperialist? Well, if we read him the way Lord Macaulay is read and understood by mainstream Indians, then we may well find Roy in the British camp

02 November, 2004

Global Warming Has Arrived
By Jim Lobe

An eight-nation study on global warming co-sponsored by the United States has concluded that the North Pole is melting. The 144-page report says the accelerated warming of the globe is transforming the Arctic region dramatically

The World Is Counting On The USA
By Norman Solomon

"Should Bush be punished for going to war or not? If you say ‘yes,’ then you have to punish him, and the best way to punish him is to remove him from office.”

My Vote - My Gamble
By Andrea Dworkin

Given the choice between two dud candidates, Andrea Dworkin doesn't usually bother to vote. But this time, with a heavy heart, she's going for Kerry

Bin Laden's Vote Is For Bush
By Robert Fisk & Amy Goodman

"I'm sure he realizes that further threats are more likely to help Bush than Kerry and what Osama Bin Laden wants now, of course, is a president to be elected who will further mire the country into the Middle East swamp, and cause, of course more American casualties, which Bush will surely do. So, I think that this is probably Osama Bin Laden's vote for George W. Bush"

Courting Disaster
By Greg Guma

Four years ago, five justices of the United States Supreme Court stopped the recount in Florida after a mere 36 days and made George W. Bush president. This time, it won't be so easy

What Can The UN Do For Iraqis?
By Ghali Hassan

If the UN is to return to its original purpose, and not to be used as a tool of Western imperialism, the UN has important duty to the Iraqi people. The UN should demand the US and Britain to withdraw their forces from Iraq,and hand sovereignty to the Iraqi people

The New Black Tokenism And American Empire
By Dennis Childs

If we do not want more re-runs of Vietnam, progressives and radicals will have to work to dismantle structural white supremacy even while struggling against corporate globalization, patriarchy, environmental destruction, and homophobia

1984 In The Life Of A Nation
By Indira Jaising

Gujarat happened because of the failure to punish the killers of 1984 Sikh massacre

01 November, 2004

Queen Makes Climate Plea
By Mark Townsend and Gaby Hinsliff

The Queen has made a rare intervention in world politics to warn Tony Blair of her grave concerns over the White House's stance on global warming

Environment Activists Weary of Bush, Wary of Kerry
By Kari Lydersen

Environmental groups have soundly criticized Bush's policies during the last four years, and many have endorsed his opponent. Still, most say worries will not end if Kerry wins the White House

Horrendous Iraqi Civilian Deaths -
The Cost Of Democratic Imperialism
By Gideon Polya

The ruler is responsible for the ruled, and thus the US and its allies are clearly responsible for this horrendous 1.1 million post-invasion under-5 infant mortality in US-conquered Iraq and Afghanistan

Osama's Endorsement
By John Chuckman

Osama and the boys chose a critical moment to endorse Bush because they know four more years of his violent, incompetent arrogance does more damage to western interests than any attack they could hope to mount

Thinking Beyond Arafat
By Ali Abunimah

Those who may be among the least affected by Arafat's departure are millions of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and in exile for whom he has remained a powerful symbol, but for whom he long since stopped providing effective leadership

Propping Up Musharraf
By Ali Dayan Hasan

Musharraf has successfully convinced the United States - and other countries - that he is Pakistan's indispensable man. Claiming that only he can save what he destroyed - Pakistan's fragile democracy

Shiv Sena On The Threshold Of Disintegration
By Kumar Ketkar

Today the Sena has become a pathetic shadow of its supremo. With no ideology or faith to hold on to, with no organised set-up apart from the undependable network of frustrated and militant lumpens; with no second line leadership or charismatic successor, the Shiv Sena stands on the threshold of disintegration

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