31 December, 2008
Gaza
Carnage Continues;
Death Toll Rises To 390
By Sameh A. Habeeb
Israeli air force still launching the heaviest bombardments in Gaza ever. The fourth day of Israeli military operation started with heavy bombings west of Gaza City in addition to killing 2 children and around 10 in various places in Gaza to raise death toll to 390 while wounded people up to one thousand and most of them civilians
Israel
Attacks Peace Ship
By Free Gaza
Israeli gunboats came out of the darkness and rammed us three times
From
The Ashes Of Gaza
By Tariq Ali
The assault on Gaza, planned over six months and executed with perfect timing, was designed largely, as Neve Gordon has rightly observed, to help the incumbent parties triumph in the forthcoming Israeli elections. The dead Palestinians are little more than election fodder in a cynical contest between the right and the far right in Israel. Washington and its EU allies, perfectly aware that Gaza was about to be assaulted, as in the case of Lebanon in 2006, sit back and watch
Americans
Should Act To End Violence Against Gaza
By Jeremy R. Hammond
Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip was predictable, if not preventable. Israel's crimes against the Palestinians simply could not take place on such a massive scale were it not for US support. The American people, therefore, have a responsibility to act and pressure their government to end its financial, military, and diplomatic support for Israeli violations of international law -- a necessary first step towards any viable and sustainable peace
Arab
Connivance In The Gaza Massacre
By Alberto Cruz
With the connivance, acquiescence and approval of the United Nations, Europe the United States and reactionary Arab governments, Israel is engaged in a campaign of extermination, a holocaust against the Palestinians
Gaza
And The World
By Ramzy Baroud
Until Arab countries and nations translate their chants and condemnations into a practical and meaningful political action that can bring an end to the Israeli onslaughts against Palestinians, all that is likely to change are the numbers of dead and wounded. But still, one has to wonder if Israel kills a thousand more, ten thousand, or half of Gaza, will the US still blame Palestinians? Will Egypt open its Gaza border? Will Europe express the same “deep concern”? Will the Arabs issue the same redundant statements? Will things ever change? Ever?
Israel
Is America's Hands
By Peter Chamberlin
Will you stand-up for the rights of humanity, or will you cower in the corner while the parade of death marches across your TV screen and into your own home?
Who
Wins What In Gaza?
By Mary Lynn Cramer
Israeli government officials say that innocent civilians should move away from the Hamas militants so they won’t be injured. To where were the 5 young sisters crushed to death by collapsing walls of a mosque bombed by Israel supposed to escape? The mosque, one of five now bombed to rubble, was next to their home
Gaza:
Plan Of Attack
By Jim Miles
I wish I were wrong, but the current Gaza war, given the current global situation, will some day be relegated to another footnoted battle against terrorists, soon to be dropped once again from the main media newscasts as soon as the “shock and awe” of it wears off and is no longer newsworthy
30 December, 2008
Gaza
Carnage: 345 Dead And Counting
By Sameh A. Habeeb
At least 345 people were killed and more than 1,650 wounded since Israel blitzed the Gaza Strip with massive air strikes since Saturday, December 27
In Pictures: Massacre of Gazan Children
A link to a number of heartrending pictures of children killed and injured in the Gaza carange
Why
Would Israel Bomb A University?
By Dr. Akram Habeeb
Last night, during the second night of Israel's unprecedented attack on Gaza, I was awakened by the deafening sound of intensive bombardment. When I learned that Israel had bombed my university with American-made F-16s, I realized that its "target bank" had gone bankrupt. Of course Israeli politicians and generals would claim that IUG is a Hamas stronghold and that it preaches terrorism
Slowy
Dying In A Useless Listening In Gaza
By Vittorio Arrigoni
Please, someone stop this nightmare. Choosing to remain silent means somehow lending support to the genocide unfolding right now. Shout out your indignation, in every capital of the “civilised” world, in every city, in every square, covering our own screams of pain and terror. A slice of humanity is dying in pitiful in a useless listening
Israeli
Electioneering With Bombs
By Jonathan Cook
Livni and Barak pin their hopes on Gaza rampage
Jewish
Terrorism
By Ghali Hassan
The ongoing massacre of innocent Palestinian civilians is not the first Jewish-perpetuated massacre and certainly won’t be the last. Israel follows a Nazi-like racist policy based on physical extermination and ethnic cleansing of the native Palestinian population
Mr
Mubarak, Tear Down That Wall!
By Franklin Lamb
Even a cursory examination of the events which began on December 27, 2008 require that Mohammad Hosni Mubarak be added as an accomplice to the pending International Criminal Court (ICC) case concerning international crimes being committed by Israel with American weapons
We
Have No Words Left
By Ali Abunimah
Palestinians are at a loss to describe this new catastrophe. Is it our 9/11, or is it a taste of the "bigger shoah" Matan Vilnai, thedeputy defense minister, threatened in February, after the last round of mass killings?
The
Dogs Of War
By Osamah Khalil
Caught between this collection of madmen, criminals and fools are the people of Gaza, who have suffered for far too long and have paid an unbelievable price for simply being Palestinian. After more then 30 months of sanctions and siege, many have become desperately poor, living a daily reality of constant terror and deprivation that few can imagine. Yet, in the face of overwhelming cruelty and a conspiracy of silence and indifference they persevere. That they must do so is an indictment of us all
Leaders
Lie, Civilians Die, And
Lessons Of History Are Ignored
By Robert Fisk
Yes, Israel deserves security. But these bloodbaths will not bring it. Not since 1948 have air raids protected Israel. Israel has bombed Lebanon thousands of times since 1975 and not one has eliminated "terrorism". So what was the reaction last night? The Israelis threaten ground attacks. Hamas waits for another battle. Our Western politicians crouch in their funk holes. And somewhere to the east – in a cave? a basement? on a mountainside? – a well-known man in a turban smiles
A
Hundred Eyes For An Eye
By Norman Solomon
What’s going on in Gaza right now is not just an eye for an eye. It’s a hundred eyes for an eye. And the current slaughter is not only an ongoing Israeli war crime. It has an accomplice named Uncle Sam
May
We No Longer Be Silent
By Paul Craig Roberts
“How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal?” Pinter’s question can also be asked of Israel. Israel has been in violation of international law since 1967, protected by the United States’ veto of UN Resolutions condemning Israel for its violent, inhumane, barbaric, and illegal acts
29 December, 2008
Gaza:
The Carnage Continues
By Sameh A. Habeeb
Victims of Israeli air raids are 312 while wounded are up to 1000. Around 80 air raids took place in Gaza strip from the early morning of Sunday till 7pm in the evening. Around 300 air raids in the last 2 days
The
Longest Night Of My Life
By Safa Joudeh
Here's an update on what's happening in Gaza,on the second night of Israeli air (and sea) raids on Gaza
Gaza
Today: This Is Only The Beginning
By Ewa Jasiewicz
And according to many people here, there is nothing and nobody looking out for them apart from God. Back in Shifa Hospital tonight, we meet the brother of a security guard who had had the doorway he had been sitting in and the building - Abu Mazen's old HQ - fall down upon his head. He said to us, 'We don't have anyone but God. We feel alone. Where is the world? Where is the action to stop these attacks?'
Guernica
In Gaza
By Vittorio Arrigoni
I haven’t seen any terrorists among the victims today, only civilians and policemen. Exactly like our own local police agents, the Palestinian policemen massacred by the Israeli bombings could be found every day of the year pacing the same city square, supervising the same street corner or road
Gaza
Carnage Sets West Bank Aflame
By Mel Frykberg
Anger, shock and revulsion at the continuing carnage in Gaza has ignited spontaneous demonstrations and riots across the West Bank and Israel, sparking concerns of a possible third Palestinian uprising or Intifada
"An
Earthquake On Top Of Your Head"
By Dr. Eyad Al Serraj
The bombing went on for about 10 minutes. It was like an earthquake on top of your head. The windows were shaking and squeaking. My 10-year-old was terrified, he was jumping from one place to another trying to hide. I held him tight to my chest and tried to give him some security and reassure him. My 12-year-old was panicking and began laughing hysterically, it's not normal. I held her hand and calmed her and told her she would be safe. My wife was panicking. She was running around the apartment looking for somewhere to hide
The
Hanukkah Massacres
By Gary Corseri
During the Festival of Lights, 2008, before the last candle of the menorah could be lit, while the children played with their dreidles and received their Hannukah gelt, their blind and deranged parents and grandparents rained terror upon a shackled people in an open-air prison, ensuring that the children in the Holy Land and elsewhere in our tortured world would know neither peace nor joy nor light for many years to come
Israel's
Wanton Aggression On Gaza
By Stephen Lendman
The "Stench of Death Hangs Over Gaza," wrote Ola Attallah, IslamOnline correspondent from Gaza City. Can we sense it, smell it, feel it, anguish over it, and decide once and for all this won't stand! If not now, when? If not us, who? If wanton butchery isn't incentive enough, what is?
The
World In Hostage
By Dan Lieberman
World leaders respond timidly to Israeli attacks on defenseless Gaza
Massacre
In Gaza: The Paradox Of Peace
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
Sadly, this was not the first time. History has repeated itself. Only our media has successfully managed to throw sands of ignorance in our eyes and blind us with bigotry, keeping our wits dull with misinformation. For the sake of the innocent victims everywhere, the truth must be exposed. We must revisit history
Israel
Threatens Ground Invasion Of Gaza
By Chris Marsden
Israel seems set for a ground invasion of Gaza following sustained bombardment that has left more than 300 dead and over 1,000 more injured
28 December, 2008
Massacre
In Gaza: 230 Killed
By Sameh A. Habeeb
Saturday morning started as usual but dramatically changed by 11AM. Sixty Israeli F16s bombarded around 100 police stations, civil and governmental offices across Gaza Strip. The bombardment which simultaneously took place left (at the time of writing)160 people killed and around 3 hundred wounded. A number of wounded are expected to die while many corpses still lie under the rubble of buildings
Gaza
Massacres Must Spur Us To Action
By Ali Abunimah
Palestinians everywhere are asking for solidarity, real solidarity, in the form of sustained, determined political action. The Gaza-based One Democratic State Group reaffirmed this today as it "called upon all civil society organizations and freedom loving people to act immediately in any possible way to put pressure on their governments to end diplomatic ties with Apartheid Israel and institute sanctions against it."
Gaza
City Hospital A Gruesome Scene
By Ma'an news
The scenes remind many Palestinians of the images that came out of the Sabra and Shatila massacres from Beirut in 1982, when thousands of Palestinians were killed by the Lebanese Phalangist militaries
Gaza
Massacre In Pictures
By Uruknet
A link to a number of heartrending pictures of Gaza tragedy
Dump
The Israeli And Palestinian Bushes
By Mike Ghouse
This bombarding is not good for Israel’s psyche and it is not good for us to watch and do nothing about it. We Americans are consistently duped by the media, we are conditioned not even to ask the other point of view and are made to become judgmental beings. We need to know the truth, so we can live with morality
Bush's
Farewell Gift
By Nicola Nasser
UN Resolution 1850 pushes Palestinian unity further from reach than ever, argues Nicola Nasser
The
Coming Capitalist Consensus
By Walden Bello
While progressives were engaged in full-scale war against neoliberalism, reformist thinking was percolating in critical establishment circles. This thinking is now about to become policy, and progressives must work double time to engage it
Terrorism-Plus-Something
Politics
By Mustafa Khan
Though the newly appointed home minister P.Chidambarum has laid to rest any doubt anybody, let alone AR Antulay, might have had regarding the killing of ATS chief Hemant Karkare, there are still some loose ends that need to be tied
Counter-Terrorism
Must Not Kill Democracy
By Praful Bidwai
The two new laws will increase the alienation of Muslims from the Indian State given that they have been the principal victims of India's recent anti-terrorism strategy. Many Muslims are also distressed at the alacrity with which the laws were passed -- in contrast with the UPA's failure to enact the promised law to punish communal violence and hate crimes
26 December, 2008
No
Bread In Gaza
By Rami Almeghari
The Gaza Strip, home to more than 1.5 million Palestinians, will soon be without its most basic commodity: bread. While families around the world celebrate Christmas, gathering around tables of abundance, Gaza parents like me will not even be able provide bread for their children unless Israel opens the commercial crossings to Gaza from the outside world
Gaza's
Hunger
By Sameh A. Habeeb
The number of Gaza bakeries is 47 but now the working ones are 14 only
Security
Council Undermines Justice
And UN Charter
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah
The United Nations Security Council passed its first resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in almost five years, on 16 December. But far from marking a break with the Council's abdication of responsibility for the fate of the Palestinian people, United States- and Russian-sponsored resolution 1850 is the final nail in the coffin for even the pretense that international law and institutions will play any serious role in ending 60 years of dispossession and occupation, and bringing about a just peace
India's
Reckless Road To Washington
Through Tel Aviv
By Vijay Prashad
The costs of the Tel Aviv-New Delhi-Washington axis are too much to bear, at least for India. India cannot afford to mimic Israel’s failed neighborhood policy, nor can it follow the U. S. example that seeks to solve its problems by aerial bombardment. South Asia requires a regional solution to what is without doubt a regional problem
Mumbai
Massacre Calls For A Probe Of British Role
By Ramtanu Maitra
A thorough investigation of the Mumbai massacre is the only way to prevent another such attack. That must include a probe of a possible british role in the incident
The
Sole Of Christmas
By Rev. William E. Alberts
Journalist Muntader al-Zaidi leads us to the “sole” of Christmas. Christmas is about throwing truth at falsehood and hyprocrisy in the name of peace and love and justice. That is what Jesus was about
Unscripted:
Green Zone Theater
And The Shoe Drama
By Ramzy Baroud
Al-Zaidi is simply an Iraqi man who has, as a journalist, highlighted the suffering of his people as politely, ‘objectively’ and ‘professionally’ as he could, and when he could no longer tolerate the lies told in the Green Zone’s ever malicious drama, he scrapped the script altogether, chucking his shoes at the main actor: This is a farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq.” His words, although uttered for the first time in the Green Zone theater, echoed the voices of millions of Iraqis outside, who have chanted these words, for six long, tragic years
Climate
Code Red - Telling The Truth To Power
By Bill Henderson
Climate Code Red was the most important single document published on climate change in 2008. Because climate change is now understood to be of humanity threatening seriousness and a crisis that needs emergency action immediately. Climate Code Red has to be considered as the most important document on any subject published this year
Early
Suspicions About Bernard Madoff
By Stephen Lendman
Since Ronald Reagan, and especially under Bill Clinton and George Bush, Wall Street got a free ride. Foxes guard the hen house. Regulators don't regulate. Investigations aren't conducted. Criminal fraud goes undetected. Little is done to eliminate it, and, except for rare instances like the Madoff scandal (that a business reversal and confession revealed), only small offenders need worry
Mickey
Z: My Personal Trainer And Yours
By Susie Day
An interview with Countercurrents writer Mickey Z
“Class
Is A Dirty Word”
By Jason Miller
Michael Parenti interviewed by Jason Miller
23 December, 2008
Humanitarian
Tragedy In Sri Lanka
By Chandi Sinnathurai
Sri Lankan President Rajapaksha has said that the Government has created a humanitarian corridor for some 280,000 Tamils sandwiched between the two conflicting sides. The un-told suffering of the Tamil civilians is sadly some thing that hardly ever grabs the headline of the world news. The question is how many more need to die? Every one wants to talk about terrorism of the one side but if the President is so interested in the welfare of the Tamil citizens he could halt the war today. Stop all the aerial bombing. Create conditions for all these Tamils to evacuate the so-called battle zone
Why
A Hue And Cry Over Antulay’s Remark?
By M Shamsur Rabb Khan
Why are the BJP and the media making hue and cry over Antulay’s remark on Karkare? Why is this hullabaloo over a probe into Karkare’s death by those who were hell bent on the probe of Hindu accused of terror act? Is it sacrilegious to ask for a probe into the circumstances in which Karkare died? After all, what is wrong in knowing the hidden bullets that killed Karkare
Acceptable
Deaths!
By Aditi Munot
In the past five years, over 150000 farmers have committed suicide in India alone. That is a huge number, especially when compared with the 200 people killed in Mumbai or the few thousand killed in the 9/11 attacks. 150000 farmers have been forced into giving up their lives and no questions have been asked. The ruthless economic structure that created the circumstances which compelled so many deaths is acceptable as a part of life
Pak-India
War May Threaten Nukes Security
By Rahil Yasin
War between India, Pakistan could provide extremists free hand to take control of nuclear weapons
Welcome
Mossad !
By Subhash Gatade
As far as Mossad- the notorious intelligence agency of Israel - is concerned, the terror attack had a very 'positive fallout'.One finds its growing mention in the Indian media as well as polity as a role model supposedly for 'being successful' in 'curbing the terrorist menace' inside Israel
Calm
Is Over; Violence Breaks Out Again In Gaza
By Sameh A. Habeeb
Sunday midnight witnessed escalated military steps by Israeli army on Gaza Strip. Apache helicopters raided on Al Shijya area east of Gaza city leaving 3 civilians injured. Medical spokesman of Emergency, Dr. Mawya Hasanian, said 2 children were reported in a wake of military actions. The air raids which were extensively supported by Israeli reconnaissance planes left Gaza residents in great panic
Nazi
Israel … Indeed
By Dr. Elias Akleh
Israelis and Jews of the world have relentlessly pursued Nazi war criminals for decades for their war crimes committed during WWII. They chased Nazi war criminals for the rest of their lives, even when they were old and close to their death, to make them pay for their crimes. No doubts in my mind that Israeli war criminals, in turn, will be pursued and sentenced for their war crimes committed against Arabs
Obama
v. Richard Falk On Israel
And Occupied Palestine
By Stephen Lendman
Obama leaves no ambiguity where he stands. From public statements, campaign pledges, policy advisors, and war cabinet selections, his positions affirm:one-sided pro-Israeli zealotry; continued Palestinian oppression; no end to the Iraq war and occupation;possibly attacking Iran and/or allying with Israel to do it;pursuing an imperial agenda; targeting Pakistan, Russia and other countries; expanding the size of the military; increasing expenditures for it; and providing Israel annually with billions of dollars; the latest weapons and technology
20 December, 2008
India's
New Terror Law Shows Old Genes
By Binu Karunakaran
The 2008 amendments made to UAPA show that several POTA genes have been transplanted. Clauses added to section 43 of the Principal act now blatantly asks the courts 'to presume, unless the contrary is shown, that the accused has committed such offence' if evidence suggesting the involvement of the accused has been found at the site
Our
Politicians Are Still Not Listening
By Colin Gonsalves
In a knee-jerk reaction to the Mumbai terror attacks, Government of India proposes to enact The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2008. Under section 15, the prosecution is to be granted upto 180 days to file a chargesheet (it is a 90 day limit today after which the accused is granted bail mandatorily), the provisions for bail are stricter, and if arms or explosives are proved to be recovered from the accused, then the court is entitled to presume that the accused has committed a terrorist act
India's
New Anti-Terror Laws Draconian
Say Activists
By Praful Bidwai
Following the late November terror attacks in Mumbai, India has passed two tough laws being seen by rights activists as potentially eroding the country’s federal structure and limiting fundamental liberties
Amnesty
International Criticises
India's New Terror Laws
By Amnesty International
India's New Anti-terror Laws Would Violate International Human Rights Standards
Special
High Level Probe Demanded
Into The Deaths Of Karkare, Kamte And Salaskar
By Awami Bharat
It is rather bewildering to see that despite the fact that both the government and certain sections of the corporate media are trying to supress the public outcry over the deaths of the three valiant ATS officers, the government is refusing to institute an inquiry commission to put all doubts to rest. The point is if it is also obvious as we are given to believe then why is the government runnning scared. That itself is raising doubts and creating more room for suspicion
The
Hatred That Seeks Solace In Oblivion
By Peter Chamberlin
As the tensions between the two nuclear powers continues to rise because of acrimonious accusations being exchanged over the recent Mumbai attacks, saner heads need to step forward to cool the passionate rhetoric, before the unthinkable exits the minds of lunatic generals into the world of the real
Gaza:
The Untold Story
By Ramzy Baroud
It’s incomprehensible that a region such as the Gaza Strip, so rich with history, so saturated with defiance, can be reduced to a few blurbs, sound bites and reductionist assumptions, convenient but deceptive, vacant of any relevant meaning, or even true analytical value
Peace
Groups Angry At Police Slur
By Jonathan Cook
Jewish peace groups have accused the Israeli police of fuelling racism by cancelling a “Jewish Pride” march by a far-right group that was to have taken place through one of the largest Arab towns in Israel
No
Pardon For Criminals In Government
By Timothy V. Gatto
The breaking of domestic and international law by the Bush Administration, and the corporate money in political campaigns are the most important issues that the American people should be thinking about. Letting people in the highest elected offices in the land get away with murder, and the selling of the American Federal Government to the highest bidder has got to end
Obama's
New Appointments
By Stephen Lendman
Only a few key appointments remain unnamed (including for CIA, director of national intelligence, two more FOMC vacancies, and a third one expected), and they'll fall right in line with the others. Those wanting change will be sorely tested, badly disappointed, and soon enough will know they were "Fooled Again." What else would we expect from the "Greatest Con-Man in Recent History."
18 December, 2008
Has
The Arctic Melt Passed The Point Of No Return?
By Steve Connor
Scientists have found the first unequivocal evidence that the Arctic region is warming at a faster rate than the rest of the world at least a decade before it was predicted to happen
20
Ways To Save Mother Earth And
Prevent Environmental Disaster
By Evo Morales
Humankind is capable of saving the Earth if we recover the principles of solidarity, complementarity and harmony with nature in contraposition to the reign of competition, profits and rampant consumption of natural resources
Four
Truths About Climate Change We Can't Igonore
By Gwynn Dyer
About 70 interviews, a dozen countries and 18 months later, I have reached four conclusions that I didn't even suspect when I began the process. The first is simply this: The scientists are really scared. Their observations over the past two or three years suggest that everything is happening a lot faster than their climate models predicted
The
Most Important Number On Earth
By Bill McKibben
We have a number-350. The most important number on earth. If the Internet has a cosmic purpose, this could be it-to take that number and spread it everywhere on the planet, so that everyone, even if they knew little else about climate change, understood that it represented a kind of safety, a bulwark against the monsoon turning erratic, the sea rising over their fields, the mosquito spreading up their mountain
Peak
Oil: At Last, A Date
By George Monbiot
For the first time, the International Energy Agency has produced a date for peak oil. International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Outlook report for 2007 says World oil resources are judged to be sufficient to meet the projected growth in demand to 2030 ; though it says nothing about what happens at that point, or whether they will continue to be sufficient after 2030
Counting
Sea Gulls
By Mickey Z.
A sky darkened for days by a single flock of birds? Seems like another planet to me
America:
The Choice Ahead
By Mohammed Mesbahi & Adam Parsons
As the world economy continues to deteriorate, the American public must influence a momentous turnaround in global priorities and light the way for other countries in how to live a simpler, more sustainable lifestyle
Iraqi
Government Seeks Criminal Prosecution
Of Anti-Bush Protestor
By James Cogan
Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the 29-year-old journalist who, in an act of protest, hurled his shoes at George Bush during a press conference on Sunday, was hauled before an investigating judge of the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad yesterday
China
Slumps As Global Recession Deepens
By Mike Head
In the latest shock to the global economy, China's industrial production is declining sharply, indicating that the entire national output is contracting. The official statistics for November are a staggering measure of how quickly the world slump is worsening, cutting off demand for Chinese exports
Assessing
The Bush Legacy: The Measure Of
The Man And His Administration
By Stephen Lendman
Assessing the Bush legacy - from its illegitimate birth; through its lawless, belligerent years; to the world potentially on the brink at its end. Exploring it fully as a change of command approaches, and an unenviable task awaits the new incumbent
Buddhism:
Beyond The Dalit Shadow
By Rahul Gade
Buddhism is spirit that has overcome the dalit shadow. Buddhism is the hope for the broken dalit. If the past has been dalit the future has to be Buddhist, anything lower would be less than honoring full human potential
15 December, 2008
The
Monster In The Mirror
By Arundhati Roy
What we're experiencing now is blowback, the cumulative result of decades of quick fixes and dirty deeds. The carpet's squelching under our feet. The only way to contain -it would be naïve to say end - terrorism is to look at the monster in the mirror. We're standing at a fork in the road. One sign says Justice, the other Civil War. There's no third sign and there's no going back. Choose."
The
Mumbai Massacre And
Pakistan's New Nightmares
By Pervez Hoodbhoy
We Pakistanis have to realize that this is a war for our very existence as a civilized nation. Western support for Pakistan must be very judicious and not too overt. Similarly, isolating Pakistan, or inflicting harsh punitive measures, could easily backfire. The Taliban and allied extremists have a real chance of winning in Pakistan. The state is already crumbling in places and it could disintegrate quite rapidly, leaving the fanatics in charge. One cannot think of a bigger disaster for Pakistan
Lessons
From The Mumbai Terrorist Attacks
By Prashant Bhushan
Unless we deal with the enormous injustices in our society, we cannot eliminate such suicidal terrorism. For this, we need to do many things, but most importantly we need to fix our criminal justice system. We have an insensitive, communal, corrupt and failed judicial system. Neither the political nor the judicial establishment have the political will to fix it. We need a major public campaign for that
Total
Defeat For U.S. In Iraq
By Patrick Cockburn
The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), signed after eight months of rancorous negotiations, is categorical and unconditional. Americas bid to act as the worlds only super-power and to establish quasi-colonial control of Iraq, an attempt which began with the invasion of 2003, has ended in failure. There will be a national referendum on the new agreement next July, but the accord is to be implemented immediately so the poll will be largely irrelevant
Excess
Debt And Deflation = Depression
By Stephen Lendman
Given a three-decade US standard of living decline to the present, exacerbated by the intensifying current crisis (very likely to be protracted and deep), it's very possible those 1930s numbers may be matched or exceeded going forward. If so, it may just take longer before their full effects show up and are felt
Who
Do You Think You Are Anyway?
By Timothy V. Gatto
Let’s stop our government from dancing to the corporate fiddle. So let me ask you again. Who do you think you are? Well, if you really take the time to think about it, you could be one of the many that rise up and stop this corporate run oligarchy
Illinois
Citizens Deserve Corrupt Government
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
The current Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, recently charged with crimes by the federal government, just follows in the footsteps of previous convicted Illinois governors and a huge number of other Illinois officials convicted of crimes. What is remarkable is that in the 2008 election Illinois voters had the opportunity to recognize that they needed to use their constitutional convention opportunity to reform state government. They voted not to use it. Which raises the question: How stupid or brainwashed are most Illinois citizens?
Beyond
Ableism
By Subhash Gatade
Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram gave a piece of his mind in a national conference organised by FICCI recently. Addressing the meet on 'Engaging Industry in Employment of Persons With Disabilities' he appealed to the captains of industry to 'show their humanitarian side' and 'employ the physically challenged people'.Question naturally arises as what prompted him to issue such an unusual appeal in the gathering
08 December, 2008
The
Mumbai Terror Attacks: Need
For A Thorough Investigation
By R.H.
In all the confusion and horror generated by the ghastly terrorist attacks in Bombay, a dimension which has not received the attention it deserves is the circumstances surrounding the death of Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and two of his colleagues, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte
Mumbai
Tragedy – Can Peace Follow?
By Q. Isa Daudpota
It may seem strange to talk about these larger issues when people are still hurting from the current tragedy. Pakistan too has barely recovered from the Marriott bombing. But it is precisely when a family is hurt due to a death within that warring factions often come together and adopt a reconciliatory approach to each other
The
Global Economic Crisis: Bad And Worsening
By Stephen Lendman
In a new article, economics professor Richard Wolff explains the current crisis in Marxian terms. It "emerged from the workings of the capitalist class structure. Capitalism's history displays repeated boom-bust cycles punctuated by bubbles. They range unpredictably from local, shallow and short to global, deep and long." Clearly we're now in one of the latter and potentially the worst ever
It's
Not Just The Economy Stupid
By Bill Henderson
The economy is just one of a multiplying series of crises that each need urgent action from governments. The economy is just our major preoccupation. Overwhelming preoccupation with the need for government action on the economy is clearly interfering with government action on climate change, peak oil, the global food crisis, ecosystem and biodiversity loss, and the deteriorating international rule of law (aggression, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, failed states, etc.)
Obama
Will Not Prosecute Bush And Cheney
By Joseph A. Lopisi
Mark my words. President Obama will follow in the footsteps of his predecessors by not holding his predecessor, George W. Bush and members of his administration, liable for violating the United States Constitution and criminally responsible for treason, 9/11, financial fraud, mass murder and war crimes
Signify’in:
The Obama Story
By Mustapha B. Marrouchi
The Obama victory is a sign of history in the triple sense of Kant’s signum rememorativum, demonstrativum, prognosticum.It is an act in which the memory of the long past of slavery and struggle for its abolition reverberates; a happening which now demonstrates a change; a hope for future achievements
06 December, 2008
As
The Fires Die: The Terror Of The Aftermath
By Biju Mathew
As the smoke lifts from Mumbai, skepticism must prevail over those conjectures which support the official state narrative. It is crucial to increase the pressure for transparency and accountability at this moment to ensure that India doesn't slide into the same state as post-9/11 USA
Indian
Tragedy, Al-Qaeda Triumph
By Ayaz Amir
Let us not forget that Al-Qaeda had declared war on Pakistan for being an accomplice of the United States, the terror bombings, suicide attacks and assassination attempts mounted in Pakistan being a response to this perceived role. But what the terror bombings and suicide attacks inside Pakistan could not lead to, the Mumbai attacks look like achieving: drawing Pakistan's attention away from the western theatre to the eastern front. Whom does this situation suit? Al-Qaeda
1992
vs. 2008: A Personal Odyssey
By Farzana Versey
If you believe for a moment that the residents of Mumbai are angry about the recent terror attacks, then they have succeeded in fooling you. There is no anger; there is irritation. Their daily routines have been mucked up
Oman
In Winter: Watching The Oil Run Out
By Peter Goodchild
Oman has oil reserves of about 5 billion barrels, although recoverable reserves may be more like 3 billion. In a world that uses 30 billion barrels a year, 3 billion is not much. What will happen when the oil is gone?
Who
Are The Taliban?
By Anand Gopal
Just three years ago, the central government still controlled the provinces near Kabul. But years of mismanagement, rampant criminality, and mounting civilian casualties have led to a spectacular resurgence of the Taliban and other related groups. Today, the Islamic Emirate enjoys de facto control in large parts of the country's south and east. According to ACBAR, an umbrella organization representing more than 100 aid agencies, insurgent attacks have increased by 50% over the past year. Foreign soldiers are now dying at a higher rate here than in Iraq
Hebron
Settlers Take Their Fight Into Israel
By Jonathan Cook
Extremist settler groups currently involved in violent confrontations with Palestinians in the centre of Hebron have chosen their next battleground, this time outside the West Bank
Iraq's
US Security Charade
By Ramzy Baroud
World media rashly celebrated the "historic" security pact that allows for US troops to stay in Iraq for three more years after the Iraqi parliament ratified the agreement on Thursday, 27 November. The approval came one week after the Iraqi cabinet did the same
The
Big Three, The Big Swindle
And The Boat We Are Missing
By Ivan Hentschel
The realities and the disappointments of the Wall Street rescue plan are becoming more obvious every day, and we surely do not need to have a repeat performance when it comes to Detroit, even if it is on a much smaller scale. But we cannot merely set the auto industry completely adrift, either. We should find a method and pathway that will rescue the untapped potentials that are lying about to be optioned nearly for the taking. But, as we learned from the Wall Street debacle, that old line about “too big to fail” is too big to swallow. And this applies equally to Detroit
Sri
Lanka: The Conquest Of Bread
By Chandi Sinnathurai
Those who escape the terror of aerial bombs and land-mines, one commentator writes from the ground, mothers and children in particular, gets bitten by poisonous snakes. Many have sadly died. It is heart-wrenching to note that many of these IDPs (Internally Displaced People) have already gone through the tsunami!
04 December, 2008
The
Mumbai Attacks: More Than
Meets The Eye
By Jeremy R. Hammond
While the evidence strongly points to LeT and a network of associates affiliated with the group or with each other, that web also includes the CIA and MI6
“India’s
9/11”:Perils In Parallels
By Shakeel Syed
It is time to act for all people, not just Indians or Pakistanis. In allowing the Indian discourse of 9/11 parallels is perilous for all people, especially US interests
Mumbai
Carnage, Wish It Was The Last Horror!
By Mirza A. Beg
The only effective way to remove the cancer of terrorism is to leave the hubris of the 20th century behind, ushering a new peaceful and just millennium by adhering to the International Charter of Human Rights and strengthening the United Nations. This requires the modification of the Security Council so that no country, irrespective of its size, wealth or power is above the international law
Hotel
Taj: Icon Of Whose India ?
By Gnani Sankaran
It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not bother about the other icon that faced the first attack from terrorists - the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station. CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway station hundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transforming themselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along with the Marathis and Kolis
Woody
Guthrie: A Little Recession Music, Please
By Mickey Z.
Woody Guthrie laid the foundation for generations of American singer-songwriters to use their music and lyrics to challenge the prevailing platitudes of popular music…and to provide a Greek chorus of protest and outrage to keep us all more honest and aware
700
Billion Times 10
By Tim Buchholz
If I am a bank and I have $10, I can loan out $100.00. Pretty good right? I only need to have $1 million to loan out $100 million, at interest. And, if I have $700 billion, I can loan $7 trillion, at interest. That’s pretty close to $7.6 trillion, remember that number? Sounds like another bubble getting ready to burst to me
Kidnapped
At Gunpoint And Deported
By Israeli Forces: And She Will Return
By Eileen Fleming
On November 18, 2008, Darlene Wallach of California was kidnapped at gunpoint by Israeli forces and deported to New York City on Thanksgiving Day. She arrived without money, passport, cell phone, warm winter clothes and had no way of contacting her family and friends in California, London, or Cyprus
The
Semantics Of Third World
By S.Faizi
An Australian cricketer’s disparaging remark about India as a Third World country and the rebukes it has elicited in India and Pakistan offers a long overdue opportunity to debate the use of the expression Third World so that this term of prejudice and disdain could be banished. The rejoinders’ claim that India is not a ‘Third World’ country and assumption that some other countries are the Third World, is, however, rather under-informed
Censorship
In America?
By Timothy V. Gatto
How can this nation let it’s government know what we want if we don’t know what is really going on? The only advice I can offer to my fellow citizens is to scream like hell to end “selective” news reporting, or to go to the internet for your news. I only wish I could publish this in a venue that would actually inform those who need informing. This will be published on the internet, and sadly, we all know this information already. It won’t reach the people that need to read this
Obama's
Choices: The Planet’s Demands
By Jeff Berg
The challenge before Obama, his team, and those of us who still possess the luxury to engage in this kind of work, is how best to engage the spirit of cooperation fostered by this financial crisis. How to harness the collective anxiety now being experienced by those at the very top to institute the changes that many at the very bottom have long sensed are essential. Essential changes that most now know will have to be instituted sooner or later. Either proactively out of the choices offered by enlightened self-interest or retroactively by the brute force of circumstances
03 December, 2008
Mumbai
Terror Attack: Further Evidence Of
The Anglo-American-Mossad-RSS Nexus
By Amaresh Misra
Amaresh Misra raises some pertinent questions about the possible involvement of Mossad and CIA in the Mumbai terror attacks
Lies
Of The Lashkar
By Yoginder Sikand
Why the Pakistan-based terror outfit behind the attacks would do this needs no explanation. The aim of the attacks was probably to destabilise India, fuel Hindu-Muslim violence, instigate Muslims to take to terror in response to attacks by Hindus and then drown India in flames
A
Game Played On The Shoulders Of Terror
By Aditi Munot
But what’s more disgusting is the employment of this horror by the media and politicians and bureaucrats for their benefit. What’s disturbing is how they have viewed this as an opportunity to make more money and breed differences. What is distressingly unacceptable is the fact that these people are building their palaces on the grave of the common man
Media
Falls In The Old Trap
By Beena Sarwar
Some Indian channels are running the Pakistan factor like a movie trailer, complete with sound effects and watch-for-the-next-episode commentary. This obviously fuels Pakistani indignation. However, this indignation could be tempered by being less reactive and empathising with the Indians' pain and grief that many Pakistanis share. Zealous commentators could also recall the times that their own media houses sensationalised an issue
Terrorism
And 'War On Terrorism'
By Dr Shabir Choudhry
It is in the interest of Pakistan's neighbours and the world at large that there is democratic, stable and friendly Pakistan; rather than unstable, extremist and unfriendly Pakistan. Use of force against Pakistan or leaving it alone to put up with challenges of terrorism, extremism and economy will not help the matters, if anything it will help the extremists to takeover the politcial and national agenda
Gaza:A
Bare Life Zone Nearing
To A No-Life-Zone
By Sameh Akram habeeb
With the latest Israeli maneuvers' of tightening the siege imposed on Gaza, more life necessities vanished. The key power plant shut down 25 days ago resulted in tremendous direful outcomes. More than 75% of the Gaza strip faces severe power cuts and some areas completely plunged into darkness
A
Peace Process That Makes Peace Impossible
By Nicola Nasser
Palestinian – Israeli peace-making can only deliver if Palestinians are united, but the current Annapolis “peace process” was launched first of all as a blueprint for perpetuating the inter- Palestinian divide
Obama's
Economic "Dream Team"?
By Stephen Lendman
A brief look at Obama's economic "Dream Team"
The
Position Of Flexible Leverage…
By Chandi Sinnathurai
Chandi Sinnathurai says in so many words that the Tamil territories of Sri Lanka are about to fall but the spirit of resistance will live
The
Rise Of The Frugalista
By Andrew Pickering
Unaccustomed as I am to fashion writing, it seems there is a new trend in town. I am talking about the rise of the frugalista, a term increasingly being used to refer to the fashionably thrifty clothes horse-about-town. The frugalistas signify the epitome of credit crunch chic, deliberately slumming it at charity shops in order to bolster a pious kind of street cred
02 December, 2008
Awake
India Awake!!!
The World Needs You
By Abdul Basit
We have to restore confidence among the Hindus, Muslims and Christians and strengthen the cohesiveness and trust between all the sections in the Indian society. For this we have to rebuild the lives of families affected by communal violence and bomb blasts so that their future generation overcomes the trauma and revenge mentality that sustain this hatred and instead unite to build a bright India
01 December, 2008
India's
9/11. Who Was Behind The Mumbai Attacks?
By Michel Chossudovsky
Washington is Fostering Political Divisions between India and Pakistan
The
Mumbai Cauldron: Who Pressed
The Repeat Button Of History?
By Saber Ahmed Jazbhay
Those who executed the military precision operation were certainly not amateurs but highly trained and motivated professional terrorists who were prepared to die for their cause and who, I suspect, were part of a larger geopolitical agenda and the operational nature and scale of their enterprise suggests that they were not religious zealots for at no time is there any record or indication of them chanting or exemplifying any religious fervour like those who allegedly flew their hijacked planes into the World Trade Centre
Pleas
For Sanity As Sabres Rattle
Over Mumbai Mayhem
By Beena Sarwar
The pattern is all too familiar. Every time India and Pakistan head towards dialogue and detente, something explosive happens that pushes peace to the backburner and drags them back to the familiar old tense relationship, worsened by sabre-rattling war cries from both sides
Terror
In The Name Of God
By Yoginder Sikand
According to media reports, it is possible that the recent deadly assault on Mumbai was masterminded by the Lashkar-e Tayyeba, a Pakistan-based self-styled Islamist terrorist outfit. Whether the attacks were indeed the handiwork of the Lashkar, as is being alleged, or of some other agency, such as the CIA and the Israseli Mossad, as others believe, remains to be fully investigated, but there can be no doubt that radical Islamism, like radical Hindutva, poses a major threat to peace and security in both India and Pakistan
Criminal
Injustice Against
The Holy Land Foundation Charity
By Stephen Lendman
The Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) was the largest American Muslim charity until the Bush administration falsely declared it an enemy of the state and shut it down. On December 4, 2001, the Treasury Department declared HLF a terrorist group, froze its assets, and falsely claimed they were being used to funnel millions of dollars to Hamas. HLF appealed at the time but in court was denied
Surprise
!
By David Kendall
So why is anyone even slightly "surprised" about the recent cabinet appointments by Barack Obama? And I'm not talking about regular people -- the 50-percent of all American households that can't afford Internet access, who therefore also don't have access to "alternative news sources". I'm talking about the extremely educated and intelligent "Harvard" and "Berkeley" people who write those alternative sources of "news" information, who now feel shocked, appalled, abandoned, betrayed, horse-whipped, cheated, swindled and -- "SURPRISED" -- by President-elect Barack Obama's recent cabinet selections
George
W. Bush Belongs In Prison
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
Electing Barack Obama president was the first step in redeeming American democracy. The second step must be indicting ex-president George W. Bush, giving him a fair trial, finding him guilty of many criminal acts and putting him in prison. Forget revenge. Think rule of law and justice
Politics
And The Arts,Internationalism And Activism
By Lloyd Rowsey
An Interview With Gary Corseri
Hospitals
or Hell?
By V. Sasi Kumar & Sundar Ramanathaiyer
Mental hospitals in India are
very much like hell. No one
seems to be bothered about what happens there. People, even journalists,
are not allowed to visit the wards. Very little news comes out of
their prison-like campuses. Once in a while we even hear reports
of rape and sodomy. Becoming a mental patient is often worse than
death
