Countercurrents Archive December 2006

31 December, 2006

Saddam Becomes A Martyr Of
Imperialist Resistance
By Karthika Thampan

If Saddam's execution was a warning sent out to the empire, what the empire got was a martyr who perhaps could inspire thousands of youngsters to rise up and act. And when they act, will that be the way the empire expect?

Saddam At The End Of A Rope
By Tariq Ali

Saddam's hanging might send a shiver through the collective, if artificial, spine of the Arab ruling elites. If Saddam can be hanged, so can Mubarak, or the Hashemite joker in Amman or the Saudi royals, as long as those who topple them are happy to play ball with Washington

And The Empire Mourned….
By Jason Miller

So in the wake of the United States’ recent facilitation of Saddam Hussein’s hanging, we in the self-proclaimed “bastion of human rights” are in the midst of six days of mourning for a man would have swung from the gallows long ago had he been judged by the same standards as Saddam

The Execution Of Saddam Hussein
By World Socialist Web

The execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein serves not justice, but the political purposes of the Bush administration and its Iraqi stooges. The manner in which the execution was carried out—hurriedly, secretively, in the dark of night, in a mockery of any semblance of legal process—only underscores the lawless and reactionary character of the entire American enterprise in Iraq

A dictator Created Then Destroyed By America
By Robert Fisk

But history will record that the Arabs and other Muslims and, indeed, many millions in the West, will ask another question this weekend, a question that will not be posed in other Western newspapers because it is not the narrative laid down for us by our presidents and prime ministers - what about the other guilty men

Saddam Hussein - R.I.P.
By David Caputo

Saddam Hussein is dead, along with another sixty six other Iraqis, six American GIs, and a Brit from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. And that's just today. What do we do tomorrow? I've got a suggestion... Leave

Storm Rages Over Trial, Sentence
By Olivia Ward

Human rights advocates say process that saw three lawyers murdered amounted to a travesty of justice

Former Longtime Confidant Accuses Ariel Sharon Of
Assassinating Yasser Arafat
By Stephen Lendman

Longtime and now recently deceased confidant to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Uri Dan, published a book in France that may have been his 2006 one titled Ariel Sharon: An Intimate Portrait in which he accused the former prime minister of assassinating Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat by poisoning him

Vast Ice Shelf Collapses In The Arctic
By Michael McCarthy

A vast ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has broken up, a further sign of the astonishing rate at which polar ice is now melting because of global warming

In Gaza: Democracy And Its Discontents
By Ramzy Baroud

What is taking place in the Occupied Territories, particularly in the Gaza Strip has much less to do with inter-factional rivalries and a lot more with regional and international power plays, in which some foolhardy Palestinians decided to involve themselves for the sake of maintaining personal and factional gains

30 December, 2006

End Of Another Year
By Baghdad Burning

Here we come to the end of 2006 and I am sad. Not simply sad for the state of the country, but for the state of our humanity, as Iraqis. We've all lost some of the compassion and civility that I felt made us special four years ago

More Troops But Less Control In Iraq
By Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

Through the occupation, each time the U.S. has increased troop levels, there has been a corresponding increase in attacks on the forces, and consequently an increase in civilian casualties. Or, troop levels have been increased in response to rising attacks. By either pattern, next year could get much worse

Americans Want A Rapid Exit From Iraq But
Elected Leaders Aren’t Even Considering It
By Kevin Zeese

Ending the occupation will reduce violence, immediately save more than $100 billion and respect the wishes of the American people. Why is Washington, DC ignoring the obvious?

War And USA
By David Truskoff

Christian Americans are the most war like people this planet has ever produced

Dire Warnings From China's First
Climate Change Report
By AFP

Temperatures in China will rise significantly in coming decades and water shortages will worsen, state media has reported, citing the government's first national assessment of global climate change

US-Backed UN Resolution Heightens
Tensions With Iran
By Peter Symonds

Months after the expiry of a UN deadline for Iran to suspend its nuclear programs, the US finally pushed a resolution through the UN Security Council on Saturday imposing a series of sanctions on Tehran. While the resolution represents a compromise, there is no doubt that the Bush administration will exploit it to the hilt to fuel tensions with Iran

Headline Singur
By Amitadyuti Kumar

Singur is now at a crossroads. Will it be able to set an example before the people of West Bengal or India? Singur may or may not be victorious. But it has sent its message loud and clear to the rest of the country. It is that those who consider India or West Bengal as the safe haven for the imperialists or their followers will have to think again

“Bush’s Use Of Pardons Isn’t Very Compassionate"
By Gene C. Gerard

To date President Bush has issued 113 pardons and three commutations. That’s less than any two-term president in the modern era. In fact, you have to go back to George Washington to find a president who served two-terms and made fewer acts of clemency

P.K. Mahanandia: Salute To A Living Legend
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

A Dalit as India's cultural Ambassador in Europe

Democracy And Reinforced Building
By Amit Chamaria

Almost 90% of decision- makers in the English language print media and 79% in television are of the upper caste, although the upper castes are about 16% of the country population; Brahmin alone constitute 49% of this segment, and 71% of the total are upper caste men

28 December, 2006

A Look Back And Ahead In An Age Of
Neocon Rule
By Stephen Lendman

It's time to pause at year's end to give thanks for our blessings but reflect that the spirit of the season demands that the madness of Bush neocon rule be stopped and ended before it's too late

Will Stinky Cut The Big One
By Sheila Samples

Bush is a brutal, pathological liar -- arguably a homicidal maniac. After losing two wars against helpless, unarmed nations, he's bored. The Decider is moving on to greater things, and those who know how to listen to him know the decision to nuke Iran has already been made. Before he leaves office, Bush plans to spread the same freedoms throughout Iran that Iraq is presently enjoying. Will Stinky cut the big one on his way out?

Is There a Sunni Majority In Iraq?
By Dal LaMagna

In the two articles below Dal LaMagna, the founder of Progressive Government, and Faruq Ziada, a former Iraqi Ambassador, raise the question of whether there is really a Sunni majority population in Iraq

When Iraqis Gave Up On Government
By Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

The Iraqi government headed by Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki, like earlier governments assigned by U.S. occupation authorities in Iraq, appears to have killed Iraqi dreams of a brighter future

Children Pick Their Christmas Toys
By Dahr Jamail and Ali Al-Fadhily

Ahmed Ghazi has little reason to stock Christmas toys at his shop in Fallujah. He knows what children want these days."It is best for us to import toys such as guns and tanks because they are most saleable in Iraq to little boys," Ghazi told IPS. "Children try to imitate what they see out of their windows."

Troubles In The Horn Of Africa
By Solomon Gebreselassie

In the last two weeks, a war has been raging between Ethiopia and Somalia's Islamist forces. The much-hated Ethiopian regime is devising a way to endear itself to US policy makers who are cocerned on the possibility of Somalia being a haven for Islamist radicals. The Ethiooian regime is ready to do the US's bidding and it has already started bombing peaceful Somali citizens under the veneer of defeating the Ismaists

The Great Game On A Razor's Edge
By M K Bhadrakumar

The accidental killing of Alexander Ivanov, a Kyrgyz fuel-truck driver, by Corporal Zachary Hatfield, a US serviceman, at the Manas Air Base on the outskirts of the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek in December is threatening to snowball into a first-rate crisis for the United States' regional policy in Central Asia

There Was Once An Old Tehri Town
By Harsh Dobhal

Despite three decades of local concerns, international criticism and governmental investigation, as the Tehri dam finally starts producing electricity and drinking water reaches distant Delhi, the most pressing questions have gone unanswered

IGNOU, RTI And The Distant Dream Of
Women's Empowerment
By B Rahul

Analysis of the latest data made available by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi (IGNOU) in response to an application made under the Right to Information Act reveals that the average number of female students freshly enrolled each year in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree programme in the seven years from 1996 to 2002 was 17146 which is 65% of the total. The average number of female students per year over the same period who had successfully completed the course and been awarded the BA degree was a miniscule 440

26 December, 2006

Historical Perspectives On Latin American
And East Asian Regional Development
By Noam Chomsky

The South American leaders agreed to create a high-level commission to study the idea of forming a continent-wide community similar to the European Union. This is the presidents and envoys of major nations, and there was the two-day summit of what's called the South American Community of Nations, hosted by Evo Morales in Cochabamba, the president of Bolivia

Banality And Barefaced Lies
By Robert Fisk

Here in America, I stare at the land in which I live and see a landscape I do not recognise

Pre-empting Arab Mediation
In Palestinian Divide
By Nicola Nasser

The U.S administration and Israel are accelerating their coordinated meddling in the internal Palestinian divide between the Fatah-led presidency and the Hamas-led government to pre-empt a series of Arab mediation efforts, the latest of which is a UAE-Syrian try according to a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization

“Stephen Lendman Sounds Off”
By Jason Miller & Stephen Lendman

Despite his relatively recent start, Stephen Lendman has rapidly become one of the most ubiquitous and well-respected chroniclers of truth in the alternative media community.Here is a glimpse of Stephen and his worldview

Arroyo/U.S. "Low Intensity" State Terrorism
By Brian McAfee

Philippine President Gloria Macapagati Arroyo's Melo Commission to investigate the killings of leftists and journalists has apparantly concluded that investigation and will submit their report in early January.Most in the Phillippines believe the Melo Commission and its upcoming report to be part of an ongoing ruse by the Arroyo government to cover up that the government itself, in colusion with the military and state police are the actual perpetrators of the mass killings

When It Became Their Fault
By Joseph Grosso

One of the more vulgar turns discourse over Iraq has taken over the past year is the bi-partisan, self-righteous way the bloody debacle is blamed almost entirely on the Iraqi people. The near universal sentiment, from California democrat Barbara Boxer to neocon Charles Krauthammer, is one of ungrateful, incapable Iraqis spurning generous American assistance

Iran And North Korea Standoff:
US policy On NPT Is In Tatters
By Abid Mustafa

The US has not only failed to curb the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea, but has also made the world a dangerous place to live in. By signing a nuclear deal with India in violation of the NPT and not lifting a finger to reign in Israel's atomic weapons, more and more countries will follow Iran and North Korea in a bid to nuclearize. Thanks to the Bush administration, America now stands on the verge of becoming the worlds biggest proliferate of nuclear technology

Pakistan Diary: Day 2–In Lahore
By Yoginder Sikand

An Indian travles through Pakistan

More Horrifying Than Tsunami:
The Ground Beneath The Waves
The HRLN Report

It has been two years since the tsunami washed over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and destroyed the homes and livelihoods of its residents. Although the government made a lot of promises, and spent a lot of taxpayer’s money, very little actual relief and rehabilitation work has been done. Most islanders are still waiting for compensation

24 December, 2006

What Would HappenIf The Virgin Mary
Came To Bethlehem Today?
By Johann Hari

Fadia Jemal is a gap-toothed 27-year-old with a weary, watery smile. "What would happen if the Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem today? She would endure what I have endured"

Middle East Peace Process: Stagnation By Design
By Ramzy Baroud

Amid this deliberate stagnation, the Palestinian people are left with no option but to revolt, as costly and uncertain as it has been throughout the years. Thus, it must be stated that Palestinian resistance, which for the most part has been a nonviolent and popular movement, shall continue as long as the circumstances that contributed to its commencement remain in place

Iraqi Hopes Dim Through
Worst Year Of Occupation
By Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

Despite promises from Iraqi and U.S. leaders that 2006 would bring improvement, Iraqis have suffered through the worst year in living memory, facing violence, fragmentation and a disintegrated economy

In Defence Of Ram
By Farzana Versey

How many cases from the rural areas come before the courts, forget them being re-opened? How many from the slums? Let us apply similar, if not the same, standards for people across the board

Hitler The Trendy Tyrant
By Kim Barker

German dictator no pariah to some in India.In Gujarat, textbooks have praised Hitler's leadership abilities, fascism and the Nazi movement. Until recently, state social studies textbooks have featured chapters on "Hitler, the Supremo" and "Internal Achievements of Nazism." The textbooks have been changed slightly this year but still barely mention the Holocaust

Oceans Warming And Rising
By Julio Godoy

Ocean levels will rise faster than expected if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, a leading German researcher warns

23 December, 2006

Apartheid In The Holy Land
By Desmond Tutu

I've been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about

The Birth Of An Empire
By Rosa Mariam Elizalde

An Interview with Gore Vidal

How Breaches In The US Nuclear-Weapons
Program Endanger You
By Heather Wokusch

Last week, the watchdog Project on Government Oversight reported that workers at Pantex, a Texan nuclear-weapons plant, had almost accidentally detonated a W56 warhead in the spring of 2005. A W56 has 100 times the Hiroshima bomb's yield

Power Struggle In Saudi Arabia:
A Sign Of Regional Instability
By Peter Symonds

The abrupt resignation of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, Prince Turki al-Faisal, last week is one more sign of a power struggle underway in Riyadh. While factional intrigues in the Saudi royal family are undoubtedly involved, the overriding factor is the deepening instability throughout the Middle East being fuelled by the aggressive intervention of the US, above all in Iraq

New German Community Models Car-Free Living
By Isabelle de Pommereau

Welcome to Germany's best-known environmentally friendly neighborhood and a successful experiment in green urban living. The Vauban development - 2,000 new homes on a former military base 10 minutes by bike from the heart of Freiburg - has put into practice many ideas that were once dismissed as eco-fantasy but which are now moving to the center of public policy

Cannon Fodder In Christmas’ Times
By Gabriele Zamparini

Those who have their sons and daughters in Iraq and Afghanistan should read A letter to an American G.I. written by an Iraqi woman. This letter would be the most important Christmas gift for your children. Send it to them!

Court Allows Eli Lilly To Bury Zyprexa Documents
By Evelyn Pringle

Alaskan attorney, Jim Gottstein, says that after being served with a mandatory injunction, he has returned the internal Eli Lilly documents that he obtained in litigation and provided to the New York Times to the court

US Encourages The Talibanisation Of Afghanistan
By Abid Mustafa

Hamid Karzai has accused Pakistan of spurring the Taliban to carry out attacks against his fledgling government and the NATO troops that defend it. Oddly enough, the Whitehouse instead of holding Islamabad to account has thrown its weight behind the Pakistani government.Washington's ambivalent attitude raises the question; is America encouraging the emergence of Taliban as a way of extricating itself from Afghanistan?

Shame, Not In Doha But In India
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

I hope that India will grow simultaneously with diversity and dissent in the coming years. How can a nation and a society grow with such scandalous officials and reporters who criminalise the sexual deformity of a person and whose fight for people's right confine to the cases of certain high profile cases of page three parties, and who continue to ignore the bigger issues of dissent and disgust in India and whose ignorant reporters can simply call these dissenters as terrorists or Naxalites

Kulhand, Doda: Eight Months After The Massacre
By Yoginder Sikand

Eight months ago unidentified gunmen shot dead almost two dozen Hindus in Kulhand, in Kashmir's Doda district. Months after the carnage, the survivors now struggle to rebuild their lives, with little help forthcoming from the state

22 December, 2006

Climate Change vs Mother Nature
By Geneviève Roberts

Bears have stopped hibernating in the mountains of northern Spain, scientists revealed yesterday, in what may be one of the strongest signals yet of how much climate change is affecting the natural world

A shock To The Ancient Rhythms
Of The Natural World
By Michael McCarthy

Animals that hibernate in winter abandoning hibernation: yet another signal that something momentous is happening to the rhythms of the natural world, in the way in which we have always understood them

Breaking The News
By Arundhati Roy

The official version of the story of the parliament attack is very quickly coming apart at the seams. Even the supreme court judgment, with all its flaws of logic and leaps of faith, does not accuse Afzal of being the mastermind of the attack. So who was the mastermind? If Afzal is hanged, we may never know. But L.K. Advani, the leader of the opposition, wants him hanged at once. Even a day’s delay, he says, is against the national interest. Why? What is the hurry?

Jimmy Carter's Apartheid Charge Rings True
By Saree Makdisi

Former President Jimmy Carter has come under sustained attack for having dared to use the term "apartheid" to describe Israel's policies in the West Bank. However, not one of Carter's critics has offered a convincing argument to justify the vehemence of the outcry, much less to refute his central claim that Israel bestows rights on Jewish residents settling illegally on Palestinian land, while denying the same rights to the indigenous Palestinians

U.S. Government And Islamophobia
By M. A. Muqtedar Khan

U.S. Government and American Muslims engage to define Islamophobia

The Ershad Factor
By Taj Hashmi

Elusive democracy and pervasive chaos in Bangladesh

All Roads Lead To Singur In Buddha’s Bengal
By Dipankar Bhattacharya

Is there at all any case for a debate and agitation over Singur? The Communist Party Of India (Marxist)(CPI(M)) leadership would like us to believe there is absolutely none and that the people questioning the great Singur model of industrialisation and rehabilitation are either stupid or mad or driven by ulterior motives

Hugo Chavez And The Rise Of Black-Indian Power
By William Lorens Katz

Chavez stands as a direct challenge to white domination of South American governments

The Winter Harvest Of The South Central Farmers
By Leslie Radford

With little fanfare--no celebrity visits, no circling sheriff's helicopter--the South Central Farmers opened a community center last week. The center is a slap in the face to two Farm opponents, developer Ralph Horowitz and District 9 Councilmember Jan Perry, but it's only another round in the Farmers' struggle, and that struggle only an apex in a decades-long battle between the people and land developers in Los Angeles

Death By Coke
By Joshua Frank

Americans are tipping the scales in record numbers, with approximately 130 million who are presently considered overweight or obese. Perhaps most alarmingly of all, half of all women aged 20 to 39 in the United States are included in these figures.Despite the barrage of marketing to the contrary, sales pitches, and misinformation, consumption of soda has been directly linked to both obesity as well as type 2 diabetes

21 December, 2006

Palestinian Boiling Pot
By Dr. Elias Akleh

It is cynical to notice that external powers, (Israel, US, and UK, the enemy of Palestinians, who rejected their democratic election, and who imposed economical siege against them) had rushed to support “Abbas” call for early election, while most of the Palestinian factions (including within Fatah itself) inside and outside occupied Palestine had rejected it because they believe that the previous election, recognized by international observers as free and democratic, is legal

There Is Still Another Way For Palestine
By Hasan Abu Nimah & Ali Abunimah

Hamas and all other factions committed to resisting occupation should focus on intensified civil struggle and solidarity. This is the best way to isolate those who would push for civil war in order to retain their privileges and power

UK, US And Israeli State Terrorism
And Western Holocaust Denial
By Gideon Polya

Holocaust Denial is exactly what racist, lying Western academics, politicians and media have been guilty of in relation to past and present Western-imposed Holocausts in Asian countries, including India

Iraqi Women's Bodies Are
Battlefields For War Vendettas
By Kavita N. Ramdas

Almost four years into the Bush Administration's ill fated adventure in Iraq, Iraqi women are worse off than they were under the Baathist regime in a country where, for decades, the freedoms and rights enjoyed by Iraqi women were the envy of women in most other countries of the Middle East

Darfur: Bush And Blair Plan No-Fly Zone
And Consider Air Strikes Against Sudan
By Ann Talbot

The Bush administration is considering imposing a no-fly zone over the Darfur region in western Sudan. It would be backed up by the threat of air strikes, a naval blockade and an extension of the existing sanctions regime

Chavez Landslide Tops All In US History
By Stephen Lendman

Well almost, as explained below. Hugo Chavez Frias' reelection on December 3 stands out when compared to the greatest landslide presidential victories in US history

Zyprexa Cat Out Of The Bag
By Evelyn Pringle

Documents acquired by the New York Times from attorney Jim Gottstein show that Eli Lilly ran a "Viva Zyprexa” marketing campaign to convince doctors to prescribe Zyprexa off-label and between 1999 and 2002, its sales doubled from $1.5 billion to $3 billion

The Decider Can’t Decide
By Kevin Zeese

Indications are Bush is moving toward more troops, with Democratic leadership support, now Joint Chiefs of Staff reportedly opposes an increase in troops in Iraq. Washington, DC is confused in the face of military defeat. It is time to face the facts and leave

Elephants And Quagmires
By Bill Henderson

While the Bush administration, the media and nearly all the Democrats still refuse to explain the war in Iraq in terms of oil, the ever-pragmatic members of the Iraq Study Group share no such reticence

How Christmas Destroyed America
By Ed Howes

Like our first romance, our first god never leaves us and most Americans will pass this most wonderful gift of betrayal to their own children who will later be encouraged to kill and die to bring Santa to the rest of the world. Let us boast to the world how great we are, doing all things in the name of God and country

High Maternal Mortality In The Heart Of India
By Anil Gulati

Approximately 10,000 women die every year in Madhya Pradesh during pregnancy or within 42 days after pregnancy. Majority of these could be prevented. Medically these deaths may be due to hemorrhage, infection, eclampsia or unsafe abortion or any of three delays

Communalism Or Affirmative Action
By Ram Puniyani

Had there not been the fear of backlash of RSS combine, reservations for Muslims would be the ideal solution out of this impasse. In the present scenario all steps short of reservations should and need to be taken to work towards the democratic goal of equality

20 December, 2006

Climate Change Tipping Point?
By Stephen Leahy

This was the year that most people in the U.S. and Canada began to take climate change seriously and express hope that their governments would take action to reduce emissions -- but it is unclear if they will take action themselves

Eating The Planet Like A
Bag Of Doritos For Jesus
By Phil Rockstroh

There are a few facts it is imperative we face, immediately and unmedicated. Among them: The changes to the earth ecosystem wrought by global warming are neither a political opinion nor are the acts of a wrathful god in heaven, but are a dynamic of nature set in motion by our actions -- and are wholly indifferent to the fate of mankind

Palestine On The Brink Of Civil War?
By Nigel Parry

Since the Palestinian elections on 25 January 2006 brought a resounding Hamas victory, Fatah and its US and Israeli allies have been working to destabilize the democratically-elected government

End Of The Strongmen
By Jonathan Cook

Do America and Israel want the Middle East engulfed by civil war?

Under An Iron Fist
By Karma Nabulsi

Palestinians don't want fresh elections in the occupied territories, but a free vote for a truly national ruling body

The Streets Of Gaza
By Laila El-Haddad

The average person don't know what to think anymore. They are confused and and exhausted and mostly very, very afraid.As a friend of my mother put it today, "We don’t’ know anymore who's right and who’s wrong, and who’s at fault and who isn’t. And we just want it to end."

Lebanon: War Without A Plan
By Uri Avnery

When the Israeli government decided, in the space of a few hours, to start the Second Lebanon War, it did not have any plan.When the Chief-of-Staff urged the cabinet to start the war, he did not submit any plan.This was disclosed this week by a military investigation committee

It's Either Occupation Or Education
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

Two in three children in Iraq have simply stopped going to school, according to a government report.Iraq's Ministry of Education says attendance rates for the new school year, which started Sep. 20, are at an all-time low

Class War Weapon Of Choice –
For The Holidays And All Days
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

Like any addiction, ending compulsive consumption is difficult. By politicizing reduced consumption through boycotts, political gains offset any “suffering” from reduced consumption. So consider tradeoffs between less consumption and political actions that you feel are strongly needed. Your dollars are much more powerful than your votes

The Prophets Didn’t Work
For The Associated Press
By David Truskoff

Many years ago, my father once told me that if the story by- line is the Associated Press, read it with a smile because it is usually just propaganda disguised as news. If it says, "combined wire services," don’t bother reading it all because it is usually just a state department handout."

Is Death Better Than Life For
Mushahars Of Kushingar
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

While politicians in Uttar-Pradesh are preparing for polls, the Mushahars, Bansfors and other such marginalized communities think of meal next day

19 December, 2006

Abbas Attempts A Political Coup
On Behalf Of Washington
By Jean Shaoul

Mahmoud Abbas, the Fatah president of the Palestinian Authority, has announced that he will dissolve the recently elected parliament and call new presidential and parliamentary elections

A Counterproductive U.S. Advice To Palestinians
By Nicola Nasser

Regardless of good will or bad faith, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ decision to go without national consensus to early presidential and parliamentary elections was divisive, counterproductive and conforms to U.S.-Israeli plans to remove the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas” from power or pressure it into accepting what its rival Fatah had accepted: A peace process on their dictated terms and conditions

Configuring The Iraq’s Occupation
By Ghali Hassan

To cover up the daily suffering and massacres of innocent Iraqi civilians, the U.S. is embarking on a campaign of pacifying the public. In the recent report (The Way forward) prepared by the Iraq Study Group (ISG), a group of American ruling elites chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, the Iraqi people had neither been consulted nor treated as anything except as a moral pretext. It is a coup prepared specifically for U.S. domestic consumption

The Baker- Hamilton Study:Pluses And Minuses
By William R. Polk

“. . . in the quest for a short-term solution to America’s Iraqi dilemma, Baker-Hamilton may have opted for long-term catastrophe” by emphasizing Iraqi military strength over the strength of civil society

Bush Administration Elaborates
Plans For Bloodbath In Iraq
By Bill Van Auken

Reports on the Bush administration’s discussions on a change of course in Iraq indicate that Washington is preparing a major new bloodbath as part of a desperate attempt to salvage its nearly four-year-old bid to conquer the oil-rich country

Call Me Ebenezer, But Christmas As
We Know It Needs To Go.....
By Jason Miller

As recently as 2004, major US retailers raked in a staggering $216.3 billion in November and December as each US consumer spent an average of $835.00 on holiday gifts.What of Santa Claus and Rudolph? Despite Global Climate Change decimating their home at the North Pole, they are merrily leading Consumerism’s charge toward humanitarian and ecological disaster. If Santa’s scheme is to retire to a palatial estate in Miami, he can forget that. As the polar ice cap melts, most of Florida will be inundated

Runaway Global Warming -
The New Ecoterrorist Menace
By Bill Henderson

A spoof

"Defending Our Interests And
Our People" (Lessons From Panama)
By Mickey Z.

Estimates range from 500 to 3000 dead Panamanian civilians killed during the invasion and the fighting afterwards. Bush the Elder was later asked if getting Noriega was worth all those deaths. As if to confirm the unspoken tenet that some lives count more than others, the president replied: "Every human life is precious, and yet I have to answer, yes, it has been worth it."

Caught Between culture And weakness:
The Ipswich victims
By Sambaiah Gundimeda

An essay dedicated in memory of Tania Nicol, Gemma Adams, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholas, the five murdered women in Ipswich, UK

Victims Of Meerut's Hashimpura Killings:
Brutalised, But Not Broken
By Harsh Mander

They mounted the truck and opened fire blindly, killing at least half the men there. They dragged out the bodies and threw them into the canal. Zulfikar listened as the truck finally drove away. He came to know later that they then drove to the Hindon Canal, and completed the massacre of the remaining men. Of the nearly 50 men who the PAC picked up, only six survived

17 December, 2006

So Where Has All The Snow Gone?
By Geoffrey Lean

Right across Europe's highest mountain chain, says the World Meteorological Organisation, only a third as much snow as usual has fallen so far this winter. Temperatures are up to three degrees centigrade higher than normal, and in some resorts the weather is so warm that even artificial snowmaking machines will not work

The New Maharajas Of India
By Devinder Sharma & Bhaskar Goswami

What is it like to be a modern-day Indian prince? Devinder Sharma and Bhaskar Goswami explain how the laws of the land are being redefined to bring in the reality of the royal tag for the rich and beautiful in the name of Special Economic Zones

Apocalypto: The Cinematic Logic Of Genocide
By Juan Santos

Despite its extreme brutality Apocalypto isn’t just Gibson’s latest snuff film with a religious theme. The film is a morality play, and there are only two things one needs to remember to get a hint of the ugly moral intent behind Mel Gibson’s depiction of the Maya

The U.S. Government Hates Democracy
(Lessons From Italy)
By Mickey Z

As far as I'm concerned, we can't put forward enough reminders of how the U.S. government about peace, freedom, justice, etc. aside, the land of the free is not even remotely interested in spreading democracy. There is an abundance of evidence to back up this assertion. For now, I offer the example of post-World War II Italy

The Spirit Of Democracy In Venezuela
By Stephen Lendman

"(Getting) rid of all the five tentacles of capitalist imperialism: exploitation, domination, discrimination, militarization and alienation....in a class struggle against global fascism." In Venezuela, the process has only just begun

The Atrocities Of Augusto Pinochet
And The United States
By Roger Burbach

The Pinochet affair has shaped a whole new generation of human rights activists and lawyers. They are determined to end the impunity of public officials, including that of the civilian and military leaders in the United States who engage in state terrorism and human rights abuses while violating international treaties like the Geneva Conventions

Aljazeera International:The Plot Thickens
By Ramzy Baroud

The launch of Aljazeera International on November 15, the English arm of Aljazeera Satellite Television was hardly an ordinary event. It was another notable addition to the growing global efforts aimed at counterbalancing American-European domination over world media

Bread, Bread, Everywhere,
Yet Not A Morsel To Eat
By Jason Miller

Blaming starvation’s victims for populating the planet beyond its capacity may assuage many people’s guilt, but this heartless conclusion is based on pernicious myths. Humanity produces more than enough food to sustain the entire world population. In its rush to dominate, plunder and exploit “developing nations, the “developed world”, causes many of the famines it duplicitously attributes to irresponsible procreation

Bolivian Congress Passes
Agrarian Reform Legislation
By Andean Information Network

On November 29 the Bolivian Senate approved the law modifying Bolivia's 1996 Agrarian Reform law. The lower house of congress, where President Evo Morales's MAS party has a clear majority approved the law quickly, but MAS needed 3 votes from opposition parties who hotly contested the initiative. The vote took place after a week of heightened tensions and public protest

Congress Can Overrule The President On Any Decision
By Rev. Bill McGinnis

A two-thirds vote in both houses overrides a Presidential veto, and the President must then obey and implement whatever law Congress has passed, on penalty of impeachment if he fails to do so

16 December, 2006

Israeli High Court Sanctions
Political Assassinations
By Bill Van Auken

Israel’s high court Thursday ruled that the Zionist regime’s use of political assassination—so-called “targeted killings”—against members of Palestinian organizations in the occupied territories is not only justified but in conformity with international law

The Trap Of Recognising Israel
By Jonathan Cook

Regional and possibly global war may be triggered simply to ensure that Israel’s “existence” as a state that offers exclusive privileges to Jews continues

Dear Santa, Or Someone
By Deb Reich

I live in Israel/Palestine and I think I am probably addicted to the big bad conflict we have here. But Our souls are ready to reach past this conflict to a new shared future, as the blades of grass are ready to poke through the dirt again, all over this sorrowing land, reaching up regardless through the blood-soaked soil: little green stalks of life and hope, irrepressible. And over every blade of grass hovers its own angel, whispering: Grow, lovely one! Shaatr! Ta’al! Come to me… Grow!

Hudna Or Not: Palestinian
Rights Must Be Preserved
By Ramzy Baroud

While proposing a hudna is maybe an expression of the current Palestinian government's commitment to peace, or perhaps a way out of a terrible bind; regardless, it should neither override nor cancel out the Palestinian people's uncompromising adherence to their just demands for freedom and rights, determined by a Palestinian national consensus and cemented in international law

Baker's Cake
By Uri Avnery

Baker has presented his plan at a time when the US is facing disaster in Iraq. President Bush is bankrupt, his party has lost control of Congress and may soon lose the White House. The neo-conservatives, most of them Jews and all of them supporters of the Israeli extreme Right, who were in control of American foreign policy, are being removed one by one. Therefore, it is possible that this time the President may listen to expert advice

Omissions In The Iraq Study Group Report
By Stephen Lendman

It remains to be seen how long it will take for a mass awakening to occur to arouse the public at home, as it did in Iraq and Afghanistan, making them no longer willing to put up with the kind of abuse and neglect they've so far failed to resist. If history is a guide, it will happen

16 Days Of Activism To End
Violence Against Women
By Amrita Nandy-Joshi

we are the bystanders to other men's violence, and have to make a choice: do we stay silent and look the other way when our male friends and relatives insult or attack women, or do we speak up? We urge the governments and parliaments that have adopted laws to ensure their implementation

Nobel - Man's Un-Noble Corporate Nexus
By Omar Tarek Chowdhury

So why then did Norway’s Nobel committee give Yunus the award? Colleagues in Oslo point out to me that he was strongly supported by friends in the Norwegian elite, including a former top finance ministry bureaucrat and leading officials of the national phone company, Telenor, which owns 62% of lucrative GrameenPhone, a company in control of 60% of Bangladesh’s cellphone market

Guajarat: Grave Mistakes
By Teesta Setalvad

The challenges thrown up for India, post-Godhra of 2002, are fundamental. Are the politically powerful, even if they be organisers of mass murder and rape, immune from the law?

08 December, 2006

The Empire Is Falling
By Robert Fisk

The Roman Empire is falling. That, in a phrase, is what the Baker report says. The legions cannot impose their rule on Mesopotamia

Iraq Report Sees "Grave And Deteriorating" Crisis
By Arshad Mohammed & Steve Holland

U.S. troops should begin withdrawing from combat and Washington should launch a diplomatic and political push to halt a "grave and deteriorating" crisis in Iraq,Iraq Study Group report said on Wednesday

Widows Become The Silent Tragedy
By Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

Hundreds of thousands of widows are becoming the silent tragedy of a country sliding deeper into chaos by the day.Widows are the flip side of violence that has meant more than a million men dead, detained or disabled, Iraqi NGOs estimate. These men's wives or mothers now carry the burden of running the families

Richest 2% Hold Half The World’s Assets
By Chris Giles

Personal wealth is distributed so unevenly across the world that the richest two per cent of adults own more than 50 per cent of the world’s assets while the poorest half hold only 1 per cent of wealth

No More War
By Ed O’Rourke

The terrorists are an insignificant challenge to mankind’s survival. Without nuclear weapons, they may be able to kill a few thousand people at a time. On the other hand, nuclear war, global warming or environmental degradation will wipe out civilization

Vietnam, Iraq, And The M Word
By Mickey Z.

Other countries have war criminals. In America, we have the mistaken

Experts Battle Over Safety And Efficacy Of SSRIs
By Evelyn Pringle

Every time the FDA is even thinking about taking measures to protect the public from the increased risk of suicide associated with SSRIs, Big Pharma sends out the hired guns to publish some half-baked study to dispute the suicide risk

It’s Your Nigger Problem Not Hip-Hop’s
By March Anthony Neal

"Debates over the use of the word ‘nigger’ in popular culture which highlight a philosophical divide within 'blackness.'"

The Communist State As A
“Developmental Terrorist”
By Aseem Shrivastava

The sorrows of Singur are typical of India’s feudal globalization

God And Faith In The Life Of Indians
By Subhash Gatade

The observations of recent survey tend to emphasise the growing religiosity of the Indian people, especially its younger lot, and thus could boost the ratings of social/political formations whose weltanshauung itself revolves around god. They also demonstrate the growing 'market of spirituality'

Right To Information Emasculated
By Prashant Bhushan

Effectively unconstitutional when it comes to accountability of public servants, the proposed amendments in the Right to Information Act will take the life out of it

Who owns The American Congress ?
By David Truskoff

This past election presented a clear picture of where the American political structure is at, a picture that should not only frighten Americans but frighten the world because the whole world is affected

What She Wore
By Lucinda Marshall

It is unfortunate when the media continues, with all its damaging and misogynist implications, to insist by inclusion that what women wear or how they look is related to their capability. As Allison Stevens demonstrates, it is in fact possible to write about women and what they have accomplished without trivializing their empowerment by asserting such spurious connection . This is the standard to which journalism should be held in regard to gender

07 December, 2006

Death Toll Rises As Iraq War Grinds On
By James Cogan

With Iraqi deaths already estimated at around 650,000 and the American death toll moving toward 3,000, the US ruling elite’s actions will necessarily intensify the violence in Iraq, resulting in even greater casualties

It's Hard Being A Woman
By Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

Once one of the best countries for women's rights in the Middle East, Iraq has now become a place where women fear for their lives in an increasingly fundamentalist environment

"Out Of Iraq"
By Kevin Zeese

When U.S. Occupation in Iraq Ends the Violence is More Likely to Subside Half Measures Seem Less Dangerous, But Are Often More so. An Interview with William Polk, Author of "Out of Iraq"

Don't Expect U.S. To Create Democracy
In Iraq (Lessons From Greece)
By Mickey Z.

It would be nice to believe that the U.S./British invasion of Iraq may have been horribly mishandled but the motivation behind it was sincere. After all, it's a timeless classic: toss out a depot and introduce democracy. However, even the most perfunctory glance at previous U.S./British ventures would promptly expose the lies. An excellent example is post-WWII Greece

The Judiciary: Cutting Edge Of A Predator State
By Prashant Bhushan

There was a time, not so long ago, when the Supreme Court of India waxed eloquent about the Fundamental right to life and liberty guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution to include all that it takes to lead a decent and dignified life.Alas, all that seems a distant dream now, given the recent role of the courts in not just failing to protect the rights of the poor that they had themselves declared not long ago, but in fact spearheading the massive assault on the poor since the era of economic liberalization. This is happening in case after case

21st American Century Is About To End
By Abid Mustafa

Barely six years have elapsed since President Bush took office and the much coveted 21st century belongs to America is about to come to an abrupt end. America's pre-eminence in four corners of the world is being challenged by friends and foes alike

New Democrats And Crime: Responsible
Executive Oversight
By Bill Henderson

A responsible citizen who witnesses a crime can't choose to turn a blind eye and just move on. The newly elected, now Democratically controlled Congress is responsible for executive branch oversight

Unbending Bush
By William Fisher

As the new Democratic Party majority in Congress considers whether to re-visit the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), the administration of President George W. Bush is proposing still more restrictions on detainees in American custody

North Korea's Rebellion
By Felix Englen

America’s aims may be tempered by the varying interests of the other governments, who previously took part in six-party negotiations with North Korea - Russia, China, Japan and South Korea

05 December, 2006

An Appeal For An Abandoned People
By Donald Macintyre

Maybe they are just conveniently forgetting other periods in Gaza's turbulent and blood-stained history, but most Gazans will tell you that 2006 is the worst year they can remember

Video Reveals US Torture Of
“Enemy Combatant” José Padilla
By Tom Carter

Lawyers for José Padilla, the Brooklyn-born man imprisoned and tortured for almost four years by the Bush administration, have released to the media still frames from a video taken during one episode in the course of his captivity in a South Carolina Naval brig

The Legacy Of Babri Masjid
By Farzana Versey

Why do 800 million Indians find us a threat? The Muslim is an abstraction now. S/he would be forced to ask: Who am I? And the response would be…I am the AK-47 rifle, I am the detonated bomb, I am the dynamite that has blown up cars, trains, bodies, I am the beard, the burqa, I am the voice that shouts out loud in the streets to support dictators who look like thieves, I am the bent over figure taking up public space for my prayers, I am the loudspeaker that beckons believers and is a nuisance to the ears, I am the butcher with the knife over a poor goat's neck, I am the one that the metal detector detects faster than anyone else. I am not like you anymore. This is the legacy of Babri

The End Of The Bush Dynasty
By Stephen Lendman

It now remains for his final exit that can't come soon enough for most who want him out now and may act to force it if the Congress won't act as a majority of the public demands. Whatever happens from here, the king is dead (even with his head in place), and with it the power and influence of a family dynasty brought down by the poisoned chalice of its ill-chosen successor, unworthy and unable to wear the crown and pass it to the next in line

Don't Let Dick Cheney Read Your Palm
By Mickey Z.

A look back at some of the predictions that Dick Cheney made on Iraq

Honest Centrism For Populist Democracy
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

To fix our nation we must remove control of OUR political system by the two major parties. Many rightfully see the Republican and Democratic parties as just two sides of the same coin or two heads of the same beast

Shias Too Lose Faith In Iraqi Govt
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

The noisy demonstration that greeted Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki on his visit to Sadr City last week was more than just a protest. It meant that the leader of a Shia-dominated government was being rejected by an angry and influential group of Shias

Civilizations: Clash Or Alliance
By Ram Puniyani

Is it possible to think positively, to think that 'Another World is possible', a World where Human rights of all of us are adhered to

SSRI Experts Head To Washington
To Testify Before FDA Panel
By Evelyn Pringle

On December 13, 2006, the FDA’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee will hold a public hearing to review the suicidality data from the adult selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) studies. And, for what seems like the umpteenth time, SSRI experts from all over the US, and as far away as the UK, will travel to Washington to once again testify at yet another hearing on the suicide risks associated with these drugs

Khairlanji: Conspiracy Of Silence

Government agency report agency report indicts officials in Khairlanji massacre

04 December, 2006

Chavez Set For Election Victory
By Andrew Buncombe

Venezuela votes today, with polls suggesting incumbent Hugo Chavez will be easily reelected to a third term with a lead of anything up to 20 point over his centrist challenger, Manuel Rosales

Gangster Capitalism And The Third Maroon War
By John Maxwell

We are all Maroons now, whether we know it or not, wherever we are on the face of the Earth, whoever we are, black, white or in-between, male or female, human, as long as we are alive, animal or vegetable, on land or in the sea or the air, our very existence is under attack.If we want to survive we have to take action. We need to resist the destruction of our own and our planet’s integrity, resist degradation and deformity and protect ourselves from extinction

Monga, Micro credit And The Nobel Prize
By Anu Muhammad

While Muhammad Yunus must be credited highly for his contribution in innovation in banking and opening up vast sea of market for the huge accumulated finance capital, linking of poverty alleviation with this corporate success is ridiculous and may not be very innocent one

Iraq’s Death Squads: An Instrument
Of The Occupation
By Ghali Hassan

The longer the U.S. forces stayed in Iraq, the more violence they generate. Only full and immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces and mercenaries will contribute to the end of violence and ongoing suffering of the Iraqi people

Treasuring Our American Values Of Greed,
Self-Interest, And Enlightened Oppression
By Ragnar Redbeard III

A satirical apology for American Capitalism

What we're Up Against(Lessons From Guatemala)
By Mickey Z.

Those seeking peace, justice, and solidarity should never underestimate the relentless and brutal power of what they are up against. I am reminded of this every time I re-read "Bridge of Courage: Life Stories of the Guatemalan Compañeros and Compañeras," (Common Courage Press, 1995) an amazing book by Jennifer Harbury

A Young Man's Chronicle Of Hell
By Randolph T. Holhut

At a time when journalism is under siege by market pressures, by government, by the general dumbing down of the culture, Omer's example of courage, passion and commitment gives me hope that a new generation is rising up to bring us the uncomfortable truths about our world, regardless of the personal cost

Hindutva Strategies And Dalit Movement
By Ram Puniyani

Book review of Vidya Bhushan Rawat's book "Ambedkar, Ayodhya aur Dalit Andolan"

Monks And Politics In Ladakh
By Stanzin Dawa

Over the years the nature and character of Ladakh politics has gone through unprecedented change. It's like a whirlpool drawing everything we have collectively nurtured and developed. Instead of developing Ladakh this politics is doing more damages and destructions

03 December, 2006

Will Tumbling Dollar Start An Economic Whirlwind?
By Philip Thornton

Transatlantic travellers hoping to cash in on a $2 pound for the first time in 14 years should enjoy the good times while they last, because a tumbling dollar could start an economic whirlwind

Massive Ice Shelf 'May Collapse without Warning'
By New Zealand Herald

The Ross Ice Shelf, a massive piece of ice the size of France, could break off without warning causing a dramatic rise in sea levels, warn New Zealand scientists working in Antarctica

The Checkpoint Generation
By Amira Hasss

For nearly a month now, a young Palestinian has been hospitalized at Beilinson Hospital; soldiers shot him at a checkpoint in northern Nablus on Saturday, November 4. Haitem Yassin, 25, is conscious now, but he is still hooked up to a respirator

My Reservations About The French
By Robert Fisk

Pétain sent his country's Jews to Auschwitz with an enthusiasm that surprised the Nazis

The Spirit Of Resistance In Mexico City
By Stephen Lendman

The people of Mexico are now playing out in real time, and as events ahead unfold it may be that Mexican history will be made in the hearts of the people and the spirit they show in the streets they take to and not in the halls of power where it usually happens

Jon Tester’s Neopopulism :The Montana Formula
By Joshua Frank

We should keep an eye on the senator-to-be when he takes office next month. If Jon Tester shuns the corporate wing of the Democratic Party, and truly speaks for the people of Montana, he could have a profound effect on our national discourse. Not to mention the way business is done in Washington

Oath Of Office causes Unwarranted Controversy
By Celine LeDuc & Ann Wilmer

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. is causing a controversy before he even makes one political decision, because he is a Muslim. The first Muslim elected to the United States Congress has announced that he will take his oath of office on the holy book of his faith -- the Qur’an

Merry December To You
By Mickey Z.

Whenever we disobey orders, clasp hands across national borders, and become citizens of the world we, like John Lennon sang, have "nothing to kill or die for." So, Merry, Happy Whatever you choose to celebrate. But be sure to celebrate. As Thomas Merton said, "He who celebrates is not powerless."

02 December, 2006

A New Dalit Movement Emerging
From Maharastra?
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The uprising in Maharastra has a signal for the self styled mainstream Dalit political leaders and parties. Mend your ways or get lost as the young Dynamic Dalit leadership would emerge out of a crisis from Maharastra. It is certain that incidents like Khairlanji and Gohana would fuel the Dalit anger and turn them to streets. Out of this anger and frustration would emerge a leadership which would not compromise like their leaders

Why Are Maharashtra's Dalits So Angry?
By Kalpana Sharma

Instead of looking at whether the protests by Dalits against the Khairlanji incident and against the desecration of Ambedkar's statue were "spontaneous" or part of an organised plan, we need to understand the basis of this fury

Like Hitler And Brezhnev,Bush Is In Denial
By Robert Fisk

More than half a million deaths, an army trapped in the largest military debacle since Vietnam, a Middle East policy already buried in the sands of Mesopotamia - and still George W Bush is in denial. How does he do it?

Bush-Maliki Summit: White House Rejects
Any Withdrawal From Iraq
By Patrick Martin

The location of the summit was itself of symbolic significance: the chief of state of the world’s strongest military power could not visit the country he targeted for invasion and occupation, more than three years after his notorious boasting of “Mission Accomplished.” Bush dared not risk even a few hours’ stay inside the heavily protected Green Zone in downtown Baghdad

Iraq: Business Becomes A Big Casualty
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

The business and economic morass Iraq finds itself in today is evident in the market places across the capital city."There is no Iraqi brand any more. Iraqi products flourished during the quarter century before occupation, but now we only sell imported products of the lowest quality, and people have to buy them because there is no alternative."

U.S. Supreme Court Divided on Warming
By Zachary Coile

The U.S. Supreme Court, tackling its first case on climate change, appeared divided and somewhat baffled Wednesday over how the government should respond to the warming of the planet

Venezuela And The Bolivarian Dream
By Tariq Ali

In South America an axis of hope has emerged that challenges imperial domination on every level. Democracy, hollowed-out and offering no alternatives in the North, is being used to revive hope in the South

Confrontation In Bolivia Over Agrarian Reform
By Roger Burbach

The government of Evo Morales and the indigenous social movements of Bolivia have won an historic victory with the passage of an agrarian reform law that calls for the “expropriation of lands” that “do not serve a just social-economic function.”

Whistleblowers: Fired,Silenced . . . And Killed
By Peter Rost

It doesn’t help Russian President Putin that his critics appear to die like flies around him. Not that this means Mr. Putin did anything. He may just be a lucky guy, who happens to have short-lived critics

How Many Votes Were Stolen Or Suppressed In 2006?
By Bruce Dixon

“...roughly 3 million Democratic votes in November 2006 appear to have been cast but not counted, or shifted to the Republican column”

Plots And Politics In God's Own Country:
Fifty Years Of Kerala
By Shajahan Madampat

On November 1, 2006, Kerala, the small Indian state of idyllic beauty and rampantly itinerant people, turned 50. Some stale, 'goes without saying' sort of clichés usually precede any discussion on Kerala politics: It is a state where a communist government, or kind of a communist government, was voted to power for the first time in human history

01 December, 2006

HRW Documents Repression In Kashmir
By Parwini Zora & Daniel Woreck

A recent report by the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) documents the systematic human rights abuses carried out by the Indian security forces in the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the protection of the Indian government and legal system

Khairlanji’s Strange And Bitter Crop
By Satya Sagar

The latest incidence of this ‘strange and bitter crop’ was in Khairlanji, a small village in Bhandara distict near Nagpur in the western Indian province of Maharashtra and a horrific ‘harvest’ it was too

Barack Obama And The Winds Of War
By Glen Ford

Barack Obama--who has never claimed to be a Black leader--is in fact not a leader at all. Nowhere is this more evident than in the most critical issue facing Americans and the world at this dangerous juncture in history: the war in Iraq

Ahmadinejad's Letter To The American People
By Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Full text of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to the American people

Palestinians Are Being Denied
The right To Non-Violent Resistance
By Jonathan Cook

If one thing offers a terrifying glimpse of where the experiment in human despair that is Gaza under Israeli siege is leading, it is the news that a Palestinian woman in her sixties -- a grandmother -- chose last week to strap on a suicide belt and explode herself next to a group of Israeli soldiers invading her refugee camp

Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid
By John Dugard

Former President Jimmy Carter's new book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," is igniting controversy for its allegation that Israel practices a form of apartheid

Wal Mart Nihilism Versus The Punk Rock Of Blogging
By Phil Rockstroh

The do-it-your-self-art idea being the key that unlocks the barred door of the commodified prison of a corporatist state of mind and allows one's life to be created -- not by narrow careerist agendas -- but by the surrender to all it takes to be free. It's not the outcome of your endeavors, but the life lived. If you live with such ardor -- who knows who and what you'll effect

This Christmas, Say No To Fir
By Mickey Z.

Ninety-eight percent of all American Christmas trees are grown on the more than 21,000 Christmas tree farms; these farms eat up about 450,000 acres of land. It takes about 7-10 years for a Christmas tree to mature, and for every harvested tree, 2-3 seedlings are planted. Think of it like factory farming for firs

Noam Chomsky And Gilbert Achcar's New Book:
Perilous Power
By Stephen Lendman

A review

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