13
August, 2004
Iraq's
Phase II: Deadlier Than Ever
By Youssef M. Ibrahim
From Iran's perspective, there is little question
what happens in Najaf is its business. Any damage there cannot leave
a single Iranian ruler the option of remaining neutral, regardless of
whether they are among moderates or hard-liners
Withdraw The Troops
By Tariq Ali
The Withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq is the
only solution. The media-hyped fiction of a handover of Power in Iraq
is designed for US voters
From Inside
The Imam Ali Shrine
By Rory McCarthy
The guadian's Rory McCarthy reports the Najaf battle
from inside the Imam Ali Shrine
12 August, 2004
World
Bank Undermines Efforts On Global Warming
By George M. Woodwell and Kilaparti Ramakrishna
The World Bank recently met to consider continued
support for development of new sources of fossil fuels. The action calls
attention once again to the growing discrepancy between what the scientific
community is saying about the state of the world and what the political
and economic communities are willing to hear
Sadr's Men
Wait For Martyrdom
By Rory McCarthy
On his chest was a green ammunition belt, filled
with loaded magazines and rusted hand-grenades. Written neatly on the
belt was his name, address and telephone number. "In case I die,
so they can reach my family"
Venezuela Gets
The Florida Treatment
By Greg Palast
Will the gang that fixed florida fix the vote in
caracas this Sunday?
From Israel
To Abu Ghraib: Globalisation Of Torture
By Ghali Hassan
The horror of abuse, torture and executions of
Iraqi prisoners by the Anglo-American occupation soldiers are not "few
isolated incidents" by "few bad apples". It is the tip
of the iceberg of a wide spread systemic torture and violation of human
rights of Iraqi citizens, including women and children, all over Iraq.
The system is modelled on Israel's vicious system of Palestinians torture
The Myth Of Palestinian
Development
By Sam Bahour
The Myth of Palestinian Development By Khalil Nakhleh
reviewed by Sam Bahour
11 August, 2004
Climage
Change: Greatest
Threat To Civilization
By Ross Gelbspan
Climate change is not just another issue. It is
the overriding threat facing human civilization in the twenty-first
century, and so far our institutions are doing dangerously little to
address it
Hiroshima Cover-up
By Amy Goodman and David Goodman
Or how the War Department's Timesman Won a Pulitzer
The
Balochistan Issue
By Rashed Rahman
The clash in Balochistan is between aggressive
modernisation (backed by military force) and the Baloch people's demands
for their rights. Force has not yielded good results in the past. It
is unlikely to do so in future
Funding
For Vanuatus Rural Electrification
By Chin Ching Soo
Who can provide the investment for an energy supply
for small communities who do not have significant cash incomes, who
are dispersed over mountains and seas, usually without local experience
in technical and financial aspects of an energy system and largely without
the economic linkages for exploiting electricity-based small enterprises?
10 August, 2004
Oil
Profits Behind West's Tears For Darfur
By Norm Dixon
While US and European governments' goal is renewed
access by their countries oil corporations to Sudan's oil wealth, Washington's
latest threats against Sudan are part of a carrot and stick
approach that it has pursued with Khartoum since the 9/11 attacks
Goodbye, Kind
World
By George Monbiot
People choose to believe the climate change deniers
because the truth is harder to accept
De-development
Israeli Style
By Sam Bahour
Just as Israeli tanks and gunships continue to
militarily occupy and batter Palestinian cities and towns, there is
another facet of this illegal Israeli occupation that is not apparent
to the casual observer. Israel refuses to abide by the provisions in
the Oslo Peace Accords which gave Palestinians full control over their
telecommunications sector
Sardar Sarovar
- Flood Of Fears
By Lyla Bavadam
Year after year, hamlets and villages in the valley
vanish forever under the waters. Some resurface when the floods recede,
with their farmland irrevocably lost on account of waterlogging
09 August, 2004
Oil
Eyes $50: Where Will It End?
By Andrew Mitchell
As oil hits fresh highs, bringing $50 crude firmly
into view, it will take a sea-change - a recession, an abnormally mild
northern winter or perhaps a change in U.S. President - to end the rally
Manipur Burns
By Biswajyoti Das
Manipur, a remote northeastern state of India,
has been simmering for nearly a month with hundreds of people demanding
the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which gives sweeping
powers to security forces
Some Order In
The Mess
By Uri Avnery
Ariel Sharons disengagement plan
has already made a mess on all levels. It has sparked a continuing cabinet
crisis, an upheaval in several parties, a disorientation of public opinion,
confusion in the security establishment and armed confrontations between
Palestinian organizations
Miyasar's
Fear
By Shirabe Yamada
Israel has been using the house demolition as a
means of collective punishment to families whose member was involved
in armed resistance. The policy, illegal by international human rights
and humanitarian laws, has made countless families homeless across the
occupied territories
08 August, 2004
Iraqi
PM Bans Aljazeera
By Donald Macintyre
The Arab satellite TV network Aljazeera was banned
from operating in Iraq for 30 days.Aljazeera has vowed to continue its
Iraq coverage
Who Will Dig
The Mass Graves Now?
By Girl Blog from Iraq
In Najaf it has seen a rain of bombs and shells
for the last few days. Twenty years from now who will be blamed for
the mass graves being dug today?
Iyad Allawi-Saddam
Sans Mustache
By Greg Guma
Before the invasion we heard that the United States
needed to oust a tyrant and establish a democracy. Now the argument
is that the unruly country needs a tough guy ready to impose martial
law, ban protest, and use secret police to "annihilate" opponents.
In other words, a tyrant
The
BBC: Occupation? What Occupation?!
By Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi
BBC's coverage of Arab-Israeli conflict is consistent
in one aspect, its inability to see the Palestinian suffering, its inaccuracies
and the blatant lies reported as facts
To Die For A Mistake
By Dr. Trudy Bond
How do you ask a man to be the last man to
die for a mistake? John Kerry, 1971. Vietnam Then Iraq Now
The Wall Will Fail
By Steve Niva
The belief that security can be provided by walls
and physical barriers is best illustrated by the ancient walled city
of Jericho, and any Israeli schoolchild can tell you what happened to
its great defensive walls once the ancient Israelites emerged from their
desert exodus. They came tumbling down
To Gain 10,
Dalits Must Score 12.5 Points
By Chandrabhan Prasad
In societies all over the world, many individuals,
in moments of crises, may sacrifice societal, national interests in
favour of their own existence. In sharp contrast, in India, individuals
sacrifice their own interests in favour of the caste order
07 August, 2004
The
Greenland Ice Cap Is Melting Fast
By Hamish Macdonell
Newly published research shows an alarming rise
in the rate of collapse of the massive Greenland ice-sheet as a result
of global warming. Scientists now believe the ice-sheet is shrinking
at the rate of ten metres a year, not the one metre previously thought
Fear, Not Fortitude,
Propels American Empire
By Franz Schurmann
Why is democracy failing? A simple explanation
is that Jews, Christians and Muslims used to have only one primary fear,
and that was fear of God. Instead, all three now fear each other, or
fear their own peoples. To work, democracy has to be optimistic. But
fear is the antithesis of optimism
06 August, 2004
Uprooted
Trees, Razed Houses
By Eric Silver and Sa'id Ghazali
The Palestinians of Beit Hanoun in the northern
Gaza Strip began to count the cost of a month-long Israeli invasion.More
than 42,000 olive, citrus and date trees had been uprooted, 4,405 acres
of orchards, vineyards and vegetable fields were flattened. 21 houses
demolished and 314 damaged
Palestinian Cement
Scandal
By Khalid Amayreh
It is claimed that two Palestinian companies imported
Egyptian cement and diverted it to Israel where it is believed it was
used in the building of Israel's separation wall
The Tale Of Saddam's
Cameraman
By Robert Fisk
Mouffak Daoud's story is extraordinary. For eight
years, he was the Iraqi army's top wartime cameraman in the Somme-like
conflict against Iran. He was even filming when the Americans stormed
into Baghdad in April 2003. He still films for the Iraqi Ministry of
Interior
Israel The Real
Winner
By Mohamed Elmasry
If we rank those countries which have benefited
most, and are still benefiting, from the U.S.-led invasion and occupation
of Iraq, Israel heads the list
Censor Board
Bans 'Final Solution'
By Kalpana Sharma
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)
has refused to pass Rakesh Sharma's award-winning film on the Gujarat
violence - "Final Solution"
05 August, 2004
The
Death Of Cheap Oil
By Adam Porter
What we are seeing could be that the long awaited
peak in oil production is either here or about to arrive. We are seeing
that nowhere has the capacity to increase production
Monsanto
Prevails In Patent Fight
By Kristen Philipkoski
The Canadian Supreme Court upheld a ruling against
a farmer who used genetically modified canola seeds patented by Monsanto
while replanting his field. The farmer maintained that he inadvertently
used seed that had blown into his field
Overturning Transaction
Tax
By Kavaljit Singh
Under pressure from powerful lobby of brokers,
speculators, arbitrageurs and "noise traders," Finance Minister,
P. Chidambaram, diluted several important provisions of the proposed
securities transaction tax (STT)
All For
The Cow
By T.K.Rajalakshmi
On July 10,32-year-old Abdul Waaris Khan was done
to death in full public view in a crowded weekly market of Barghat,
in Seoni district of Madhya Pradesh for trying to sell his bull
04 August, 2004
The
Oil War Moves To Sudan
By Doug Lorimer
In July 1998 the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
reported that a Chevron representative estimated Sudan had more
oil than Iran and Saudi Arabia together
Over 37,000
Civilians Killed In Iraq
By Ahmed Janabi
The People's Kifah, or Struggle Against Hegemony,
an Iraqi political group says more than 37,000 Iraqi civilians were
killed between the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003 and October
2003
Unmasked - War
Against Iraqi Children
By Ghali Hassan
What rights do Americans have to commit such heinous
crimes against the history of humanity and the Iraqi people?
More Stories
From Guantánamo Bay
By Vikram Dodd and Tania Branigan
Questioned at gunpoint, shackled, forced to pose
naked. British detainees tell their stories of Guantánamo Bay
As The World
Looked On - Seoni Gang Rape
By T.K.Rajalakshmi
Gowlis, numbering around 150 broke open the door
the women through the streets of Bhomatola. The women were taken behind
the Panchayat Bhawan and gang-raped
Drowned And Out
By Medha Patkar
Amidst this season of destruction, with the Sardar
Sarovar and Narmada Sagar dams immiserating thousands of families, it
is necessary that Indians stand up and respond to these injustices
03 August, 2004
Muslims
Did Not Blow Up The Churches
By Sam Hamod
This is another American cover-up to create more
chaos in Iraq, just as America did in Viet Nam to keep us in that war.
In this case, it is to rally the Christians of America against Iraq
and to justify more attacks on Muslims groups in Iraq
Iraq Is About
To Explode
By Robert Fisk
Watching any Western television station in Baghdad
these days is like tuning in to Planet Mars. Doesnt Blair realize
that Iraq is about to implode? Doesnt Bush realize this? The American-appointed
"government controls only parts of Baghdad and even
there its ministers and civil servants are car-bombed and assassinated
India Faces
A Severe Drought
By Radha Viswanath
All hopes of a normal or near normal rainfall have
receded. With barely a month to go before the monsoon takes its formal
bow, as many as 28 of the 36 meteorological sub-divisions in India have
recorded 'below average'rainfall and the nation is staring straight
into a drought year
The Oil
Factor About Sudan
By John Laughland
Oil will be the driving factor for military intervention
in Sudan
02 August, 2004
Heat,
Death, Abduction In Iraq
By Girl Blog From Iraq
Is there sympathy with all these abductees? There
is, but for every foreigner abducted, there are probably 10 Iraqis being
abducted and while we have to be here because it is home, truck drivers,
security personnel for foreign companies and contractors do not
The Oligarchs
By Uri Avnery
Oligarchy and democracy are incompatible. As a
Russian commentator said about the new Russian democracy: They
have turned a virgin into a whore.
Measuring Merits,
And Its Apologists
By Chandrabhan Prasad
Dalits students better their performance when they
enter urban centres, hostels and relatively comfortable educational
environments. Once there, they discover the material basis to explore
their latent energies. On being recruited, they better their performance,
and, given a chance, even excel over non-Dalits
01 August, 2004
An
Empire Of Torture
By Pelayo Mella
The pictures of American soldiers abusing Iraqi
prisoners made me relive what I, and many thousands of other Chileans
suffered under the Pinochets dictatorship. What they did and do
with Iraqis is exactly the same as they did with Chileans, Argentineans,
and its is the same that occupying Zionists do with the Palestinians
Falluja- Documenting
death
By Frank Wallis
The Iraqi city of Falluja continues to be the target
of US forces strikes which claim the lives of many innocent civilians.
Frank Wallis looks back at the massacre which took place in April and
argues that President George W Bush went to Falluja to destroy an enemy
which did not really exist
Kerala
- Loss Of All Hope
By Saji P. George
The student community has joined the farmers in
seeking the 'final solution' in the economically and socially ravaged
state of Kerala, a classic case study of neo-liberal globalisation
31 July, 2004
The
Secret File Of Abu Ghraib
By Osh Gray Davidson
New classified documents implicate U.S. forces
in rape and sodomy of Iraqi prisoners
Iraq And The
Dollar
By John Chapman
There were only two credible reasons for invading
Iraq: control over oil and preservation of the dollar as the world's
reserve currency. Yet the government has kept silent on these factors
Seabird Breeding
Crisis Spreads To England
By Michael McCarthy
England's biggest seabird colony is suffering from the global warming-induced
severe food shortage that has devastated the birds of the Northern Isles
of Scotland
The Pathology
Of George Bush
By Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro answers President Bush's accusation
that Cuba promotes sexual tourism and child pornography
Projects Of
Mass Destruction And
Floods In Bangladesh
By Anu Muhammad
Three fourth of Bangladesh is now under water.
About 50 million people are thrown from bad to worse conditions. Not
everybody is suffering; there is a small section of people who feel
joy with the rising water. They find their business (from alu-patal
to fund stealing to huge (re)construction potential to flood control
consultancy) booming
30 July, 2004
The
Rise Of Global Resistance
By Omar Barghouti
The rest of the world truly hopes that Americans
may themselves rise up to the occasion and renounce the empire from
within; that they may opt for the status of relatively less privileged
citizens of a more just and peaceful world, rather than the loathed
masters of a bludgeoned, bullied, and oppressed world
Oil And Gas In
Abundance In Washington
By Eli Clifton
According to a recent report by a Washington-based
group, the Center for Public Integrity, the oil and gas industry has
spent more than 440 million dollars since 1998 on campaign contributions
and lobbying
Powell And My
Grandmother
By Sam Bahour
If U.S. interests in the Middle East continue to
be hijacked and jeopardized by a rapacious Israeli state, then maybe
not only the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza are occupied territories.
Maybe we need a peacekeeping force immediately sent to Capital Hill
On Comprehensive
Law On Communal Riots
By Asghar Ali Engineer
The United Progressive Alliance Government has
promised, in its Common Minimum Programme that a law will be enacted
to prevent communal riots but what is stated therein seems post-riot
measures like special courts to punish the guilty, to pay uniform compensation
to the victims etc
29 July, 2004
Aid
Agencies Desert Afghanistan
By Nick Meo
Aid workers who remained in Afghanistan throughout
the years of Soviet occupation, tribal anarchy and Taliban rule are
preparing to flee the country because US military tactics have made
it too dangerous to operate there
Bush Floats War
Against Iran
By Ted Rall
Failing to stamp passports is commonplace. Yet
the Bush Administration, operating on the assumption that most Americans
don't know that, is floating the possibility of war against Iran based
on that innocuous practice
Baghdad Reeks
Of The Stench Of The Dead
By Robert Fisk
The smell of the dead pours into the street through
the air-conditioning ducts. Hot, sweet, overwhelming. Inside the Baghdad
morgue, there are so many corpses that the fridges are overflowing.
The dead are on the floor. Dozens of them
Humanitarian
Disaster In Sudan
By Samson Mulugeta
Thousands of villages in the Sudanese region of
Darfur have suffered in a war that is, by most measures, the worst humanitarian
disaster in the world today
Religion,
Power And Violence
By Ram Puniyani
It is time that the people associated with religion
realize the abuse to which religion has been put
Body Of The
Nation: Why Women
Were Mutilated In Gujarat
By Martha C. Nussbaum
The woman functions as a symbol of the site of
weakness and vulnerability inside any male, who can be drawn into his
own mortality through desire. The Muslim woman functions doubly as such
a symbol. In this way, a fantasy is created that her annihilation will
lead to safety and invulnerability The paranoid anxiety that keeps telling
every man that he is not safe and invulnerable feeds the desire to extinguish
her