Countercurrents Archive January 2007

31 January, 2007

New Climate Report Too Rosy, Experts Say
By Seth Borenstein

Later this week in Paris, climate scientists will issue a dire forecast for the planet that warns of slowly rising sea levels and higher temperatures. But that may be the sugarcoated version

Hell, High Water, And Corporate Profit
By Mickey Z.

From the World Glacier Monitoring Service comes the latest in a long line of dire warnings. Thanks to climate change, mountain glaciers are shrinking three times faster than they were in the 1980s. Across America, two distinct sounds are heard: a collective yawn and the clacking of keyboards as another million words are written to cast global warming as a tree-hugger conspiracy

A Fundamental Evil
By Doug Soderstrom

I have come to the conclusion that the Christian fundamentalists, also known as the religious right, are the most evil people in the world. Others (such as those of various Islamic terrorist groups) were considered, but after due consideration, the Christians won……. hands down. In fact it was no contest

Iraq’s Colonial Occupier, The US,
Denounces “Foreign Meddling”
By David Walsh

In recent weeks US government and military officials, aided and abetted by the American media, have stepped up the war of words against Iran. As they did precisely four years ago, in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq

Jordan Becomes A Doubtful Refuge
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

Hundreds of thousands have fled the violence in Iraq to seek refuge in Jordan, but refugees are now beginning to find its borders closing

My Redeployment Epiphany
By Mary Shaw

We've done enough damage. Rebuilding is not on the table. The American people want us out of Iraq. The Iraqi people want us out of Iraq. The Iraqi government wants us out of Iraq. And we have no legitimate reason to stay

"If Arafat Were Alive…"
By Uri Avnery

"If Arafat were alive…" one hears this phrase increasingly often in conversations with Palestinians, and also with Israelis and foreigners

World Ignores Signs Of Civil War In Lebanon
By Robert Fisk

There is certainly plenty of history for any tourists in Lebanon but right now a new and terrible page appears to be opening while the rest of the world blithely looks on

Lebanon Crisis Fails Mediation,
Plays Into Israeli Hands
By Nicola Nasser

The crisis in Lebanon is rapidly accumulating the potential to plunge the country in a second civil war, while Israel is closely watching on the sidelines for the right moment to exploit the ensuing security vulnerability and finish the Lebanese divide off by intervening militarily to conclude what it officially describes as the “inconclusive” war last summer

From Personal Experience
By George Bisharat

Some of Israel's supporters occasionally cross the line into suppression of speech. When they do, U.S. policy is the loser

Chuck Hagel's Challenge To America
By Kevin Zeese

The statement by Sen. Hagel, whose comments are rooted in the experience of Vietnam, should be one of those moments. And, if he runs for president he may turn the election upside down with a Republican anti-war candidate running against a Democrat who is fuzzy on the war

Of Native Cultural Prowess And
Borrowed Military Grandeur
By Jawed Naqvi

Australia and India celebrated January 26 as national holidays. For India it was the 57th Republic Day. For Australia it was simply Australia Day when people have fun and reflect. Australians do not have nuclear weapons even though they supply vital uranium to nuclear reactors around the world. Is Australia a weak country without a great army or strategic weapons? India celebrates its Republic Day differently. It has an array of imported Jaguars, Mirages, Sukhois, MiGs and a host of expensive battle tanks, besides impressive weaponry and radar systems, most of which are out on display at its Republic Day parades. For some years it has been showing a variety of domestically built nuclear capable missiles too. Is it a more secure country than Australia?

30 January, 2007

Global Warming: The Vicious Circle
By Steve Connor

The effects of man-made emissions of carbon dioxide are being felt on every inhabited continent in the world with very different parts of the climate now visibly responding to human activity. These are among the main findings of the most intensive study of climate change by 2,000 of the world's leading climate scientists. They conclude that there is now little doubt that human activity is changing the face of the planet

Bush Authorizes Shoot-To-Kill
Policy Against Iranians In Iraq
By Jerry White

The Bush administration has authorized US military forces in Iraq to hunt down and kill Iranian government personnel operating in that country, according to a report that first appeared in the Washington Post last Friday

DC Marchers Challenge Congress To End War
By John Nichols

Saturday's anti-war demostrations, which filled the streets of cities from San Francisco to Washington, marked a return to form for an anti-war movement that had trouble building momentum during the three years that followed Bush's decision to launch a preemptive war against Iraq

The Hidden Cost Of Free Congressional Trips To Israel
By Jim Abourezk

Democrats in Congress have moved quickly – and commendably – to strengthen ethics rules. But truly groundbreaking reform was prevented, in part, because of the efforts of the pro-Israel lobby to preserve one of its most critical functions: taking members of Congress on free "educational" trips to Israel

Making Sense Of The Middle East
By Sonia Nettnin

The underlying message is that if the international community takes the time to learn more about the Middle East and its people, they can demystify why there is violence and what are the needs of the people. The more knowledge people have means they can push for effective legislation that alleviates pain and suffering

The Great Ahmedabad Trial Of Mahatma Gandhi
By Bal Patil

It would be most appropriate to recall the great Ahmedabad trial at this juncture when the centennial of the Gandhian satyagraha in South Africa is commemorated worldwide. When Mahatma Gandhi entered the Central Hall of the Government Circuit House at Ahmedabad on the 18th of March, 1922 to face a trial on a charge of sedition under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code about two hundred spectators inside the improvised courtroom stood up as a mark of respect to the frail figure in loincloth

An Interview With Jason Miller
By Carolyn Baker

A peak into the life and philosophy of CC writer Jason Miller

Adolf Loved His Liver Dumplings
By Mickey Z.

In a culture less inundated by propaganda, Hitler's non-vegetarian status would be apparent and even if the Führer didn't eat meat, few would regard this as a judgment on vegetarianism. However, this is America, the land of denial...and that means books like Hitler: Neither Vegetarian Nor Animal Lover are required reading

The 58th Republic Day Of India
By Mirza A. Beg

On the Republic Day India awards high honors to its citizens who have contributed to peace and growth in all fields of humanity, arts and sciences. Among the many deserving peace activists, this year the recognition of Teesta Setalvad is particularly noteworthy. She could as well be awarded medals for bravery, because in the face of bigotry of some lethal forces, to be a voice of reason and resolute advocate of the rights of politically weak and marginalized is the greatest act of bravery. Award to her does credit to the Government and people of India

27 January, 2007

Stop The Iran War Before It Starts
By Scott Ritter

President Bush seems to be hellbent on making war with Iran. The passage of time is, in effect, the enemy of his Administration's goals and objectives. By buying the time required to fully study the issues pertaining to Iran, and by forestalling the possibility of immediate pre-emptive action through budgetary restrictions, Congress may very well spare America, and the world, another tragedy like Iraq

Crying Shame
By Musatapha B Marrouchi

The war in Iraq will be more catastrophic and will only distort the Arab world further. And there will be enough residual problems to start up another confrontation with Iran and Syria in a matter of months. We should be looking for political mechanisms with the rest of world that get a viable solution and send everybody safely home

George W. Bush Is Not Pro-Life
By Mary Shaw

George W. Bush and his cohorts frequently talk about a "culture of life". But actions speak louder than words. You can't be pro-life and yet orchestrate so much death and suffering at the same time. Sooner or later, someone is going to notice

Leaked Israeli Document Gives Frightening
Glimpse Of Apartheid
By Ali Abunimah

The Electronic Intifada has obtained an Israeli Ministry of Defense Powerpoint presentation which provides a frightening glimpse into the mindset of the bureaucracy of apartheid

Hizbollah Warn That Lebanon Will See More Violence
By Robert Fisk

There is worse to come. That is what Lebanon's opposition, led by the Hizbollah, said only hours after they lifted their violent day-long "strike" on Tuesday night and - here is the rub - there are few in this country who do not believe it

Made In Britain, Dumped In China
By Clifford Coonan

Britain dumps around two million tonnes of waste in China every year, everything from plastic mineral water bottles to shopping bags and other forms of superfluous packaging from some of the country's biggest super markets

Impeach Bush: But For A Different Reason
By B.R. Gowani

If Bush can be bogged down in the impeachment process, a great deal of death and destruction could be avoided

Eli Lilly: The Habitual Offender
By Evelyn Pringle

The revelations that Eli Lilly concealed the side effects of Zyprexa and promoted the drug for unapproved uses is not newly discovered misconduct. It is a persistent pattern of conduct indicative of a nasty habit that needs breaking

The United States Of Equality
By Mickey Z

If you ask me, all this egalitarianism has arrived not a minute too soon; that whole racism thing was getting awfully annoying

26 January, 2007

Inside Baghdad: A City Paralysed By Fear
By Patrick Cockburn

Baghdad is paralysed by fear. Iraqi drivers are terrified of running into impromptu checkpoints where heavily armed men in civilian clothes may drag them out of their cars and kill them for being the wrong religion. Some districts exchange mortar fire every night. This is mayhem beyond the comprehension of George Bush and Tony Blair

Western Powers Accuse Iran And Syria Of
Masterminding Lebanese General Strike
By Chris Marsden

Lebanese opposition parties and the trade unions called a halt on Wenesday to a general strike that had resulted in violent clashes with supporters of the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora

Looking From The Side,From Belsen To Gaza
By John Pilger

A genocide is engulfing the people of Gaza while a silence engulfs its bystanders. "Some 1.4 million people, mostly children, are piled up in one of the most densely populated regions of the world, with no freedom of movement, no place to run and no space to hide," wrote the senior UN relief official, Jan Egeland, and Jan Eliasson, then Swedish foreign minister, in Le Figaro. They described people "living in a cage", cut off by land, sea and air, with no reliable power and little water and tortured by hunger and disease and incessant attacks by Israeli troops and planes

Venezuela's RCTV Acts Of Sedition
By Stephen Lendman

On December 28, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias delivered his annual "greeting speech" to the National Armed Forces (FAN) and announced the operating license of TV station Radio Caracas Television (known as RCTV) broadcasting on VHF Channel 2 won't be renewed when it expires on May 27, 2007.Why did Chavez take such a drastic decision?

Mysterious Prison Ailment Traced To U.S. Rice
By Jeb Sprague & Eunida Alexandra

A newly released investigation into the deadly scourge of Beri-beri in Haiti's National Penitentiary uncovered evidence that the clash between the manufacturing process used in U.S. processed rice and the traditional Haitian rice cooking method has been killing poor young men behind bars and leaving others morbidly ill

Livermore Pro-Nukers Move To Kill
More In San Francisco Area
By Bob Nichols

In a truly bizarre development, the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, in Livermore, California, has gotten underway even larger nuclear radiation open air explosive detonations at "Site 300" near Tracy, California

The Flexibilities Of TRIPS And The Indian Left
By Rajesh Ramakrishnan

The Left is very firmly a party of the established order. To be out of power and work as an organising force at the grassroots for resistance against neo-liberalism is unthinkable for it. But the need to build up an alternative politics right from the grassroots and patiently organise has never been greater

Give Me Back My Country
By Tahmima Anam

When Tahmima Anam went home to Dhaka, Bangladesh, to cast her vote in the now-postponed election, she found a nation in chaos, tormented by corruption and brutality

Sri Lankan Military Captures Strategic
Eastern Town From LTTE
By Sarath Kumara

After imposing a siege lasting months, the Sri Lankan security forces finally took the key eastern coastal town of Vaharai last Friday in what is a significant blow to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Vaharai is the latest in a series of LTTE strongholds that have fallen to government troops since July

A Peace Initiative For The Progeny Of Abraham
By Dr Tayyaba Qidwai

Book Review of The Cartoons Cry By Muhammad Tariq Ghazi. A deeply insightful book that providesa clear and accessible study of the mindset of two major cultures of this era

25 January, 2007

The State Of Denial
By Anthony Wade

As the resounding echo of the unnecessary clapping ends tonight we will have heard nothing new from the 43rd President of the United States. Each year brings a new opportunity for the President to try and turn around what is the worst legacy since Herbert Hoover

The State Of The Union: A President Who Is
No Longer The Leader Of The Free World
By Brent Budowsky

Had George Walker Bush begun his speech with "Ladies and Gentleman I am taking my leave and retiring from the Presidency" there would have been tidal waves of standing ovations sweeping from the Congress through the nation to the far corners of the free world

Questions For Bush On Iraq
By Ralph Nader

Why not some exemplary sacrifice from the Bush family? What is keeping those bright, capable daughters-Jenna and Barbara-from showing that the family is not expecting everybody but the Bush family to sacrifice? Why are they not demonstrating their sacrifice and resolve for your Iraq democracy war by enlisting into the armed forces?

Bush Continues To Unite The World... Against Him
By Jim Lobe

Despite two years of a concentrated effort by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her public diplomacy major- doma Karen Hughes to boost Washington's global image, more people around the world have an unfavourable opinion of U.S. policies than at any time in recent memory

How The pro-Migrant Movement Stopped Fascism
In The U.S. And How To Finish The Job
By Juan Santos

2006 marked a sea change in US politics, but the decisive moment was not election day, it was March 25th, the day that over a million Mexican and Central America migrants and their Chicana/o allies marched in the streets of Los Angeles, following a march of similar magnitude in Chicago

No Way In.. No Way Out
By Sheila Samples

Unfortunately, securing the homeland is a two-edged sword that the Bush administration and military establishment profiteers are holding firmly over our heads. It's time Americans realized that we are in danger of being herded into a national detention camp in which there are no pardons, and from which there is no escape

The Garland Of The War In Iraq
By Mustapha Marrouchi

The Anglo-American attack on Iraq in 2003 was one of the worst-reported conflicts in history. A system of media management has kept the violent deaths of some 650,000 innocent people out of the public view

WHAT MORE CAN WE DO?
A Letter In Answer To A Cynic…
By Kerry Martin

My soul LOVES being clothed in physical matter, and utterly enjoys being immersed in the wonders of Nature, and this soul has been mourning for thirty years over the devastation our species has ignorantly inflicted on our Living Earth, and this soul has long ago reduced her physical footprint to the smallest possible - by doing without

Meat-Eater's State Of "The Nation"
By Mickey Z.

The (so-called) alternative press rarely "gets" vegetarianism, animal rights, and related issues. Case in point: The February 5, 2007 issue of The Nation featured a book review by Daniel Lazare called "My Beef With Vegetarianism." The book in question was 'The Bloodless Revolution' by Tristram Stuart

Soros On Capital Account Convertibility
By Sunanda Sen

A note of caution and warning for India

24 January, 2007

US Occupation Turns 3.7 Million Iraqis
Into Refugees
By James Cogan

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported this month that the US invasion and occupation of Iraq has forced one out of every eight Iraqis to flee their homes—more than 3.7 million people

U.S.-Tailored Iraqi Oil Alarm
For Producers, Consumers
By Nicola Nasser

After listening to the monotonous and incredible U.S. lies for four years about “we are not there for Iraq's oil,” the oil truth is now unfolding. Without a decisive military victory, the U.S. occupation of Iraq seems to be about to grab its oil prize by establishing a new sharing arrangement between a major national producer and the multi-national giants, an arrangement that Washington plans to set as the model to be followed both by the oil-rich region and the world at large

Gangsters For Capitalism
By Clinton L. Cox

Although benign U.S. intentions are an article of faith among many Americans, theft, murder and oppression have always been central to U.S. policies and practices in the non-white world. George Bush’s crusade for ‘democracy’ is yet another chapter in the shameful saga

Bush The Empire Slayer
By Bernard Chazelle

Victors are never war criminals. That's because they get to write the history books. Bush won't have that chance. The die has been cast and the hour is too late for him or anyone to alter the unforgiving judgment of posterity

Carter And Camp David, Where It All Began
By Zachary Wales

None of this is to suggest that Carter is dishonest about the events of Camp David in his new book -- and Camp David certainly isn't his central focus -- but that he overlooks perhaps his greatest contribution to the subject that his book criticizes: apartheid

A Freedom Ride
By Uri Avnery

Yesterday, a decree of the Officer Commanding the Central Sector, General Yair Naveh, was about to come into force. It forbade Israeli drivers from giving a ride to Palestinian passengers in the occupied territories. At the last moment, the general "froze" the order. The order that was suspended (but not officially rescinded) emitted a strong odor of apartheid

The Corporate Media And Hugo Chavez
By Mickey Z.

The demonizing of Hugo Chavez

Support For Iraq War Dropping
By Kevin Zeese

Series of polls finds little confidence in Bush or Democrats. Voters want Democrats to stop the “surge” by withholding funding. Majority favors withdrawal

“Paying For Protection”
By Gene C. Gerard

OSHA was created by Congress to protect the health and safety of America’s working men and women. It’s unfortunate that workers now have to rely on litigation to ensure their basic safety. The federal courts should move quickly to hear this lawsuit and force the government to protect the nation’s workforce

23 January, 2007

WSF: Small Ways To Solve Big Problems
By Joyce Mulama

The parades of tuktuks and boda bodas reflected the theme for the seventh annual WSF, "Peoples' struggles, peoples' alternatives", whereby people address poverty in their own small ways

Fear Climate Change, Not Our Enemies
By Robert Fisk

How casually these warnings come to us. How casually we treat them. I suspect that most people feel so detached from political power - so hopeless when faced with a world tragedy - they can do nothing but watch in growing anger and distress. Water levels in the world's oceans may rise 20 feet higher, we are told. And I calculate that in Beirut, the Mediterranean - in rough weather -- will be splashing over my second-floor balcony wall

Prophet Of Doomsday: Stephen Hawking, Eco-Warrior
By Geoffrey Lean

'In a world that is in chaos, politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?' So asked the most famous scientist on the planet, the newest recruit to the mission to save the Earth

Obama: The Democratic Messiah?
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

I want Obama to speak with such clarity that he either earns the messiah label, or makes realists of even his strongest supporters. We do not need another political false idol, from the left or the right

Hillary Clinton And The Pro-Israel Lobby
By Joshua Frank

Hillary Clinton’s silence toward Israel's brutality implies the senator will continue to support AIPAC's mission to occupy the whole of the occupied territories, as well as a war on Iran. AIPAC is correct -- even President Bush appears to be a little sheepish when up against the warmongering of Hillary Clinton

A Prescription For Indians To Seriously Fight Racism
By Jawed Naqvi

If Indians are willing to put up a good fight against racism, they should make it mandatory for all the countries that require their fingerprints to reciprocate with their own imprints at Indian airports. If the ultra-nationalist Indians can't or won't do this much, they would hardly have a leg to stand on in the global fight against racism

Southern Iraqi Tribes Joining Armed Resistance
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

Violence is spreading further across Iraq, as Shi'ite Arab tribes in the south begin to engage occupation forces in new armed resistance.Resistance in the southern parts of Iraq has been escalating over the last three months, leading to increased casualties among British and other occupation forces

The Arabs’ Feelings Of Love
And Hate For Saddam Hussein
By Ramzy Baroud

Regardless of what Arabs and Muslims around the world felt of Saddam’s history and leadership, his capture, his trial and undignified execution were a collective humiliation for us all, a humiliation that will not be forgotten for perhaps many years. And sadly, this international public spectacle has the potential to reap devastating ramifications

Bill O'Reilly = Super Genius
By Mickey Z.

For a full decade now, Bill O'Reilly has been living out-in public-the greatest impersonation of a knee-jerk right-winger since Senator McCarthy waved his lists of communists...and it's long overdue he receive the credit he deserves

What The U...S. Wants....
By Jeff Berg

...is a quintupling of Canadian tarsand production

People’s Movement In Nepal
By Roshan Kissoon

It is clear from what we have seen and what we have experienced in Nepal that this is a genuine people’s movement. The changes we have seen in education, farming, and social relations between men and women, the attempts to get rid of all that oppresses humanity in a practical way and trying to find better ways to do things, better ways to live, are all a process of the Maoist Cultural Revolution

20 January, 2007

The Battle To Save Iraq's Children
By Colin Brown

The desperate plight of children who are dying in Iraqi hospitals for the lack of simple equipment that in some cases can cost as little as 95p is revealed today in a letter signed by nearly 100 eminent doctors

The War Becomes More Unholy
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

A stepped up military offensive that targets mosques, religious leaders and Islamic customs is leading many Iraqis to believe that the US-led invasion really was a "holy war."

Rice’s Middle East Tour: Arab Rregimes
Back US War Drive In Iraq And Iran
By Jean Shaoul & Chris Marsden

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the Emirates have all signed up to the Bush administration’s escalation of its aggression against Iraq and its plans for a military attack on Iran

How Israel Enforces "Demographic Separation"
By Jonathan Cook

Is it too much to suspect that before long, after Israel has completed the West Bank wall and its “border” terminals, the Jewish state will classify visits by Palestinian citizens to relatives as “visiting an enemy state”? And will such visits be grounds for revoking citizenship, as they could be under Erdan’s bill if Palestinian citizens visit relatives in Syria or Lebanon?

Barack Obama: The Mania And The Mirage
By Glen Ford

“Mirage” is the best metaphor for Barack Obama. He shimmers on the horizon, a promise of…something. But as one draws closer, Obama dissipates into nothingness – which is his purpose

Newsweek's Cover Boys
By Mickey Z.

What if NewsWeak had opted to instead present the image a young American boy holding any number of weapons? Imagine that above this tow-headed, lily white lad were these words: "The Next Imperialists." Or perhaps even: "The Next War Criminals."

Truth Is Speaking… Is Power Listening?
By Carolyn Baker & Jason Miller

Carolyn Baker interviewed by Jason Miller

Portrait Of The CIA As An Artist
By Lila Rajiva

According to Frances Saunders, in her well-documented book, “The CIA and the Cultural Cold War,” the CIA financed and groomed the avant-garde art movement from which abstract expressionism, performance art and the other freak shows of the art world emerged

A President’s White Hair
By Jorge Majfud

“‘Things evolve according to the amount of white hair and responsibility that one has,’” said Lula, 61 years old, indicating his white hair in an impromptu speech.” And later: “‘If one meets a very old leftist it is because he must have problems,’ said the president, drawing laughter and applause from the audience of businessmen, politicians and artists.”

19 January, 2007

Is the Bush Administration Planning
A Nuclear Holocaust?
By Michel Chossudovsky

At no point since the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945, has humanity been closer to the unthinkable, a nuclear holocaust which could potentially spread, in terms of radioactive fallout, over a large part of the Middle East

More Than 34,000 Iraqi Civilian Deaths In 2006
By Kate Randall

The United Nations reported Tuesday that 34,452 Iraqi civilians died in 2006 as a result of bombings, extra-judicial executions and other forms of violence

Furor Over Saddam's Execution Continues Unabated
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

BAGHDAD - Expressions of outrage over the conduct of the trial and the manner of Saddam Hussein's rushed, chaotic execution are continuing unabated here as lawyers and human rights groups voice their criticism – although some are still cautiously asking the media to withhold their names from publication

Was Jesus An Evil-Doer?
By Mickey Z.

ETA is one of the many places where the whole "Jesus Day" thing comes back to bite Georgie in the ass

Democrat Agenda Omissions
By Stephen Lendman

The list of unaddressed issues is almost endless after more than three decades of a democracy in decline and the welfare of most Americans in it because Democrat and Republican-led governments alike dedicated themselves to the interests of wealth and power that always come at the expense of ordinary working people making up the vast majority in the country

FDA Feeling The Heat
By Evelyn Pringle

Over the past year, the Bush administration's FDA has been the focus of non-stop investigations and with the Democrats in control of Congress, a long overdue overhaul of the agency is in the cards

Mea Culpa Minimus
By William Fisher

The senior defense department official who suggested that major corporations should stop doing business with large law firms who represent Guantanamo Bay detainees without charge has apologized for his remarks – but his apology has failed to satisfy some legal and human rights advocates

Palestinian Refugees And Exiles
Must Have A Say-So
By Rima Merriman

Today, Palestinian refugees outside the occupied territories and Palestinian exiles feel completely excluded from the body politic and national debate currently taking place in the occupied territories

18 January, 2007

Climate Resets 'Doomsday Clock'
By Molly Bentley

Experts assessing the dangers posed to civilisation have added climate change to the prospect of nuclear annihilation as the greatest threats to humankind. As a result, the group has moved the minute hand on its famous "Doomsday Clock" two minutes closer to midnight

We Need To Act Now To Save The Environment
By Martin Rees

Humankind's collective impacts on the biosphere, climate and oceans are unprecedented. These environmentally driven threats - "threats without enemies" - should loom as large in the political perspective as did the East/West political divide during the Cold War era.Unless they rise higher on international agendas, remedial action may come too late to prevent "runaway" climatic or environmental devastation

Charging Towards The Big Melt
By Stephen Leahy

The world collectively overshot the Earth's capacity to support us in 1984, the World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report notes. In the 22 years since reaching that crucial tipping point, rates of consumption of resources have accelerated. Not just in North America and Europe but China and India, not to mention other parts of Asia and Latin America

Obama And The Middle East
By Joshua Frank

On Iran Obama also serves the status-quo with the kind of hawkish zeal we are used to seeing in most Republicans. He’s admitted he may favor surgical missile strikes on Iran and Pakistan if that’s what it takes to fight the war on terror. And Obama even boasts that Bush hasn’t taken a hard enough line on the foreign menaces

The King Is Dead. Long Live The King?
By Joseph Grosso

Suparmurat Niyazov, the self proclaimed “Father of the Turkmen”, ruled Turkmenistan with the audacity and narcissism that few leaders in history have been able to muster. Indeed one may have to the days of Roman emperors to find a ruler renaming the month of January after himself and other months for his parents

One Country: Reviewing An Alternative Vision
By Remi Kanazi

Ali Abunimah’s new book, One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, exposes the impracticality of partition and presents an alternative vision, one that encompasses both peoples on the basis of equal rights. The vision Abunimah presents is a one state solution

Runaway American Brainwashing
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

An Article V convention is a clear threat to the political, social and economic establishment exerting self-serving influence on Congress. It can put into public debate ideas for amending the Constitution that threaten established political forces, both liberal and conservative. Acting independently, it can courageously propose amendments without interference from status quo defenders

Two More Barbaric State Executions In Iraq
By James Cogan

The latest executions in Baghdad exemplify the barbarism that prevails in US-occupied Iraq. Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, the 56-year-old half-brother of Saddam Hussein and former head of his regime’s intelligence service, and Awad Hamed al-Bander, the 61-year-old former chief judge of the Baathist Revolutionary Court, were hung in the early hours of Monday morning

Listen To The Voices Of Iraqi’s
By Kevin Zeese

An interview with Dal LaMagna

Discrimination Continues
By Aftab Mughal

During the year 2006, religious minorities faced discrimination and have little hope for change in the situation despite government’s promise for equal rights for everybody

17 January, 2007

Paradoxes Doom Bush’s New Strategy In Iraq
By Nicola Nasser

President George W. Bush’s paradoxical “new strategy” in Iraq is doomed by its own contradictions as much as by Iraqi and regional paradoxes and would in no time prove that the U.S. president’s go-it-alone approach will only extend the failure of the 2003 military invasion in developing into a permanent occupation, amid wide spread world and American calls for withdrawal and political solution

Fishing In Troubled Waters
By Gareth Porter

The revelation by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the campaign against Iranian officials had already been in effect for several months before Bush's speech last Wednesday indicates that the new rhetoric is aimed at serving the desperate need of the White House to shift the blame for its failure in Iraq to Iran, and to appear to be taking tough action

Manara Square, Ramallah
By Uri Avnery

Manara Square is the heart of Ramallah, full of life, both walking and driving. When people realized what was going on, they started to throw stones at the soldiers. These responded by shooting wildly in all directions. Four bystanders were killed, more than 30 wounded

Hard Limits And Long-Observed Taboos
By Ali Abunimah

With his book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid reaching the top of the bestseller lists, former President Jimmy Carter appears to have made a breakthrough in the ossified debate on Israel-Palestine in the United States

America Goes Into Somalia, Again
By Najum Mushtaq

The refusal to engage the Islamic movements will mean more violence and further instability in the region. Or perhaps once again the Bush administration's words are misleading, and such instability is indeed the ultimate objective of America's policy of containing and decimating Islamic extremism

Turning On The War
By Joshua Frank

It seems the only way the war will come to an end will be when soldiers start resisting by the droves. It’s already happening with little fanfare all across the country. Many are finding refuge in Canada and elsewhere. These brave soldiers must be congratulated for taking such a path. They are the answer the antiwar movement has been looking for. Let’s hope they lead by example. If their peers don’t follow, we are in for a much longer, deadlier war

Wanted: Creative Extremists
By Mickey Z.

Civil society is vanishing while fortitude is measured on Fear Factor, morality is dropped along with cluster bombs from 15,000 feet, and solidarity has been reduced to waiting together on line for hours to buy Play Station 3. Obviously, we need a radical new vision of courage. As Alice Walker reminds us, activism is our rent for living on this planet

Zyprexa Judge Decides Which Journalists
Have First Amendment Rights
By Evelyn Pringle

The judge issuing injunctions in the Eli Lilly-Zyprexa-Documents case has decided that reporters at the New York Times enjoy the full protection of the First Amendment but that other reporters and media outlets do not

India's Tryst With Destiny: A Dream, A Nightmare
By Jawed Naqvi

The victims appeared to be accustomed to be pointlessly and mercilessly thrashed. It would be ridiculous to expect them to know what Jawaharlal Nehru had promised them in his celebrated "tryst with destiny" speech. So the question of a dream turning into a nightmare should not arise

16 January, 2007

America Threatens To 'Deal With' Iran
By Kim Sengupta

The belief that George Bush's troops "surge" policy in Iraq is also aimed at confronting Iran was strengthened yesterday when the White House declared that it was "going to deal" with the actions of the Tehran regime

US Military Strike On Iran Seen By April ’07
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah

Arab Times news paper reports that the USA will launch a military strike on Iran before April 2007.The attack will be launched from the sea and Patriot missiles will guard all oil-producing countries in the region

Opiate Of The USA
By David Truskoff

Martin Luther King’s dream is still just that, a dream, but on January 15 we will breath deeply and once again go on the nod and enjoy our media induced high

Bangladeshi President Postpones Election
And Imposes State Of Emergency
By Jake Skeers

In a desperate bid to end weeks of political turmoil, Bangladesh’s president Iajuddin Ahmed announced last Thursday that he was postponing national elections due on January 22, imposing a state of emergency and stepping aside as head of the interim caretaker government

Power Politics In Bangladesh
By Taj Hashmi

It’s nihilism not quest for democracy in Bangladesh

Islamism And Expediency In Bangladesh
By Delwar Hussain

The way Bangladesh's secular parties and leaders conduct politics is fuelling Islamist extremism and destabilising democracy

Man Fuel: Is It In you?
By Jason Miller

Searching for masculine bliss incarnate? Look no further than NFL football and its myriad machismo delights….

Girls For Gender Equity
By Mickey Z.

An interview with Mandy Van Deven

Real Solutions To The Quandary Of
The Iraq Quagmire
By Kevin Zeese

You probably will not hear about it on the network and cable news shows, but today the Progressive Caucus and Out of Iraq Caucus held an impressive hearing on Iraq that offered real solutions to the quandary of the Iraq quagmire. Witnesses put forward a common sense plan to get out of Iraq while reducing the violence, and starting positive diplomatic activities in the region

Second - Class Citizens Of Gujarat
By Akash Bisht

Four years have passed since the state-sponsored Gujarat carnage shook the entire nation,leaving hundreds dead and lakhs displaced and brutalised, but till this day many of the survivors of the post-Godhra killings have not found their way back home. These exiled 'second-class citizens' are living in inhuman conditions in make-shift camps and are deprived of basic amenities

13 January, 2007

Bush's Tactics Are A 'Declaration Of War' On Iran
By Anne Penketh

American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq, hours after President George Bush issued a warning to Tehran that was described as a "declaration of war". A leading UK-based Iran specialist, Ali Ansari said that Mr Bush's speech on future Iraq strategy amounted to "a declaration of war" on Iran

US Forces Carry Out Provocative Raid
On Iran’s Consulate In Northern Iraq
By Peter Symonds

In the early hours of yesterday morning, US forces raided the Iranian consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, detaining at least five employees. The arrests were clearly aimed at reinforcing the bellicose message contained in President Bush’s speech, just hours before, that the American military would “interrupt the flow of support from Iran and Syria” and “seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq.”

Cry Iraq
By Mustapha Marrouchi

The US program for the Arab world has become the same as Israel’s for Palestine. If the Iraq of yesteryear stood for an Arab identity par excellence, today, it represents the loss of that very identity. The aim of the invasion was to reshape the Middle East so that Palestine will become Israel, Jordan Palestine, and Iraq the Hashemite Kingdom

Murder By Proxy: Hanging Of Saddam Hussein
By Ram Puniyani

Martyr for some and villain for the other, he leaves tales for all the times!

Holiday Hypocrisy
By Stephen Lendman

A reflection on our national federal holidays that, in fact, represent something much different than the stated reasons we commemorate them for. Eleven such holidays are reviewed below moving chronologically through the year

Wish You Were Here (a small sampling)
By Mickey Z.

Estimates vary, but roughly 50,000 animal and plant species become extinct each year. That¹s over 130 per day, about 6 per hour

Fencing Across The Border
Whose Fooling Who
By Abid Mustafa

To assuage international concerns over cross border filtration into Afghanistan, the Pakistani government has announced a series of measures. These include selectively fencing the 2,430km border, laying down mines and introducing biometric identity checks on the Pakistani side of the border. This is in addition to the 80,000 Pakistani troops manning the border

Public Has Right To Know Secrets
Revealed In Zyprexa Documents
By Evelyn Pringle

In deciding whether to allow Eli Lilly to continue to use court orders to hide documents that show the company illegally marketed Zyprexa for unapproved uses and failed to warn the public about the serious health risks associated with the drug for a decade, the court needs to consider the harm done to the public by Lilly's conduct

12 January, 2007

Bush's New Strategy - The March Of Folly
By Robert Fisk

So into the graveyard of Iraq, George Bush, commander-in-chief, is to send another 21,000 of his soldiers. The march of folly is to continue

To “Save Iraqi Democracy” Bush’s
War Will Target Shias Too
By M. A. Muqtedar Khan

With this speech President Bush has practically declared war on Shias. He has decided to go after Shia militias in Iraq , and Shia regimes in the region. Until now the US has been fighting only with the Sunnis -- Al Qaeda and the Iraqi insurgency. But from now on US troops will be fighting al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents, the Mahdi and Badr militias and perhaps even Iranian and Syria intelligence and commando units

Iraqi Regime Set To Hand Over Oil
Reserves To US Energy Giants
By Jerry White

As the Bush administration prepares to escalate military violence against the Iraqi people the US-installed regime in Baghdad is set to approve a new hydrocarbon law that will hand unprecedented control of the country’s vast oil reserves to US and British energy conglomerates

The Man Who Now Holds Iraq's Future In His Hands
By Patrick Cockburn

He is a strange figure to be targeted as the number one enemy of the US in Iraq. Four years ago, few had heard of the Shia nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr inside or outside Iraq. Even somebody as suspicious as Saddam Hussein, who murdered his father and two brothers, did not think he would play any role in the coming crisis. Now he holds the future of Iraq in his hands

Media Under Growing Siege
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

The U.S. administration continues to tout Iraq as a shining example of democracy in the Middle East, but press freedom in Iraq has plummeted since the beginning of the occupation

The Law Of Life And The Law Of Death
Apocalypse No! part 3
By Juan Santos

Facing the reality of our times, facing the apocalypse, means stripping down. As bare as you can get. The truth about the condition of the world, if you can take it in – even in part - will lay you flat, for days, or weeks

Somalia : Another War "Made In USA"
By Mohamed Hassan

This is not a war between Ethiopia and Somalia. This is a war of the USA against all the peoples of the Horn of Africa

A Plea For Help From The Tamil-Speaking
People Of Sri Lanka
By Rohini Hensman

There is no quick fix for the problems of Sri Lanka's Tamils, but prompt action at this juncture by the Indian government and human rights activists in support of the majority report could save them decades of displacement and bloodshed in the future

Police Reform Is Above Politics
By Ajay K. Mehra

The Noida incidents point to the breakdown of policing at each level, and the complete erosion of the police as the basic institution for internal security. The police across the country has been known to avoid registering cases in order to keep the crime rate and their workload low. It is the poor who invariably bear the brunt of their inefficiency and corruption

Bangladesh -Betrayal
By Mohsin R. Siddique

To defeat the anti-democratic theocratic forces is a central task in Bangladesh today. The need for coming together of the progressives, including those within AL , to create an independent, alternate political entity to fight this battle has never been more urgent

11 January, 2007

Disasters In Iraq, Haiti And Jamaica
By John Maxwell

The veteran Jamaican educator, journalist and environmentalist traces the man-made disasters that threaten the people of three nations living under the sole superpower’s boot. In all three cases, inhumanity has a common vector: the greed of the exploiter

Bringing To Book The Guilty Men Of Baghdad
By Siddharth Varadarajan

The legal arguments used by the U.S.-sponsored Iraqi court to convict Saddam Hussein of crimes against humanity apply even more forcefully to those American leaders who ordered the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq

Air strikes On Somalia: A New Stage
In Washington’s Illegal “Terror” War
By Chris Marsden

US air strikes against targets in the south of Somalia have claimed a substantial number of civilian lives. The bombing campaign, begun Sunday night and continued on Monday, mark a major escalation in the Bush administration’s lawless use of violence to achieve Washington’s strategic aims under the auspices of its “global war on terrorism.”

Climate Change Will Transform The Face Of Europe
By Michael McCarthy & Stephen Castle

The ecosystems that have underpinned all European societies from Ancient Greece and Rome to present-day Britain and France, and which helped European civilisation gain global pre-eminence, will be disabled by remorselessly rising temperatures, EU scientists forecast in a remarkable report which is as ominous as it is detailed

A Dark Anniversary
By William Fisher

This week, as the world marks the fifth anniversary of the arrival of the first detainees at the U.S. naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a growing number of people and organizations – from military officers to religious leaders to legal scholars to human rights groups – continue to label the prison a black hole of injustice and demand that it be closed

To: Presidential Candidate John Edwards
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

If as you say “tomorrow begins today,” then please begin the national movement for an Article V convention to make a better tomorrow for we the people. Your courageous stand could compel the new Congress to hold hearings on this issue. Let those who believe in totally ignoring Article V and the states’ and the public’s right to a convention testify publicly and try to defend their position. I await your reply. The country awaits your leadership

What Is A Peace Voter To Do?
By Kevin Zeese

Interviews with Cindy Sheehan and David Swanson on next steps for the anti-war movement

FDA Runs Protection Racket For Big Pharma
By Evelyn Pringle

Why would Americans trust the FDA to regulate the pharmaceutical industry? Since the Bush administration took office the FDA has become the industry's partner in crime. The most notorious protection scheme put in place by the FDA and Big Pharma is the preemption policy that bans private lawsuits against drug companies in state courts once a drug and its label have been approved by the FDA

People's Movements in Orissa
Face Political Repression
By Saswat Pattanayak

Sitting pretty on his father and Orissa's ex-Chief Minister Biju Patnaik’s land-grabbing anti-people legacies, Naveen has been the most ruthless curse on a peaceful people. Enacting personality politics to project Biju as a savior, the current CM has been turning massive onslaughts on every form of criticism that exists in the state today, with an inherited arrogance that has rare parallel. He completes his troika of misfortunes, after Kashipur and Kalinga Nagar, with his approval of Vedanta Alumina Project at Lanjigarh

10 January, 2007

December 13's Bodily Fluids
By Arundhati Roy & Amit Sengupta

Kashmir is a twilight zone. The Parliament attack is layered with half-lies. And pre- and post-Gujarat, Muslims are being targetted all over India. Arundhati Roy in conversation with Amit Sengupta

Democrats Criticize Iraq “Surge”,
But Won’t Cut War Funds
By Patrick Martin

The two top congressional Democratic leaders have publicly opposed the Bush administration’s plans to dispatch more troops to Iraq, while signaling to the White House that there will be no serious effort to prevent an escalation of the slaughter as the bloodbath in Iraq heads towards its fifth year

Terrified Soldiers Terrifying People
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

More than 5,000 civilians killed by U.S. soldiers have been buried in Fallujah cemeteries and mass graves dug on the outskirts of the city, according to the Study Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, a non-governmental organisation based in Fallujah

Israel’s Purging Of Palestinian Christians
By Jonathan Cook

Although there are no figures available, it can probably be safely assumed that a disproportionate number of Palestinians losing their residency rights are Christian. Certainly the effect of further damaging the education system in the occupied territories will be to increase the exodus of Palestine’s next generation of leaders, including its Christians

Federalism: A Solution More
For Israel Than For Iraq
By Nicola Nasser

Israeli Jews have to choose between Apartheid and a democratic state. A federal Israel could solve both an Israeli internal ethnic problem and as well be the right just, lasting and comprehensive approach to solving the Arab and Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which would spare the region more wars and violence; the ingredients of success are much more authentic than the U.S., Israeli and Iranian-backed separatist and sectarian calls for federalism in Iraq

09 January, 2007

Israel Has Plans For Nuclear Attack On Iran
By Peter Symonds

A report in yesterday’s London-based Sunday Times revealed that the Israeli military has been training to use tactical nuclear weapons against Iran’s uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and other nuclear facilities. Based on several Israeli military sources, the article said two air force squadrons were involved, with the preparations being overseen by air force commander Major General Eliezer Shkedi

The Making Of Another Iraq
By Abukar Arman

The presence of foreign troops has profoundly changed the political dynamics in Somalia. A grassroots-driven, wrathful nationalism will intensify, with ramifications beyond the Somali geographical boundaries. Indeed, unless the current trend is immediately reversed, the conflict will likely set the entire Horn of Africa on fire, spark an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and widen the divide between the West and the Islamic world

One Last Chance For Sanity In Iraq
By Ramzy Baroud

US President George W Bush's new war strategy due to be officially announced on Wednesday, which will likely meet an uphill battle at the now Democrat-controlled Congress, is a slap in the face of the majority of American voters, and indeed the democratic process

Chronicle Of Saddam's Death Foretold
By Salim Nazzal

Saddam Hussein seems to be similar to the character of Santiago Nassar in the Marquez novel Chronicle of a Death Foretold, when every body knows that the murderers would kill Nassar. The only difference is that Nassar did not know that they planned to kill him, while Saddam knew

James Brown: The Man Who Named A People
By Glen Ford

James Brown can arguably be credited with a feat few humans have achieved since the dawn of time. He named an entire people: Black Americans

A New Congress? Not When It Comes To Iran
By Joshua Frank

If we want the Democrats to change their tune on Israel and Iran, we’ve got to hold their feet to the fire. If left to their own devices Democrats will continue to mimic the neocon’s strategy for the Middle East, not alter it

The People's Republic Of Me
By Mickey Z.

Novelist Nick Mamatas declares his independence

Lilly's Legal Battle Over
Zyprexa Documents Continues
By Evelyn Pringle

On January 3, 2007, a hearing was held before Judge Jack Weinstein, in a US District Court in New York, on a motion by Eli Lilly to extend an injunction to conceal company documents that show Lilly hid the lethal side effects of Zyprexa for a decade and engaged in an illegal off-label marketing scheme to promote the drug for unapproved uses

08 January, 2007

Future Of Iraq: The spoils Of War
By Danny Fortson,Andrew Murray-Watson & Tim Webb

Iraq's massive oil reserves, the third-largest in the world, are about to be thrown open for large-scale exploitation by Western oil companies under a controversial law which is expected to come before the Iraqi parliament within days

Somalia: New Hotbed Of Anti-Americanism
By Nicola Nasser

The U.S. foreign policy blundering has created a new violent hotbed of anti-Americanism in the turbulent Horn of Africa by orchestrating the Ethiopian invasion of another Muslim capital of the Arab League, in a clear American message that no Arab or Muslim metropolitan has impunity unless it falls into step with the U.S. vital regional interests

South America: Toward An Alternative Future
By Noam Chomsky

Last month a coincidence of birth and death signaled a transition for South America and indeed for the world. The former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet died even as leaders of South American nations concluded a two-day summit meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, hosted by President Evo Morales, at which the participants and the agenda represented the antithesis of Pinochet and his era

The Tower Of Wealth Without A Foundation
By Siv O'Neall

The two mainstays of the neoconservative and neoliberal agenda can be reduced to the accumulation of more wealth for the tiny upper clique of the American population and to assuring the ever-lasting continuation of the U.S. empire. The rest of the world is simply of no consequence to the neocon way of thinking and that's where they make the huge mistake that is one day going to be their downfall

Singur: Where The Left Turns Right
By Vijayan MJ

The CPM machinery has gone into overdrive in Singur to secure the Tata deal; it has left the peasantry, its constituency, totally in the cold

How Yogi Adityanath Wants To Do A Modi?
By Subhash Gatade

A key feature of the Hindutva experiment furthered by Yogi Adityanath is to always keep Muslims in focus and win over the dalits and backwards to his side. In order to organise the Dalits against the Muslims he has made it a policy to interfere in all small or big quarrels between them and endeavour to paint it in communal black

Dissent Is Alive
Pakistan Diary: In Lahore Day 4
By Yoginder Sikand

'Dissent is alive in Pakistan and is bound to become louder. Do write about that when you get back', he insists

A New Year’s Resolution For All
U.S. Presidential Candidates
By Joel S. Hirschhorn

No matter how awful you think our government and political system have become, odds are you do not know about this travesty of justice, an incredible failure to honor our fabled Constitution. This failure has removed the sovereignty of we the people, and made Congress much more powerful than it should be

07 January, 2007

The Whole Bloody Thing Was Obscene
By Robert Fisk

The lynching of Saddam Hussein will turn out to be one of the determining moments in the whole shameful crusade upon which the West embarked in March of 2003

He Takes His Secrets To The Grave
By Robert Fisk

How the West armed Saddam, fed him intelligence on his 'enemies', equipped him for atrocities - and then made sure he wouldn't squeal

Execution Memories Refuse To Go Away
By Dahr Jamail & Ali al-Fadhily

The footage of the execution of Saddam Hussein has generated controversy in Iraq that is refusing to die down

Development Or Developmental Terrorism?
By Prof Amit Bhaduri

The unprecedented high economic growth on which privileged India prides itself is a measure of the high speed at which India of privilege is distancing itself from the India of crushing poverty. The higher the rate of economic growth along this pattern becomes, the greater would be the underdevelopment of India

New Year Reflections
By Ramzy Baroud

2006 was yet another year of tribulations in the ever tumultuous Middle East. It defied all early expectations that 2005 would be the worst for many years to follow. It ended on a sad note in Palestine, and left wide open the chance for many appalling possibilities that stretch from Baghdad, to Lebanon, to Mogadishu, and elsewhere

Two Civil Wars With Brakes On
By Roni Ben Efrat

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was once the mother of all problems in the Middle East. Today it is one among many. For this demotion we may largely thank US President George W. Bush and his war in Iraq

Bush’s Solution To Iraq – No Mystery
By Dan Lieberman

Jordan and Syria, that feel threatened by Iraq and Iran, might become more conciliatory to the U.S. and Israel (USrael) and seek their protection (as in mafia protection). The U.S. might bow out and let Israel proceed in its own plans. Israel might be the biggest victor in this calamitous and haunting adventure

Kiss Of Death
By Uri Avnery

Since Judas Iscariot embraced Jesus, Jerusalem has not seen such a kiss.After being boycotted by Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert for years, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) was invited to the official residence of the Prime Minister of Israel two weeks ago. There, in front of the cameras, Olmert embraced him and kissed him warmly on both cheeks. Abbas looked stunned, and froze

3003 Funerals
By Lucinda Marshall

But in our sorrow and outrage, we must not forget that focusing on these 3000 deaths of our own making is a sort of tunnel vision perpetrated and encouraged by the media and administration. The extent of the carnage of this war is far, far greater than the story this number implies

Criminal Prosecution Of Lilly Sought Over Zyprexa
By Evelyn Pringle

California Attorney, Ted Chabasinski, is calling for the criminal prosecution of Eli Lilly executives for hiding the adverse effects of Zyprexa, based in part on articles last month in the New York Times which quote internal company documents that revealed that Lilly knew about the adverse effects for a decade but kept the information hidden

05 January, 2007

Saddam Hussain: From Monster To Martyr
By Patrick Cockburn

It takes real genius to create a martyr out of Saddam Hussain. Here is a man dyed deep with the blood of his own people who refused to fight for him during the United States-led invasion three-and-a-half years ago. His tomb in his home village of Awja is already becoming a place of pilgrimage for the five million Sunni Arabs of Iraq who are at the core of the uprising

The Inevitable End Of Saddam
By Hasan Abu Nimah

The ugly killing of Saddam will do nothing to restore peace to the region, nor will it help Iraq. It is a mark of the savagery that has come to replace politics and diplomacy in international affairs, and of the reduction and humiliation of the Arab nation

US-Ordered Rush Job
By Gwynne Dyer

The American government wanted Saddam Hussein executed for the Dujail killings to avoid revealing its complicity in his bigger crimes

The Spirit Of Tom Paine
By Stephen Lendman

In the spirit of Tom Paine, here's what it comes down to: Step one: save the internet as a free and open space. Keep it out of the hands of corporate media predators wanting to profit from it at our expense and control its content. Step two: address the greater issue of media reform and change to open the major channels of communications to more competition and public participation. Step three: achieve steps one and two and then take on the biggest issue of all - saving the republic

Writing The American Dream
By Mickey Z.

An interview with novelist Mike Palecek

The Slow Suicide Of The West
By Jorge Majfud

The West appears, suddenly, devoid of its greatest virtues, constructed century after century, preoccupied now only with reproducing its own defects and with copying the defects of others, such as authoritarianism and the preemptive persecution of innocents

A Christian 07
By Bill Henderson

Given climate change time lags, path dependence/inertia, and necessary lead time, is the window of opportunity closing for any effective remedial action to save us from severe climate change or even humanity threatening runaway climate change

Communal Riots 2006
By Asghar Ali Engineer

This was comparatively an year with few riots. In fact post-Gujarat India has witnessed fewer riots. Gujarat was indeed another watershed like the one after post-Babri riots. It has been witnessed that after some major riot, subsequent years witness smaller and fewer riots

Blasts Galore: Communalism 2006
By Ram Puniyani

The optimism for the future of democratic values lies in the rising resistance to the assertions of sectarianism, amongst a section of people who are becoming more aware of the threat posed by the communal fascism. Various secular action groups, peace activists and minority rights groups are making their presence felt through their campaigns and deliberations

04 January, 2007

Why The Rush To Execute Saddam?
By Tarek Fatah

With the death of Saddam, the secrets that could have emerged at the Halabja trial will probably never come to light. His death will be a relief to those in America who feared being exposed for having aided Saddam as he murdered so many of his countrymen

The Consequences Of Killing Saddam
By Robert Dreyfuss

In life, even in prison, Saddam inspired many loyalists to fight for his legacy; but his death is certain to spark even fiercer violence, not just from his remaining lieutenants and senior Baath party officials but throughout the broader Sunni Arab community in Iraq. It pushes any hope of Sunni-Shiite reconciliation farther away, inflames passions on both sides and solidifies the image of the United States in Iraq as a bloodthirsty occupier

Saddam Hussein Execution:
A Sectarian Lynching
By Patrick Martin

A video of the final minutes of Saddam Hussein, released to the Arab media late Saturday and widely broadcast around the world, demonstrates that the execution of the former Iraqi president was an act of sectarian vengeance by the Shiite Muslim groups placed in power by the US invasion of the country

A Lynching...
By Baghdad Burning

One of the most advanced countries in the world did not help to reconstruct Iraq, they didn't even help produce a decent constitution. They did, however, contribute nicely to a kangaroo court and a lynching. A lynching shall go down in history as America's biggest accomplishment in Iraq. So who's next? Who hangs for the hundreds of thousands who've died as a direct result of this war and occupation? Bush? Blair? Maliki? Jaffari? Allawi? Chalabi?

'Illegal' Execution Enrages Arabs
By Dahr Jamail & Ali Al-Fadhily

The execution of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein carried out at the start of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha has angered Iraqis and others across the Middle East

Hussein And Ford = Dead Criminals
By Mickey Z.

All you need to know about America is summed up here: Saddam Hussein was "the next Hitler" while Gerald Ford was a "healer."

A Deathly December: Two Satraps And An Emperor
By Niranjan Ramakrishnan

Fazed less and less by irony with each passing day, America lionized Pinochet, upon his death, as a visionary responsible for Chile's resurgence. In Saddam Hussein's case, it welcomed his execution as a vindication of the judicial process. All this, too, while simultaneously heaping praise upon the recently departed President Ford

Truth At Last, While Breaking A U.S.
Taboo Of criticizing Israel
By George Bisharat

Americans owe a debt to former President Jimmy Carter for speaking long hidden but vital truths. His book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid breaks the taboo barring criticism in the United States of Israel's discriminatory treatment of Palestinians. Our government's tacit acceptance of Israel's unfair policies causes global hostility against us

The Road From Minority Appeasement
To Empowerment
By Warisha Farasat

The High Level Justice Sachar Committee was appointed to examine the social, economic and educational status of the Muslims in India. It confirms the uncomfortable fact that comparing indicators of socio economic development, it’s evident that Muslims fare worst than even the SC/STs

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