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31 July, 2008

Global Trade Talks Collapse
By Bill Van Auken

Prospects for a global free trade agreement were dashed this week as negotiations in Geneva collapsed in bitter acrimony and mutual finger pointing

WTO Talks, A Tsunami Averted
By Devinder Sharma

It was a close call. Till the last minute, suspense became overbearing. Glued to our seats and teetering on the brink of fear, with abated breath we awaited the outcome of the last minute efforts to save an unjust an inequitable "Doha round" deal. And as news started to trickle in signaling the collapse of the WTO mini-Ministerial, a sigh of relief emerged. After all, a tsunami has been averted

How Essential Is The Nuclear Power?
Not The Best Option

By Shankar Sharma

There are many benign ways of producing the electricity. Has our society harnessed all the alternatives available?

The Nuclear Deal: Whom To Benefit?
By Dr Vispi Jokhi

I do feel that the development debate must not be hijacked by parameters of sensex driven growth of corporate India at the cost of Bharat. We must not displace from their green lands the peasants, nor poison the land and rivers with nuclear waste so that we can sustain an 8-10% growth. We must also change from an economy of materialistic consumption to an economy of permanence leading to sustainable living

French Government's Deception
On Deadly Tricastin Spill

By Bob Nichols

The French Government today admitted a series of dangerous radioactive spills near French nuclear giant AREVA plants at Tricastin, in a wine growing region of southeastern France

U.S. Military Interests Reign Supreme In Italy
By Stephanie Westbrook

Citing Classified Documents and Laws Enacted under Fascism, Italian Court Approves New U.S. Military Base in Vicenza

From Usurpation To Liberation:
The Palestinian Hope

By Dan Lieberman

The suffering due to occupation and a perspective of Israel as a colonizer drives the Palestinians to a war of liberation. Hope for success is enhanced by Israel's inability to accumulate a sufficient mass of world Jewry to labor for a Jewish homeland. Hopelessness that foresees failure is dictated by Israel's daily violent and cruel acts that grind the Palestinians into dust. Despite its attempt to portray the conflict as a war on terrorism, the ferocity of Israel's campaign certifies it is fighting a liberation movement with tactics designed to completely destroy Palestinian life

Francis Boyle's "Palestine
Palestinians And International Law"

By Stephen Lendman

Francis Boyle is a distinguished University of Illinois law professor, activist, and internationally recognized expert on international law and human rights. He also lectures widely, writes extensively, and authored many books, including the subject of this review: "Palestine Palestinians and International Law."

The American Reality
By Max Kantar

Amidst the independence day flag waving, summer sporting events, and even a few murmurs about the prospect of 'change' in an upcoming national election, a much darker reality exists in this country. Blinded by the bright lights of flatscreen televisions and drowned out by the numbing buzz of propaganda and unimportant words, we have been hypnotized by the doctrinal system of mass media and baptized in materialistic excess

30 July, 2008

Humanity At crossroads:
Attitudes And Climate Change

By Abdul Basit

Despite these thought-provoking discussions about the influence of climate change on human existence and the solutions to tackle it, we are nearing, as time passes, the verge of a major disaster and the options for solutions are declining. The increasing natural calamities, the concern about the tipping points due to further carbon emissions and its effects on the habitability on earth have created great concerns

Common Sense And Survival
By William H. Kötke

The graph line of the global population explosion now goes upward almost vertically. The graph line of reserves of resources that fund that explosion falls precipitously. The point at which population crosses the food production line is the point of the beginning of the coming mass die-off of human population

Cycle Of Terror: How To Stop Its Movement?
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi

Two and half months after Jaipur bombings which left 60 people dead, Bangalore and Ahmedabad were ripped through by serial blasts on 25th and 26th July respectively – 25 explosions in total within 24 hours – and 50 people were dead and more than 150 wounded. Jaipur is unsolved till date and, with past investigations into terror attacks in mind, it can be said that Bangalore and Ahmedabad will remain unsolved, too. This is what has kept the cycle of terror moving

Reflection On The Role Of The Israeli Peace Camp
By Hasan Afif El-Hasan

Actions of the Zionist governments, left or right since the establishment of Israel, suggest no intention of recognizing the rights of Palestinians.The Israelis have to change their consciousness to deal courageously with their collective responsibility for the Palestinian tragedy. Only the Jewish Israeli members of the peace camp can drive this message home to the Israeli people

Change People NEED To Believe
By Timothy V. Gatto

Adolf Hitler amazes me in one sense. Here he was, a brown-eyed, dark haired little man, and he convinced a large number of people that the he represented the “Aryan Race” of supposedly tall, blond haired, blue-eyed people. Nice trick. The thing about what Hitler said, and what the reality consisted of, was that people wanted to believe him. I see this desire reflected in the candidacy of Senator Obama

McCain's Spin On The 'Surge'
By Jason Leopold

Over the past several weeks, John McCain and his backers have touted his early endorsement of the Iraq War “surge” as evidence of his political courage, but it could be equally viewed as an act of political desperation, to forestall total calamity in Iraq and to avert disaster for broader neoconservative objectives in the Middle East

29 July, 2008

Death To Afghanistan
By Margaret Kimberley

America is going to do for the people of Afghanistan what it has already done for the people of Iraq. The United States, claiming to save them from evildoers, will kill many thousands more Afghans than it already has. Iraq is a political loser for Republican candidate John McCain, but the system demands constant feeding of the insatiable military industrial complex. Afghanistan fits the bill perfectly

Iraq: Poised To Explode
By Robert Dreyfuss

Despite the Optimism of the Neocons, which has pushed mainstream media coverage to be increasingly flowery about Iraq’s political progress, in fact the country is poised to explode. Even before the November election. And for McCain and Obama, the problem is that Iran has many of the cards in its hands. Depending on its choosing, between now and November Iran can help stabilize the war in Iraq — mostly by urging the Iraqi Shiites to behave themselves — or it can make things a lot more violent

Obama Backs Long-Term
US Military Presence In Iraq

By Patrick Martin

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama reiterated his support for an open-ended US military presence in Iraq over the weekend, further narrowing his professed differences with the Bush administration and Republican presidential candidate John McCain

Small Farming Is The Future
By Jim Goodman

Small is the future. We know indigenous farmers can produce more food using traditional farming methods. They have no need of genetically modified seed or chemicals. All they need is an end to wars and, as Frances Moore Lappe would say, “more democracy.” The World Bank and the G-8 need to let them make their own decisions and feed themselves

Playing Progressive Hardball
By Case Wagenvoord

In spite of it all, we want to believe. We cling to the hope that once Obama takes the oath of office; his true progressive nature will spring forth and turn America into a paradise of progressive ideals. Unfortunately, his FISA vote changed everything. If ever there was an unnecessary “yea” vote that was it. It defies the imagination how Democrats could allow themselves to be bullied by a lame-duck president whose approval ratings are in the pits

Our President Should Support
More Direct Democracy

By Joel S. Hirschhorn

For political reform seeking Americans the litmus test for presidential candidates should be whether they support more direct democracy. If Obama is not just about rhetorical change, but a true reformer of the political system, then we need to hear from him on this issue

What Happened To The Anti War
Movement Of The 1960's?

By Ibrahim Turner

We see around us suffering and injustice. Virtue is not rewarded, wickedness is not punished. We see mankind helplessly drifting towards a wretched state of overpopulation, depletion of resources and wholesale pollution of our Mother Earth. There is real danger of total disaster by way of an atomic war. A new horror is on the horizon in the shape of new diseases to plants, animals and man. An era of fresh plagues that chemotherapy will be powerless to cure has been predicted. Altogether, the prospects for the next fifty years are pretty terrifying

How To Get A Job By Shooting Up A Church
By David Swanson

Imagine being so angry that you couldn't find a job that you were able to decide, as a man in Tennessee just did, that the way to solve your problems was to attack liberals - the people who support (albeit ineffectively) workers' rights, union rights, and fair trade, who oppose NAFTA, oppose tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas, support investing in job creation at home rather than wars abroad, and want to tax corporations and the super-rich rather than small businesses and working people

Ghosts Of 9/11: Muslim Nationality Movements
or Pan-Islamic Jihad?

By Wajahat Ahmad

In the backdrop of increasing Islamphobia post 9/11, significant sections of Western media have tended to misrepresent Muslim nationality movements as extensions of global Islamist projects. On the contrary these movements have been waged by Stateless nations struggling for creation of nation-states of their own. For the peoples of Chechnya, Kashmir and Palestine the grand ideologies of many Internationalist isms are either irrelevant or at most secondary to their sentiments of nationalism

War On Terror And Pirates Of Pakistan
By Dr Shahid Qureshi

Those who were selling tickets in cinemas and making water pumps have become billionaires in last 20 years in Pakistan? Not a bad deal investing in politics? One can imagine the level of corruption and mafia control in Pakistan. When an ordinary Pakistani sees yesterday’s thieves and crooks appointed at the highest positions by so-called democrats. What they should do?

28 July, 2008

The Bush Administration's Biowarfare Agenda
By Stephen Lendman

The Bush administration raised the stakes and threatens all humanity. Boyle believes it used 9/11 and the anthrax attacks to stampede Congress and the public into aggressive wars and a menu of repressive laws. He also thinks the FBI knows who's behind the anthrax attacks: criminal US government elements planning a police state and another frightening enterprise - to fight and win a future biowar. A possible nuclear one as well. Boyle sounds the alarm about what may lie ahead and its potential consequences

The Military-Industrial Complex
By Chalmers Johnson

Although Eisenhower's reference to the military-industrial complex is, by now, well-known, his warning against its "unwarranted influence" has, I believe, largely been ignored. Since 1961, there has been too little serious study of, or discussion of, the origins of the military-industrial complex, how it has changed over time, how governmental secrecy has hidden it from oversight by members of Congress or attentive citizens, and how it degrades our Constitutional structure of checks and balances

Wary Of China, Russians Look West
By Dmitry Shlapentokh

Like his predecessor Vladimir Putin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev followed his taking over the Kremlin, in May, with a visit to China. For some pundits this raised the specter of a Chinese-Russian alliance as a threat to the West. This is not the case. The Russian - both elite and popular - approach to China is often guarded. And as with all flirtation with Chinese and Asian powers, Russia continues to be West-oriented. My recent visit to Russia confirmed this

Barack Obama: The New Jimmy Carter
By Greg Guma

Obama – like Carter – can be useful in calming things down and re-establishing confidence in the legitimacy of the current political order. In short, he can reinforce the argument that “the system” still works. For those who want real change, he’s bound to be a disappointment. But perhaps, along the road to inevitable disillusionment, at least he may do a bit to ease the pain

Bolivia: Tensions Rising As Vote Looms
By Federico Fuentes

Tensions and uncertainties continue to rise as what some are calling a bout of "referendumitis" sweeps through Bolivia

Of Patriots And Pawns: Carolyn Baker Reviews
Mary Tillman's "Boots On The Ground By Dusk"

By Carolyn Baker

True to the mother's loyalty that exudes from every paragraph of her book, Mary Tillman does not want the focus to be on her. She's tired of being in the media limelight and simply wants the world to know Pat's story-who he was and how he and his family were betrayed. So after completing Mary's book, I was drawn to focus on her process of discovering the truth about Pat's death and the meaning of her discovery for all of us

Sentient Like Me: Ape Rights And The Myth Of
Intelligence Amongst Speciesists

By Jason Miller

Animal liberationists are seeking an end to the abject torture the human species inflicts on billions upon billions of non-human animals simply to achieve goals and to satisfy needs that could be attained and reached by other means. There is no push for “equality” in the sense that fear-driven speciesists like Saletan and Smith assert. Animal liberation seeks to assign basic, reasonable rights to sentient non-human animals to prevent them from enduring the horrifying unnecessary suffering we humans inflict upon them for our personal gain, amusement and satisfaction

Things Go Wrong For Nepal Maoists
By Nava Thakuria

The rebellion communists of Nepal, though they won a war against the monarch, have lost an important battle of ballots in the Constituent Assembly. Loosing the ballot race for the 'Head of the State' and his subordinate, the rebellion communists hided their faces for few moments. A last minute emergence of a three party alliance, opposing them, even compelled the rebellion communist leader Prachanda to rethink about his next step. Prachanda, who led a bloody revolution demanding the removal of the Hindu monarchy in Nepal and later projected as the Prime Minister of the federal democratic republic at Kathmandu, finally faced the real heat of democracy

Memories Of A Black Moon –
The 1983 Riots In Sri Lanka

By Prasanna Ratnayake

More than two and a half decades later, one of my friends has asked to interview me about the ’83 riots. I was ten years old. My family was from the Sinhala majority, with relatives who were strong figures in politics and the military. How could I reply?

Raksha Bandhan – A hindrance For
Development Of Women Society?

By Pardeep

When sister ties a thread on the wrist of brother and asks him to protect her in difficulties. Don’t all you think this it's showing or impelling that women society is not capable/eligible for protecting herself and she always needs a help. Isn’t it showing that the women society is inferior and can’t help own-self?

27 July, 2008

Accidents Tarnish Nuclear Dream
By Angelique Chrisafis

Roger Eymard, 69, a retired farmer, now washes by pouring purified water into the shower fitting of his camper van parked in a stable. “Nuclear was progress and we wanted that. We thought people were competent. Now we ask, were there previous incidents we weren’t told about?

Palestinian Family Denied Even Half A House
By Jonathan Cook

The home of Mohammed and Fawziya Khurd has been split in two since 1999 when the Israeli courts evicted their grown-up son Raed from a wing of the property. The elderly couple have been trying to regain possession, but were stymied last week when an Israeli high court backed the petition of a group of settlers and ordered the immediate eviction of the Khurds. The decision paves the way for the takeover of 26 multi-storey houses in the neighbourhood, threatening to make 500 Palestinians homeless

Been There And Done What? Canada's Role
In The Israel-Palestine Conflict

By Bahija Réghaï

Israel demands to be treated as an equal in the community of nations, and this requires being answerable to international norms and human rights standards. As Canadian citizens, we must hold our own government accountable for upholding and promoting these norms, including insisting that Israel’s government does the same

ICC And Al-Bashir: Ocampo’s Justice
By Ramzy Baroud

The crimes committed against innocent people in Darfur represent a shameful episode in the history of Sudan and its neighbours, including Chad, which has played a dubious role in sustaining the seething conflict. Equally disgraceful is the politicising of the bloody conflict in ways that will ensure its continuation. The decision of the International Criminal Court's prosecutor-general, Luis Moreno- Ocampo, to file an arrest warrant for Sudan's current President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, and the international responses to his decision, demonstrate both the politicising of the crisis and the selectiveness of international law

'Do More' Chorus Harps On
By Gul Jammas Hussain

The "do more" phenomenon has set off a conflagration of extremism and terrorism in the tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan whose flames are threatening to consume most of the country. But paradoxically, U.S. officials' "do more" chorus harps on

The Stiff Upper Blip:Taming The Islamic Shrew
By Farzana Versey

Of the 1.6 million British Muslims, how many do not understand what their citizenship entails? If you are teaching them about duties, then how about teaching the government and its satellite bodies about their rights? Do Muslims in the UK have the right to be Muslims without being tagged and questioned each time they wear clothes that might identify them as being part of their religion? Does a person with a Muslim name have the luxury of not being frisked a bit more?

Hoodwinked Hijacked And Bushwhacked!
By Thomas Daly

In November there is a real opportunity for America and the World to experience some actual Change. For too long people have been led down a path of destruction that has now reached the tipping point on a number of fronts. This article is about that path and some of the Changes so desperately needed. Rather than go into great detail about many of the root causes, I have posted links to relevant sites where the reader may explore these issues more fully

The Indian Obama And The American Mayawati
By G Sampath

Barack Obama and Kumari Mayawati have a lot in common. One is a Black politician who represents the great liberal hope in the US. The other is poised to usher in a new political order where the oppressed castes will finally get their due in a polity traditionally dominated by upper castes. Or so we are told. If one day either of them assumes the mantle of the highest executive post in their country, it will mark a victory for democracy, with historically marginalised minorities finally getting their turn at the helm of power. Really?

Why Malnutrition Deaths Contiue
To Happen In Madhya Pradesh ?

By K. Kumar

60 % of Madhya Pradesh children are suffering with malnutrition. Madhya Pradesh is only state wherein malnutrition rose from 55 % to 60 %, in period of 2001 – 2007, which is alarming. It is an indication that Madhya Pradesh was unable to control malnutrition among children and steps taken by it all these years had failed

26 July, 2008

What Really Wiped Out The Dinosaurs?
By Sanjida O'Connell

Did asteroids really wipe out the dinosaurs? Scientists now think rising sea-levels were to blame – and they could threaten our survival too

Riches In The Arctic:The New Oil Race
By Michael McCarthy

New geological surveys show as much as a fifth of the world’s undiscovered but exploitable gas and oil reserves lie under the Arctic ice. As the ice melts, the pristine wilderness could become ‘the new Houston’

The Path To One Democratic State In Palestine
By Roger Tucker

All that remains is the reality of a land in which reside both Israelis and Palestinians, some of the latter living as second-class citizens within Israel proper and the rest separated by the apartheid wall and imprisoned in the West Bank, and in Gaza. This situation cannot continue indefinitely. Somehow or other, one single state must emerge. The only question is what kind of state

What Obama Missed In The Middle East
By Ali Abunimah

Obama missed the opportunity to visit Palestinian refugee camps, schools and even shopping malls to witness first-hand the devastation caused by the Israeli army and settlers, or to see how Palestinians cope under what many call "apartheid." This year alone, almost 500 Palestinians, including over 70 children, have been killed by the Israeli army -- exceeding the total for 2007 and dwarfing the two-dozen Israelis killed in conflict-related violence

What's Driving The Jerusalem Attacks
By Uri Avnery

The attacks are the result of despair, frustration, hatred and the sense that there is no way out. Only a solution that will remove these feelings can bring security to both parts of Jerusalem

Political Parties, Corporations And The Truth
By Timothy V. Gatto

Unless Americans start to look past the hype that the mainstream media provides to their myopic vision of this so-called two-party system, the future seems bleak indeed for the average middle-class citizens. To get a clear understanding of modern politics today, one needs only to follow the money in the political arena to see who will emerge as the victor in this particular election

Secret "Torture Memo" Gave Legal Cover
To Interrogators Who Acted In "Good Faith"

By Jason Leopold

A Justice Department legal opinion issued in August 2002 advised the CIA that its interrogators would not be prosecuted for violating anti-torture laws as long as they acted in “good faith” while using brutal techniques to obtain information from suspected terrorists, according to a previously undisclosed memo released publicly Thursday

Tears In God's Own Country
By K.A. Shaji

As the Kerala government goes on an overdrive to sell tourism, its major destinations are beginning to resemble garbage dumps

25 July, 2008

India Ratifies Parkinson's Law
By Niranjan Ramakrishnan

And though the government had won, it had really won a vote of confidence in its continuation, not specifically the nuclear deal, for there had been little to no discussion of that subject. The Left Parties were opposed to the American connection, the largest opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seemed to have only one grouse, namely that the Congress rather than it had engineered the agreement. As to the government, you could have gathered from its speeches that the nuclear deal was the lone and final key the country had to enter the Kingdom of Heaven

Pakistan Faces Mounting US Demands
To Suppress “Terrorism”

By K. Ratnayake

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is due in Washington next week for top-level discussions, including with President Bush, in which the escalating war in Afghanistan will certainly be a central focus. The Pakistani government has come under mounting pressure from Washington to take action against anti-US insurgents operating from bases inside the tribal areas near the border with Afghanistan

Iraq: Most NGOs Losing Face
By Ali al-Fadhily & Dahr Jamail

Welcomed at first after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, most NGOs have run into scepticism and mistrust. Few remain to help

Obama Promotes Wider War In Afghanistan
By Jerry White

It is clear that the presidential campaign of Barack Obama has become the political vehicle for a significant shift in the focus of US military aggression from Iraq to Afghanistan and Central Asia

Simmering West Africa: A Slow Healing
By Maryam Sakeenah

As the scars of war slowly heal, West Africa still remains prone to conflict raising its ugly head again. The issue of Blood Diamonds is still very pertinent and awareness of the role of diamonds as currency for conflict is important to create. This is because the root causes of turmoil and unrest in Africa still remain

Army Vet's Suicide Raises Questions About
VA's Treatment Of PTSD Cases

By Jason Leopold

The tragic death earlier this month of a 26-year-old Navy veteran who hung himself with an electrical cord while under the care of a Spokane, Washington Veterans Administration hospital depression underscores what veterans advocacy groups say is evidence of an epidemic of suicides due failures by the VA to identify and treat war veterans afflicted with severe mental health problems

The Ordeal Of Mohammed Omer
By Kenneth Ring

We are used to hearing about the hazards, often fatal, of being a journalist these days. Everyone is familiar with accounts of courageous Russian journalists who have been assassinated and of course with stories of war correspondents who have been killed or gravely wounded in the course of reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan. But what about the dangers of just being a Palestinian journalist who is simply trying to return to his own hometown in Gaza after being abroad? Consider the case of a twenty-four-year-old reporter named Mohammed Omer

Jeff Halper's An Israeli In Palestine (Part II)
By Stephen Lendman

According to Israeli-based author and journalist Jonathan Cook, Halper's book is "one of the most insightful analyses of the Occupation I've read. His voice cries out to be heard" on the region's longest and most intractable conflict. Part II continues the story

Watchovia Company
By David Truskoff

Obama's banner slogan "Change" is beginning to look and smell like an old over-used dish rag and has become just as useless. I tell my friends that I will not vote for the lesser of two evils again. If Obama gives specifics on how he will re-store the FDR constraints on the robber barons: if he will say he will withhold funds for Israel until the apartheid wall is taken down, if he says he will stand up to the powerful lobbies that have taken over our congress and government like AIPAC, Then I might consider the idea that he may bring about change, but I know it will not happen. So who do you vote for?

Realistically, 9/11
By Rand Clifford

What have we earned by allowing government to become a spectator sport, besides such bigger televisions? Had we exposed and excised the cancer of 9/11 before it metastasized so thoroughly, as a people we could at least claim the dignity of having fought back while it still mattered. Choosing the easy, lazy and uncritical route, hoping for the best, we are learning there is no best when it comes to psychopaths, only worse

Why I Said Good Bye To JKLF?
By Dr Shabir Choudhry

Time and again people ask me why I left JKLF, or more precisely, why we dissolved the JKLF. They know I have worked hard for the party and jeopardised my future ambitions and academic career because of the JKLF and its ideology. After working so hard and making so many sacrifices why on earth I left the JKLF and became part a of new and smaller party Kashmir National Party

21 July, 2008

Why Israel Can't Attack Iran
By Roni Ben Efrat

Israelis like to claim that they will be the main victim of Iranian nuclear development. They hark back to the scuds of Saddam Hussein, which fell on Tel Aviv in the first Gulf War when they had no direct part in the conflict. So too, this time—Israelis say—they will be in the crosshairs, and this justifies pre-emptive action. Yet three major obstacles impede an Israeli attack

Fallujah Braces For Another Assault
By Ali al-Fadhily & Dahr Jamail

U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing another siege of Fallujah under the pretext of combating "terror", residents and officials say

Revealing A Massacre, Or Stating The Obvious
By Ramzy Baroud

Those killed in the 'massacre of Beit Daras', according to Palestinian accounts, were 265, largely women, children and elders. The gender and age groups of the victims were not selective nor coincidental, but related to the nature of the battle, where the fighters of Beit Daras were engaged in fighting against successive Zionist army units, first involving militants from a nearby settlement, then Haganah forces and finally Givati units. The battle for Beit Daras was long and arduous, and duly mentioned in the writings of Jamal Abd Al-Nasser, the first president of Egypt, during his military service in southern Palestine, and of David Ben Gurion's War Diaries

Jeff Halper's An Israeli In Palestine (Part I)
By Stephen Lendman

Jeff Halper is an American-born Israeli Professor of Anthropology as well as a peace and human rights activist for over three decades. In 1997, he co-founded the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD). ICAHD's mission is now expanded well beyond home demolitions. It helps rebuild them and resists "land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of 'closure' and 'separation," and much more

Who’s To Blame For Zimbabwe’s Tragedy?
By Ghali Hassan

Zimbabwe’s tragedy is a Western-created tragedy. Western leaders who pretend to be committed to democracy, human rights and ending the suffering of the Zimbabwean people are crying wolf. If the U.S., Britain and their allies are as committed to democracy, human rights, the roles of international law and civilised norms as they claim to be, then they should first end their murderous Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan

The Problem Of Patriotism
By James Rothenberg

Race, sex, and religion do not demand your loyalty but your country does. Your village or town doesn’t. Your city doesn’t. The state you live in doesn’t. New York and California don’t care if you are loyal to them. What’s the difference? Armed force. Uncle Sam needs you. To fight

The Empire And China
By G. Asgar Mitha

America has a goal of China containment because it believes that it poses a future threat to its survival as an empire. The only way for America to contain the threat is to choke the oil lifeline. Chinese leadership is not naïve and well understands the great western oil game. Central to the Chinese survival of energy security is ensuring that sea lanes from the oil producing countries are unhindered, primarily the Strait of Hormuz, Indian Ocean, the Straits of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia and the South China Sea

An Era Of Disparity
By Mir Adnan Aziz

This staggering disparity of numbers is proof that we live in a world where all natural and human resources are exploited mercilessly, so that a small minority can consume far more than their rightful share of the world's real wealth. Now, as we push the exploitation of the earths social and environmental systems beyond their limits of tolerance, we face the reality that the industrial era faces a burnout, because it is exhausting the human and natural resource base on which our very lives depend. We must hasten its passage, while assisting in the birth of a new civilization based on life affirming rather than money affirming values

'Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan' : A Burden Of
Another Billion Dollars!!

By Pardeep

Receiving green signal form World Bank for the next installment of 600 million USD, Indian political leaders might have started celebrating!! Why don't they celebrate? They have reason to celebrate, this Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan movement has made many millionaires & if not this 600 million USD will make them!! This "Education for All Children" movement has proved "Money for All Politicians" nothing else

19 July, 2008

The Russians Are Back!
By Gaither Stewart

Strategically located at the crossroads of Eurasia, Russia’s geographical position enhances its power and influence which again today extends over much of the planet. Its military-industrial complex equals that of America and besides it has the world’s greatest natural gas reserves. America cannot afford to underestimate Russia on the basis of the economic collapse of the Soviet Union twenty years ago. Now Russia is back and is here to stay

How To Achieve The Great Objective
Of Global Peace?

By Sufi Rehman Muhaiyaddeen

Although the conferences, meetings, dialogues and sessions to achieve interfaith harmony and religious peace are of great value yet more important is to firstly understand the basics of religious extremism and terrorism in depth and then to make a practical and wise strategy to combat those

Is There No Alternative?
By Gunther Ostermann

In view of the chaos on Earth, the most important questions have never been answered: are there any alternatives to plundering the Earth, making war, destroying the planet and the devastating consequences of Climate Change? Not to forget Peak Everything which simply is not reversible with any amount of money

You, Obama And The Secretary Of Transition
By Bill Henderson

Except that in the real world Obama is being transformed before our eyes into a president like Clinton or Bush. In the real world we're going to crash economically, run out of energy and go over the melting Arctic tipping point before we invoke a Secretary of Transition and it will be too late. In the real world you, we the people, are going to become more horribly divided - like cats in a sack in Monbiot's haunting metaphor - as the problems get worse

I'm Not Barack Obama,
But I will Endorse Him

By Sameh A. Habeeb

We Palestinians and Arab Americans have to look over this race to the White House wisely. We have two choices now. Barack Obama who is slightly supporting the Palestinians and their promising state. In the other side, we have one of the biggest new Bushes, John McCain, whose stances are more extreme than Bush and all the new conservatives in the US. One of McCain' s advisors said a couple of weeks ago that Palestinians should go to Jordan and establish their own country. Thus, McCain is so dangerous for us and his ideas are so malicious. So, let's pick the less worse of the two…Let's endorse Obama

Saving The South Central Farm:
Listening To The Land

By Juan Santos & Leslie Radford

To many, it looked like the struggle to save the world's largest urban garden -the South Central Farm in Los Angeles - was defeated, a dream buried beneath the treads of the bulldozers that plowed the Farm under following the brutal invasion of an army of L.A. County Sheriffs that crushed the resistor's encampment, turning the land from a liberated zone into an oppressive, occupied one. But now, two years later, all that could change. Here's why, and how you can help make it change

The Gathering Tempest
By Ayaz Amir

The moment the army or the state appears to be an extension of American policy, we land ourselves in trouble. The Biden aid package being pushed through the US Congress will be absolutely fatal for Pakistan for it will tie us irretrievably to American interests. We should be friends with America, not its unthinking appendage. That is, if we are to save Pakistan from the typhoon gathering along its western marches

The Bellicose Mayor Of Kabul
By Mir Adnan Aziz

Public statements of faith in Afghan democracy are coupled with private expressions of despair when it comes to hopes of improving Hamid Karzai's, also referred to globally as the mayor of Kabul, administration. Many western officials admit privately that any real hopes of creating a democratic Afghanistan are now dead

Schools, Toilets Or Temples?
By Pardeep

At every street corner we have built temples but not toilets or schools and afterwards killing each other on the name of same God!! How shameful it is!! India is the only country with so many Gods, well wishers (I’ll say fake Gods) but still poor in many fields!!

18 July, 2008

The ZionistPower Configuration In America
And Israel’s War with Iran

By James Petras

Intellectuals silently complicit with the main purveyors of war for Israel are abdicating their responsibility to speak truth to power – in this case Zionist power. At some point intellectual abdication becomes co-responsibility for a Middle East catastrophe. To continue to masquerade as ‘war critics’ while ignoring the central role of the Zionist Power Configuration makes pundits like Chomsky, Moyers and Powers and their acolytes irrelevant to the anti-war struggle. They are part of the problem, not part of the solution

We Need A War Plan
By Peter Chamberlin

We will not sever the umbilical cord connecting America to the Zionist state by mere words. If the people of this country cannot be convinced to take to the streets by the thousands then no other force on earth will deflect the coming storm that is sure to precede Bush's exit. Nothing can convince me that W and Dickhead will go silently into the night, without unleashing hell on earth upon the Middle East region and economic collapse and the ensuing martial law upon this country

Middle East Democracy: Blowback
Through The Looking Glass

By Robert Weitzel

Uncle Sam’s foreign policy in the Middle East has created Alice’s contrary world where “what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would.” It is a world filled with the “sort of memory” that always works forward to become the stuff of nightmares and the roost for returning chickens

Too Old And Brain-Dead
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

In the over half a century that I have been politically engaged I have never seen such an unqualified presidential candidate as John McCain

Torture As Official US Policy
By Stephen Lendman

Post-9/11, torture has been official US policy under George Bush - authorized at the highest levels of government. Evidence of its systematic practice continues to surface

Drought And Israeli Policy Threaten
West Bank Water Security

By Stephen Lendman

Fresh water is precious everywhere but especially in one of the driest, hottest places on earth - the Middle East. It's why it's a strategic resource and the reason countries like Israel do everything possible to secure a reliable supply

Unrest Surfaces In Fallujah Again
By Ali al-Fadhily & Dahr Jamail

Security has collapsed again in Fallujah, despite U.S. military claims. Local militias supported by U.S. forces claim to have "cleansed" the city, 70 km to the west of Baghdad, of all insurgency. But the sudden resignation of the city's chief of police, Colonel Fayssal al-Zoba'i, has appeared as one recent sign of growing unrest

Bush Hides 'Plame-Gate' Testimony
By Jason Leopold

In the latest twist in the “Plame-gate” scandal, President George W. Bush has asserted executive privilege to block release of Vice President Dick Cheney’s interview with a special prosecutor about possible criminal violations in the leaking of a CIA officer’s covert identity

Land Allotment And Amarnath Shrine
By Ram Puniyani

Jammu and Kashmir has been one of the regions of the country mired in different types of troubles all through. To add to the painful situation, the issue of land allotment to Amarnath shrine and later reversal of this decision has worsened the harmony, which is eluding the region

15 July, 2008

You Can’t Tell A Magazine By Its Cover
By Kevin Zeese

The New Yorker Magazine, cover that will soon be a right wing tee shirt – a cartoon of Obama in Arab garb, Michelle as a AK47 toting revolutionary, the U.S. flag burning in their fire place and Osama bin Laden's photo hanging on the wall – is getting all the attention. But the more important article for those wanting to understand Obama is on the inside

Iran Shows Its Cards
By Scott Ritter

The Bush administration has shrugged off the Iranian military display as yet another example of how irresponsible the government in Tehran is. But the Pentagon for one has had to sit up and pay attention. For some time now, the admirals commanding the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf have maintained that they have the ability to keep the Strait of Hormuz open. But the fact is, the only way the United States could guarantee that the strait remained open would be to launch a massive pre-emptive military strike that swept the Iranian coast clear of the deadly Chinese-made surface-to-surface missiles that Iran would use to sink cargo ships in the strategic lane

Don't Expect The Democrats
To Stop An Attack On Iran!

By Timothy V. Gatto

The answer to avoiding more bloodshed and horror as missiles tear into Iranian nuclear reactors filled with nuclear fuel and contaminating large areas of Iran while getting into the atmosphere and doing environmental damage to the entire planet is up to the American people. Citizens of America can no longer accept the premise that the Democrats or any other political party will stop the future carnage in the Middle East

14 July, 2008

Will Israel And/Or The U.S. Attack Iran?
By Uri Avnery

Anyone who wants to guess whether Israel and/or the United States are going to attack Iran should look at the map of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Through this narrow waterway, only 34 km wide, pass the ships that carry between a fifth and a third of the world's oil, including that from Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.Most of the commentators who talk about the inevitable American and Israeli attack on Iran do not take account of this map

Dismantling Democracy, Science
And The Public Interest

By Vandana Shiva

Dismantling Democracy, Science and the Public Interest to put GMO's on Fast Track: The Proposed National Biotechlogy Regulatory Authorigy (NBRA) and National Biotechnology Regulatory Bill, 2008

How Britain Wages War
By John Pilger

John Pilger describes the insidious militarisng of Britain as the effects of two colonial wars and the cover-up atrocities come home

Bush Looks To His (Secret) Legacy
By Jason Leopold

George W. Bush, who has expanded his power to access the e-mails and other electronic communications of Americans, is resisting congressional demands that White House e-mails be saved for later research by historians

Sami Al-Arian: From Exoneration
To Criminal Indictment

By Stephen Lendman

Everyone has reason to fear it. Muslims most of all. They've suffered hugely since 9/11. No letup is in sight. This is how a police state works. Congress, the courts, and executive are on board. So is his successor. Expect little change in 2009 and no open public debate. The law of the land is now lawlessness. No one is safe, and there's no place to hide

God – A G(oo)d Business
By Pardeep

God is not dead, as it never existed. Death comes to those things only which existed somewhere, sometime. God is biggest lie on earth!!

13 July, 2008

Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapse 'Imminent'
By Geoffrey Lean

Scientists are warning that an Antarctic ice shelf the size of Northern Ireland is on the verge of disintegration, even though it is now the middle of the southern hemisphere's winter.The European Space Agency says new satellite pictures show that the Wilkins shelf – the largest to be threatened so far – is "hanging by its last thread". Extending for approximately 5,600 square miles, it has been held in place by a thin ice bridge connecting it to an island, but this is now fracturing

Russian Ice Camp In Rapid Shrink
By David Shukman

The Russians had set up research station "North Pole 35" on the floe last September when it measured a safe five kilometres long and three kilometres wide, and their original plan was to stay on it until this September. But after enduring the permanent night of the Arctic winter and surviving the threat of polar bears, the scientists now find that their temporary home has shrunk to just 600m by 300m and faces complete break-up as it drifts towards a current known to contain relatively warm waters

The Nuclear Showdown Between The US And Iran
By Tim Buchholz

Henry Kissinger, who was Secretary of State during the Ford Administration, now writes opinion articles about why Iran should not be allowed to go nuclear. During the Ford Administration he was one of the major players in bringing nuclear power to Iran. In Dafna Linzer’s article mentioned above, she asked him why he changed his mind. He said, “They were an allied country, and this was a commercial transaction. We didn't address the question of them one day moving toward nuclear weapons.” Had they only just bought it all from us, maybe we wouldn’t be on the brink of World War III

Thirst In The Palestinian Territories
By Alice Gray

The water crisis has started early this year in the Palestinian Territories. In scores of towns and villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, people listen eagerly for the gurgle of water in pipelines, and turn on their taps with trepidation, watching anxiously for the first drops to appear, waiting to see if they turn into a stream, or splutter and gurgle to nothing after a few seconds. Others watch and wait for the arrival of water tankers, transporting the life-giving liquid to them from distant sources across an obstacle course of road blocks, checkpoints and military closures put in place by the Israeli Authorities

Another Take On Socialism In America
By Timothy V. Gatto

The nation needs a good influx of socialism. This would give the power back to the people, and more than that, scare the corporate structure out of its wits. Having a strong socialist party in the United States would work towards worker’s rights, toward better worker conditions, and more equitable pay

Burma After Nargis : Devastated,
Depressed And Dejected

By Nava Thakuria

The devastating tropical cyclone Nargis that struck southern Burma (Myanmar) two months ago, has revealed to the world that it was even less disastrous compared to its regime. The military regime, which not only ignored the difficulties faced by its own people after the disaster, but also restricted relief from international communities for them. The group of Generals, known as the State Peace and Development Council, had one apprehension that the massive flow of foreign aid workers to their country might create an ambiance for a major uprising against the government

Jews And Christians Unite Against The Empire Of
Neo-Cons And 'Christian' Zionists

By Eileen Fleming

The following words of wisdom by united Christians and Jews who are confronting the empire of neo-cons and 'Christian' Zionists are not just praying for the peace of Jerusalem, they are doing something to help achieve it

Mass Graves In Kashmir
By Dr. Angana Chatterji

On 18 June, we visited Raja Mohalla in Uri, Baramulla district, 110 kilometres from Srinagar, where 22 graves were constructed between 1996-1997. Then to Quazipora, where 13 bodies were stated as buried in seven graves in 1991. Then we travelled to Chehal, Bimyar village, Uri, holding 235 graves

Education In Punjab – A Dream
By Pardeep

All the schools I visited in Punjab, I saw many slogans written on the walls of schools that” Vidya bechari ta par-upkari” means “Education is for welfare/improvement”, “Vidya – 3rd ankh” means “Education - 3rd eye” etc. But the condition of education in Punjab is like drowning Titanic ship. Education has become business and not for opening 3rd eye or for welfare

11 July, 2008

Iran's Missiles Are Just For Show
By Pepe Escobar

There's a maze of invisible, much more subtle messages, lost in the current tsunami of spin. For starters: even if Iran had the means to deliver the nuclear warheads it does not possess, these tests do not necessarily mean it has mastered the capability to do so. Experts disagree on the merits of the Shahab-3 - a copy of the North Korean Nodong; for some it's not that less erratic than a glorified Scud. But most experts agree Iran is nowhere close to being capable of weaponizing any kind of nuclear device it may still take years to make

Foiling A 'Lottery Of Death'
By Andrew Kishner

While the mainstream media is running news articles with headlines such as 'How might Israel attack Iran' and 'Can Israel do it alone, or do they need the U.S.?', 99% of the world's citizens reading these news pieces remain oblivious to the radiation effects of a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. Such an attack would employ either nuclear weapons, resulting in global radiation fallout, or conventional bunker buster weaponry that would unleash harmful, radioactive uranium dust from Iran's facilities that would likewise circle the globe and endanger the lives of millions

State Department's Iran Democracy Fund
Shrouded In Secrecy

By Jason Leopold

Since 2006, Congress has poured tens of millions of dollars into a State Department program aimed at promoting regime change in Iran. The “Democracy Program” initiative has been shrouded in secrecy since its inception and many critics of the initiative (who are also outspoken critics of the Iranian government) believe that it is directly linked to a spate of arrests of dozens of Iranian dissidents suspected of working secretly with the Bush administration to topple the Iranian government

Imagine A World Without Money
By John Steinsvold

There is no question that a way of life without money will alleviate if not completely eliminate all of the previously mentioned problems. Yet, we scoff at the idea. We are totally convinced that money is a necessity. We cannot imagine life without money. Perhaps the time has come to think otherwise. It is completely obvious our present economy no longer satisfies our present day needs

India Caught In The Taliban Myth
By M K Bhadrakumar

The horrendous terrorist attack on the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Monday has no precedents. Never has the mission there been attacked in this fashion - not even during the darkest periods of the civil war in the 1980s and 1990. Nor has any other diplomatic mission in Kabul been so targeted in the current phase of the civil war that began with the United States invasion in 2001. Unsurprisingly, Indian opinion makers have been swift in depicting the terrorist act as a moral evil, which it probably is. All the same, it is necessary to draw a line while presenting what happened as a kind of morality play of good versus evil

A Kodak Moment: The Not-So-Historic
Talabani-Barak Handshake

By Ramzy Baroud

To suggest that the Barak-Talabani handshake was "historic" is completely unfounded, if not ignorant. What deserves scrutiny is why the governments of Tel Aviv and the Green Zone decided to upgrade their gestures of "good will" starting in 2003 to a public handshake. Is it a test balloon or is there a more "historic" and public agreement to follow?

Questioning EU Policies On
Greenhouse Gas Emissions

By Dr.Peter Custers

Debate and public opinion building on climate change should, amongst others, seriously question the existing policies of the European Union. Forceful demands need to be formulated and canvassed for internationally, stating that the EU move beyond the limited targets which its institutions and most Europe-based environmental organisations have so far set

Oil Oligarchy:The War And After
By Mir Adnan Aziz

With the imminent change of guard let us hope the new US administration, with urgency and clarity, delineates its predicament and changes its energy (foreign) policy. The surreal oil crisis is a direct fallout of US failure to develop a realistic energy policy at home and the means to procure it globally. If the paradigm is not changed, the next decades will see nations paying for America's gluttonous lust for more oil - with more blood

A Constant Nakba For Palestine's Bedouin
By Ida Audeh

Abu Dahook is one of the approximately 50,000 Bedouin whose traditions and lifestyle have been nearly destroyed by Israeli colonization. Their communities are still being displaced by Israel's illegal land annexation and the transfer of Israel's civilian population to territory it occupies, in violation of international humanitarian law. Abu Dahook and others like him see no relief in sight as they are constantly dogged by Israeli threats of further displacement and neglect by the Palestinian Authority

Russell vs Marx
By Thomas Riggins

"How to Read and Understand History" is an enjoyable introduction to some of Russell's ideas, but although one can enjoy it, one cannot, I think, understand history from reading it

10 July, 2008

The Nuclear Deal And Democracy
By Suvrat Raju

The Indian government is trying to show the world that it can quash domestic dissent to meet international expectations

Planet Burns While G8 Fiddles
By Ramesh Jaura

While the world's major industrialised nations expressed satisfaction over their three-day summit meetings that concluded Wednesday, non-governmental organisations, after some early and limited approval, were deeply disappointed with the outcome on the whole

It's The Oil, Stupid!
By Noam Chomsky

Negotiations are under way for Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total and BP — the original partners decades ago in the Iraq Petroleum Company, now joined by Chevron and other smaller oil companies — to renew the oil concession they lost to nationalisation during the years when the oil producers took over their own resources. The no-bid contracts, apparently written by the oil corporations with the help of U.S. officials, prevailed over offers from more than 40 other companies, including companies in China, India and Russia

The Cancer Of Corruption
By G. Asgar Mitha

Corruption, with its roots in the USA, grows like a cancer in the government echelons throughout the world and it has now spread throughout the world where the leaders, some more and some less, have amassed huge fortunes by looting their people, treasuries and resources only to get deposited in the western financial powerhouses. The cancer is so spread throughout the system that a major global surgery would be required to remove it

Saudi Power - Shaping Another
U.S. Foreign Policy Misadventure

By Dan Lieberman

The Saudis have defined their freedom - free from western dictates and undue western influence - not what the Bush doctrine envisioned. They serve U.S. interests in the Middle East, by assuring oil supplies. The U.S. serves their interests, mostly in furnishing their weak military with a supporting army that is ready to fight the Saudi battles, from Lebanon to Syria to Iraq and to Iran. Saudi power is shaping other U.S. foreign policy misadventures

Why Bangladesh Should Not Be
Audited By International Bodies

By Saleem Samad

Bangladesh’s present military-driven government has made many promises and taken many initiatives, but failed to perform neutrally and satisfactorily, with good governance, transparency and accountability

Futile Brutality
By Dan Glazebrook

“The World According toTomdispatch”. Edited by Tom Engelhardt Reviewed by Dan Glazebrook

Patriot Follows The Money
And Exposes Foreign Agents

By Eileen Fleming

Patriot and author, Grant F. Smith, Director for the Institute of Research Middle East Policy publication, Foreign Agents: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee from the 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal, exposes how US Middle East policy has been formulated and thrives due to the dearth of relevant reporting on AIPAC's activities. This book should be read by every American tax payer, Congress and foreign policy maker

09 July, 2008

The Permanent Occupation
By Ghali Hassan

The U.S government is in the process of imposing a “security agreement” on Iraq to allow U.S. occupying forces to remain in the country indefinitely. The “agreement” is a euphemism for a permanent colonial occupation of Iraq in flagrant violation of the Iraqi people’s demand and right to freedom and national independence

Legitimizing Permanent Occupation Of Iraq
By Stephen Lendman

On July 8, al-Maliki's National Security Advisor, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, said Iraq is waiting "impatiently for the day when the last foreign soldier leaves" the country and wants firm dates for withdrawal. Getting them is another matter and statements mean little without actions. From the G-8 summit, George Bush's response means plenty, and it shows what Iraqis are up against: "It is important to understand that these are not talks on a hard date for a withdrawal."

The Goodbye Republic
By Rand Clifford

Imagine mainstream media reliably telling Americans the truth about the most vital issues of our time. Indeed, that’s quite a stretch—but try forgetting for a moment the millions of Americans oblivious to rampant omission; citizens who, after so much manipulation and deceit, also still believe lies on the fresh list. Just envision a well-informed population that knows their way past omission, while knowing the difference between lies/propaganda, and the truth. Envision the New World Order dead in its tracks

Reflections On The Origins And Meaning Of
America's Independence Day

By John Chuckman

Why no on should be surprised when America behaves as an international bully

Finding The Road To Peace In Sri Lanka
By Rohini Hensman

It would not be an exaggeration to say that all but a tiny minority are sick and tired of the war, ready to do or endure anything to end it. Why, then, has it not been ended so far? One major reason is that there is so much confusion about the question of HOW to end it. The other is that the war enables a small oligarchy to monopolise power, and they have no interest in ending it because their power might be curtailed if that happens

Journalistic Imperatives: Saying
What Others Mightn't

By Ramzy Baroud

Al-Jazeera is a very complex structure, with many internal pushes and pulls, many within who have their own self-serving agendas, just like anywhere else. It's not a cohesive political structure and is indeed subject to its governmental and personal interests. But again, it was wrongly viewed with reductionism, exaggeration and hype

HIV/AIDS And Children In India
By Joseph Gathia

New data reveals that HIV/AIDS epidemic in India is smaller than previous estimates. But with the overall number of HIV cases still high – 2.47 million Indians have the virus- it is cause of concern. Chief among them is concern over the growing impact of the disease among children particularly girls

03 July, 2008

When You Shoot The Messenger
By Mel Frykberg

The assault of IPS Gaza correspondent Mohammed Omer has left Israeli security personnel with a lot of explaining to do. And they are not doing a very good job of it

From Triumph To Torture
By John Pilger

Israel's treatment of an award-winning young Palestinian journalist is part of a terrible pattern

Iraq Oil Deals Fulfill Cheney's Goals
By Jason Leopold

Two years after the Baker report, the United States – along with Great Britain and other allies – invaded Iraq. Now, more than five years after that, with Hussein dead and a U.S. expeditionary force still occupying Iraq, the U.S. oil industry finally appears to be in a strong position relative to Iraq’s oil riches. However, the price that has been paid by American troops, Iraqi civilians and the U.S. taxpayers has been enormous

'The US Is Not A Republic Anymore'
By Gore Vidal & Afshin Rattansi

An interview with Gore Vidal

Zimbabwe And The New Cowardly Colonialism
By Brendan O’Neill

Western intervention against Robert Mugabe’s ‘evil regime’ put Zimbabwe into an economic straitjacket and disempowered its people

Obama's War Room
By Elizabeth Schulte

Elizabeth Schulte looks at the some of the veterans of U.S. war crimes past and present that Barack Obama is adding to his team of foreign policy advisers

Wrong On Russia
By Stephen F. Cohen

Neither of the two major American presidential candidates has seriously addressed, or even seems fully aware of, what should be our greatest foreign policy concern - Russia's singular capacity to endanger or enhance our national security

Arundhati Roy- Our world Laid Bare
By Priscilla Jebaraj

Arundhati Roy’s latest book The Shape of the Beast is an exercise in connecting the many dots that she first started plotting over a decade ago in The God of Small Things

Terrorism - How Not To Combat It
By Asghar Ali Engineer

The remedy for terrorist violence is also simple. Declare war against terrorism, do away with concept of humans rights, find some puppets to fight its war against terror, put some suspected youth in jails and torture them till they die or go mad and feel safe from further terrorist attacks. Who commits sins and who pays? What do authorities care? They care only for their lust for power and money

Spritual As Criminal?
By Subhash Gatade

Time to ban 'Hindu Janjagruti Samiti' and 'Sanatan Sanstha'

Grow Paddy And Become Pauper
By Pandurang Hegde

Paddy farmers everywhere are facing the crunch and want to quit in favour of cash crops

02 July, 2008

Are Pakistani Nukes In Safe Hands?
By Rahil Yasin

1) There is a small but real possibility of the next India-Pakistan crisis escalating to nuclear levels. 2) Pakistan may decide, as a matter of state policy, to extend a nuclear umbrella (or engage in nuclear sharing) with one or more Middle East states, especially if Iran acquires a nuclear device. 3) There is a hard-to-quantify risk of nuclear theft. Pakistan has a home-grown personnel reliability programme, but even this could be circumvented in a determined conspiracy. 4). There is some small chance that should Pakistan unravel, that its nuclear assets will be seized by remnant elements of the army for political, strategic, or personal purposes

An Appeal To The American Conscience
By Timothy V. Gatto

This nation’s biggest exports are weapons of war. We export revolution and prop up repressive regimes. We may not be as evil as some nations but that is no consolation to those left behind. We have no control over nations that export and supply those that wage war. The only government that we have any control over is our own, and everyday we have less and less control over that

An Open Letter To Senator Barack Obama
By Case Wagenvoord

We really shouldn’t be too hard on you, though. The truth is that even if you were serious about change, there would be little you could do if elected. A toxic, bureaucratic momentum has driven us to the precipice, and we are staring down into the abyss. It is not a conspiracy, but an accretion of forces and bad decisions driven by a toxic combination of hubris, exceptionalism and greed

Nonviolent Action And The Road To Independence
By Greg Guma

The movement toward independence in the “new world” actually began a decade before the “shot heard round the world” and involved thousands of people. By the time things turned violent, substitute governments and firm alliances were operating in nine colonies

Defend Freedom On September 11
By Peter Chamberlin

I propose that we stand-up for freedom, on September 11. We must stand together, to make one last stand for freedom, before freedom swirls down the memory hole. On September 11, every American patriot must take the time to honor the martyrs for freedom that perished on that fateful day, the veterans who died for the empire and most of all for the million or more victims of the global war of aggression so far. We have to send the overseers that we will not tolerate the status quo any longer. We will not allow our government to wage nuclear war against Iran or any other country

From Canada To Iraq: The Song Remains The Same
By Jeff Berg

I extend a "Happy Canada Day" wish to my fellow Canadians, my deepest sympathies to the people of Iraq, and the hope that we Canadians shall remember and act over the next year on the fact that blessings are obligations

From Triumph To Torture
By John Pilger

Israel's treatment of an award-winning young Palestinian journalist is part of a terrible pattern

Political Uses Of The Official History Of Kashmir
By Mohamad Junaid

The newly-formed Institute of Kashmir Studies has provoked a shrill debate among academics, and also in some sections of the civil society. The debate, despite its frequent tumble into abuses and allegations, is only a sign of how the story of Kashmir can no longer be a monologue, but must contend with a democratisation of its recitation. There are many stories of Kashmir now, all vying for validity, but none commanding authority. The history of Kashmir is no longer something which can be imposed from above: its democratisation will ensure that it will always remain in the making, and never find its conclusion. It is being created as it is spoken about

Kashmir- A Fools Paradise
By Shah Faisal

The results are out and our audience,the world, is calling us communal once again. Our irrational impulsiveness is being mocked at and the world might even take a serious offense,this time. Sooner or later,Kashmiris will have to learn being hopefully humorous without being mockingly poignant,something that the residents of a paradise are supposedly popular for

01 July, 2008

US Advisers Steered Iraqi Oil Contracts
To Western Firms

By Bill Van Auken

As the Iraqi regime formally opened the bidding for foreign oil companies to resume exploitation of the country’s oil wealth, it was revealed that US “advisers” played the leading role in drafting the contracting procedures and steering preferential deals to the big US energy conglomerates

The World’s Will To Tackle Climate Change
Is Irresistible

By Rajendra Pachauri

Far from stymying the environmental cause, the downturn in the world’s economies highlights just how pressing it is

Iran On The Offensive
By G. Asgar Mitha

In the event of a war with Iran, will the American public bear with patience the sufferings from high gasoline prices or maybe even rationing? Or will the Israelis be able to withstand the barrages of katusha rockets when Hezbollah opens a second front? Could there be a third and a fourth front from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Iraq and a fifth front for the US from Moqtada in Iraq?

Deception
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

Bush was put in the White House with the strong backing of the Evangelicals. His ‘Devotion’ to religion has cost over one million lives and should Iran be attacked, millions more will die. In a democratic society, every individual who submits to apathy is equally guilty as the man who is in command. Gone are the days when Americans were loved and welcomed, separated from their government

The Paradoxes Of Latin American Development
By Prof. James Petras

As US hegemony in Latin America becomes less profound and pervasive, Latin America's local brand of neo-liberalism expands and goes global. The onset of the US recession and financial crisis has little or no effect in slowing Latin America's export boom, demonstrating the growing de-coupling of the two regions' economies, rendering obsolete the long-standing cliché…"When the US sneezes, Latin America catches pneumonia."

The Rise of Food Fascism:Agrarian Elite
Foments Coup In Bolivia

By Roger Burbach

Some argue that that we are witnessing the rise of "petro-fascism" as multinational corporations and nation states struggle for control of the life-blood of the global economy. Now with the efforts of the multinational agribusiness corporations and the agrarian bourgeoisies to control the very sustenance of human life we may be facing an even more violent period of repression, conflict and upheaval

Alvaro Uribe Velez And Colombia
By David A.G. Fischer

In the middle of his second consecutive term, the president is looking to overturn the constitutional law once again. Supporters of Uribe see no problem with him running for a third consecutive term. His critics, however, are up in arms. Regardless, fractions from both sides believe that he will be successful in manipulating conditions to his favor and thereby maintain his authoritarian rule over the country

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