Countercurrents Archive March 2006

31 March, 2006

Security Council Bows To US Pressure
By Peter Symonds

After three weeks of behind-the-scenes US bullying, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a statement on Wednesday calling on Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and giving the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 30 days to report back

Nuking Iran?
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

Philip Giarldi, A former CIA officer, in an August 1, 2005 issue of The American Conservative warns that Dick Cheney has issued a request for using tactical nuclear weapons against Iran

The Israeli Elections - What The Hell Has Happened?
By Uri Avnery

The most dramatic and the most boring election campaign in our history has mercifully come to an end. Israel looks in the mirror and asks itself: What the hell has happened?

Cheney And Halliburton Hold Title -
Top Earners In Iraq
By Evelyn Pringle

A study released in June 2005, originating from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), revealed that overall, Halliburton had received roughly 52% of the $25.4 billion that has been paid out to private contractors since the war in Iraq began

9/11 - Eliminating The Impossible
By Sheila Samples

Americans are waking up. They have been told one -- or one hundred -- too many lies. They instinctively know there are only three areas of questions about 9-11 whose answers, however improbable, reveal the truth

On Cheaper Cars In India
By Girish Mishra

The finance minister, P. Chidambaram, has proposed to reduce excise duty on cars from 24 to 16 per cent, i.e., by one third. It is needless to add that this proposal intends to encourage foreign direct investment in the automobile sector, which is at present controlled largely by the foreigners and induce the neo-rich to buy their own vehicles. This will ultimately lead to further worsening of the public transport system

Fake Dalits, Bogus Tribals?
Whither Affirmative Action
By Subhash Gatade

While one is aware of the non filling of seats meant for scheduled castes and scheduled tirbes in various institutions of education and other employement opportunities, the filling of such seats with fake dalits or bogus tribals is a phenomenon which has rarely received the attention it deserves

Agrarian Crisis In Punjab: Groping In Dark
By Jatinder Preet

The exhilaration of green revolution has given way to the despair of suicides.The Indian state of Punjab,which reaped the benefits of the Green Revolution in the 80s has come to fight a failing battle with farmer suicides

30 March, 2006

The New Israel: Plans To Redraw
Border On West Bank
By Donald Macintyre

Election victory gives Ehud Olmert a mandate to implement his controversial plan to redraw border and annex Palestinian territory

Narrow Victory For Kadima In Israeli Elections
By Chris Marsden and Julie Hyland

The victory of Kadima in Israel’s general election has been hailed as a popular mandate for the unilateral redrawing of the country’s borders by 2010 and the creation of a new “political centre-ground.” In reality, the vote reveals a deeply fractured society that is politically, economically and socially unstable

The Suffering Palestinian
Women Undergo Every Day
By Nurit Peled-Elhanan

Speech Nurit Peled-Elhanan delivered at the European Parliament, Strasbourg, on March 8 on the occasion of International Women's Day

France's Politicized Students -
Capitalism Under Fire
By William Pfaff

The protests' ostensible purpose is to force withdrawal of a minor change in this French government's employment policy, but they have taken on a radically different significance. The crowds in the street contest a certain form of capitalist economy that a large part, if not the majority, of French society regards as a danger to national standards of justice and, above all, to "equality"

An "Alliance" Of Violence
By Dahr Jamail

A disturbing trend noticeable in Iraq for quite some time now is that each aggressive Israeli military operation in the occupied territories results in a corresponding increase in the number of attacks on US forces in Iraq

Another Day, Another Sorrow
By Fayrouz In Beaumont

Two years ago, my friend and fellow Iraqi blogger Al-Baghdadi packed his bags and moved his family to Jordan. The least he knew at the time is that sadness will follow him to Jordan. Last June, thugs roaming streets of Baghdad kidnapped and later killed his younger brother. Yet, that wasn't the end of his sorrows

A Fictional Representation Of Our Future

Year 2070 a power point representation

Freshwater Rights
By Arun D Ahluwalia

To be retaining our rights for safe drinking water even within cities, we need to launch a mass communication programme in effective and thoughtful ways to enforce Freshwater Rights. Those who may consider these to be a joke will find themselves on the receiving end not very far off in the future

Apostasy Laws – An Injury To Islam By Muslims
By Mirza A. Beg

It is important and valid to oppose all the encroachments by others on the Muslim lands and Islam, but it is suicidal to use it as an excuse to cover the festering wound intolerance. The more grievous fault is lies within

Which Soldier Will Be The Last
To Die For Bush's Mistake?
By Evelyn Pringle

The war in Iraq is a mistake. No its worse than a mistake. Lets quit pussy-footing around and call it like it is. The war in Iraq is a grand profiteering scheme gone awry and Americans need to take off their blinders and face the truth

29 March, 2006

Uncertainty In Iraq
By Baghdad Burning

“The Ministry of Defense requests that civilians do not comply with the orders of the army or police on nightly patrols unless they are accompanied by coalition forces working in that area.”That’s how messed up the country is at this point

Mosque Massacre Deepens Occupation’s Crisis
By Bill Van Auken

The massacre of as many as 40 unarmed worshipers in a northeast Baghdad mosque Sunday has triggered a political crisis that threatens to accelerate Iraq’s descent into civil war while sharply intensifying the hatred of millions of Iraqis for the three-year-old US occupation of their country

A War In Search Of A Justification
By Joshua Frank

Supporters of Iraq war still looking for a smoking gun

Wage War On Poverty, Not Immigrants
By Jesse Jackson

We can spend billions trying to lock immigrants out and hold those that come in down. Or we can devote energy and resources now wasted on a civil war in Iraq to help lift our neighbors up, gain real trading partners and significantly reduce the misery that drives people from their homes

Hobson's Imperialism And The Desperate
Uncle Sam As Naked As Ever
By Pratyush Chandra

What else do all these abuses demonstrate about the state of the American youth pushed into the war, if not that imperialism necessarily dehumanises its own citizens? They are transformed into Full Metal Jacketed soldiers

Are Israel’s Interests In Americas’ Interests?
By Ghali Hassan

The war against the Iraqi people proves to be a carbon copy of the war on the Palestinian people. In the same way Israel is destroying Palestine, US illegal war on Iraq has destroyed the entire nation. Why a premeditated mass murder of innocent civilians is good for the Jewish people or the American people?

It's The Media, Stupid
By Ramzy Baroud

Israel's decades-long quest to bolster its media image has done wonders as American public opinion either sees Israel as a lone defender of democracy amid uncivilized Arab polities or not at all aware of the facts, basing its inane understanding of Middle East politics on media half truths that see Arabs as irrational, lazy and inherently violent, with the Israeli being the embodiment of the complete antithesis

Galilee Bishop Speaks For Justice,
Friendship And Peace
By Sonia Nettnin

Rev. Dr. Abuna Elias Chacour spoke about the need for security and peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He said people need to take responsibility for one another by befriending people they consider their enemies

Fitzgerald Will Seek New
White House Indictments
By Jason Leopold

The second part of the federal investigation into the leak of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson is nearly complete.Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has started to prepare the paperwork to present to the grand jury seeking an indictment against White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove or National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley

Ball In The Supreme's Court
By William Fisher

The U.S. Supreme Court this week heard arguments in what will almost certainly be one of the landmark cases of the past fifty years. Their decision will determine whether the Supreme Court will continue to assert its authority to review and check the executive’s power to detain and try individuals caught up in the “war on terror”

Introspection, The Key To Understanding
By Mirza A. Beg

It is the duty of truly religious people to raise their voices against the individual terrorism, but even more so the state terrorism, because it is done in our name. Because of the hold of religion on average populace, it becomes imperative to not let our faith be enlisted by the state to harm others

28 March, 2006

Uranium Bombing In Iraq Contaminates Europe
By Bob Nichols

Nine days after the start of the American president's 2003 "shock and awe" uranium bombing campaign in Baghdad, an invisible radioactive uranium oxide gas cloud swept through Britain's towns and countryside and throughout Europe

Iraq Told To Rebuild Itself
By William Fisher

Last week’s announcement that Iraq will now have to pay for its own reconstruction has left some observers wondering whether the yet-to-be-formed government there will be up to the task

Women And War: A First-Hand Perspective
By Sonia Nettnin

At the Chicago-Kent College of Law, Dr. Rashad Zayadan spoke about the situation in Iraq since the US-led invasion over three years ago. She asked a group of lawyers and law students to inform their families and friends about Iraqi suffering because of the war. She talked about justice and peace by ending the military occupation in Iraq

Remembering Jesús
By David Howard

On March 27, 2003, a week after President Bush began the Iraq War, Jesús Suárez, a 20-year-old Marine, went on reconnaissance patrol near Baghdad. He stepped on a cluster bomb and died, becoming one of the first casualties of our catastrophic occupation of Iraq

Reflections On Karachi World Social Forum
By Ingmar Lee

I did get the sense that there are a lot of people there, who unlike me, have some kind of hope that we can turn the world around from the very brink of disaster through the existing political processes, like in the event that the left should prevail against the right, that Peace and Justice will prevail again

America: Made In China
By Dave Eriqat

The results of my very unscientific poll were even more surprising than I expected. Eight or ten items I examined were Made in China. One or two were Made in Taiwan, which I pretty much regard as China. One was Made in Thailand. An electrical extension cord was Made in Indonesia. A single item, a can of compressed air for blowing away dust, was Made in USA

Transdnestra Blockaded By Moldova, Ukraine

Moldovan and Ukrainian authorities have blockaded the small nation of Transdnestria on all borders, bringing about criticism from Russia and requests for humanitarian aid from Transdnestria's leftist government

Sorry, Mr. Prime Minister, Afghanistan
Is Not Our War
By John Chuckman

Afghanistan is not our war, Mr. Prime Minister.We are not threatened by voices in the Middle East opposing American policy, unless you believe one reference in a recording of bin Laden mentioning Canada along with other countries

Geopolitical Audit Of Asian Tsunami
By Arun D. Ahluwalia

Nearly 430 nuclear reactors across the world are all in coastal areas and these cannot always be shut down in time because not all floods can be predicted. Relocation from coastal areas looks impractical but it is unavoidable. It is high time we start focusing on this logistical challenge

Apostasy In Islam - Sharia Vs Islam
By Rehman Faiz

The Abdul Rahman case is considered to be a test for Afghanistan's path towards secularism and democracy, the system strongly promised by president Hamid Karzai

25 March, 2006

Iraq A Move Toward Open Dictatorship
By James Cogan

The announcement on March 19 that steps are being taken to form an extra-parliamentary “National Security Council” (NSC) is a warning that the Bush administration is moving toward an openly dictatorial regime in Iraq

Bush Didn't Bungle Iraq, You Fools
By Greg Palast

On the third anniversary of invasion, we can say the attack and occupation is, indeed, a Mission Accomplished. However, it wasn't America's mission, nor the Iraqis'. It was a Mission Accomplished for OPEC and Big Oil

It's Criminal
By Scott Ritter

Impeachment is the only recourse that can bring a halt to the madness in Iraq, and the insanity being planned in Iran and elsewhere

Death For Apostasy And The Draconian
Shariah Law: Afghanistan And Beyond
By Taj Hashmi

The latest spine chiller from Afghanistan is the revolting news about sentencing one Abdul Rahman to death for converting to Christianity, a capital crime as per the obscurantist Shariah law

The Pollution Gap
By Andy McSmith

Over 70 million Africans and an even greater number of farmers in the Indian sub-continent will suffer catastrophic floods, disease and famine if the rich countries of the world fail to change their habits and radically cut their carbon emissions

Climate Data Hint At Irreversible Rise In Seas
By Andrew C. Revkin

Within the next 100 years, the growing human influence on Earth's climate could lead to a long and irreversible rise in sea levels by eroding the planet's vast polar ice sheets, according to new observations and analysis by several teams of scientists

Fiddling As The Earth Burns
By Captain Paul Watson

This week the United Nations issued a 92 page Biodiversity Outlook Report. Like every other U.N. previously released report, this warning will be predictably filed and ignored. The report states that humans are responsible for the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs and urges nations to make unprecedented extra efforts to reach a goal of slowing losses by 2010

Israeli Consensus Shows Its True Colors
By Jonathan Cook

Kadima appears to be on a winning streak. Separation of the crudest and most ruthless kind is now, as the polls all too clearly demonstrate, precisely what the Israeli consensus demands

India’s Pro-Investor Plans For Urban Renewal
By Jake Skeers

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launched an “urban renewal” program last month designed to attract private investment to 63 of India’s largest and most important cities. However, the plan is not directed at ameliorating the terrible conditions facing ordinary working people, but at satisfying the long-standing demands of business

Christian Country With Huge Aggressive Military?
By Bill Henderson

The peak of oil production should also be the peak of globalization and almost certainly the once expanding ethical framework will contract or relocalize, probably to sub-nation state locality

Russia Plays China Energy Card
By Vladimir Radyuhin

Russia has made a new move to assert itself as a global energy broker and make other countries play by its rules. On a visit to China this week, President Vladimir Putin pledged to build two natural gas pipelines to China, as well as jointly develop Russian offshore gas fields

24 March, 2006

Glacial Earthquakes Warn Of Global Warming
By Steve Connor

Dramatic new evidence has emerged of the speed of climate change in the polar regions which scientists fear is causing huge volumes of ice to melt far faster than predicted

Australian Web Site Forced To Shut Down
By Richard Phillips

One week before the third anniversary of the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq, the Australian government forced the closure of a satirical web site that powerfully exposed several key lies told by Prime Minister John Howard to justify participation in the US-led war

War Making 101 - A User's Manual
By Stephen Lendman

What's at stake is nothing less than saving the republic (again what's left of it) and our sacred Constitutional rights. Unless enough of us are willing to fight for both and do it soon, there may be nothing left to fight for

The War Lovers
By John Pilger

For me, one of the more odious characteristics of Blair, and Bush, and Clinton, and their eager or gulled journalistic court, is the enthusiasm of sedentary, effete men (and women) for bloodshed they never see, bits of body they never have to retch over, stacked morgues they will never have to visit, searching for a loved one

Democratizing The World: One Torture
Victim At A Time
By Jason Miller

Analysis of the Long, Repulsive History of the United States Inflicting Torture on Its "Suspected Enemies" (in Conjunction with a Review of A Question of Torture by Alfred W. McCoy)

Israel Announces Plans To Annex
More Palestinian Land
By Jean Shaoul

Ehud Olmert, Israel’s acting prime minister, whose Kadima party is expected to win the national election on March 28, recently announced that Israel would unilaterally redraw its borders by 2010, annexing Palestinian land without negotiations with the Palestinians

A Disgusting Exercise
By Uri Avnery

Many Israelis believe that the Jericho action was a brilliant exercise. I found it simply loathsome

23 March, 2006

US Nuclear Hypocrisy
By Doug Lorimer

While pushing for international sanctions against Iran for pursuing its legal right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to research the production of nuclear fuel (low-enriched uranium), US President George Bush has agreed to provide India with access to US civilian nuclear technology, even though India has nuclear weapons and is not a signatory to the NPT

Against The Indo-US Nuclear Deal
By Sharbani Banerji

If India goes the US way, we would soon see Indian Universities actively participating in the research and production of nukes, just like the Universities in US, and in the near future, we would be teaching students from other countries who would come to study here, to do the same. Can that be our goal?

US Media Bias: Covering Israel/Palestine
By Remi Kanazi

I understand why The New York Times and CNN reports the way it does. They are media hacks run by the corporate dollar. Injustice is injustice. Murder is murder. While Palestinian suffering goes on unreported children like Ragheb Al-Masri remain dead and forgotten, and the American press remains biased and forgiven

The Power Of Saying No
By Jeff Halper

The vote for Hamas was not a closing of the door at all, but a rational, intentional and powerful statement of non-cooperation in a political process that is only leading to Palestinian imprisonment. Hamas, if anything, stands for steadfastness, sumud, the refusal to submit

Depleted Uranium For Dummies
By Irving Wesley Hall

More than 1,000 tons of Depleted Uranium have been used in Afghanistan and more than 3,000 tons in Iraq, the results of which will affect victims generations to come

The Democratic Quandary -
War Opposition or Party Allegiance?
By Joshua Frank

Can you really oppose the occupation of Iraq and still call yourself a Democrat? I’m not so sure. The majority of Washington Dems continue to applaud Bush’s invasion of Iraq as well as his debauched crusade against terror. A few antiwar voices have echoed though Democratic corridors, but none have produced any genuine shifts in ideology, let alone direction. Nor will they

Nepal And Venezuela
By Pratyush Chandra

Chavez-led Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela apart, the Communist Party (Maoist)-led movement in Nepal – popularly known as People’s War – is undoubtedly the most significant popular struggle for freedom and democracy in the world today

The Oxycops
By William Fisher

Wheelchairbound multiple sclerosis patient Richard Paey is serving 25 years in a Florida prison for “trafficking” 1/2 gram of OxyContin, even though the prosecutor concedes that Paey never sold any of his medications. In prison, he now receives more pain-killing drugs than he was convicted of having

Punjab State Policy On Organic Farming
By Umendra Dutt

The Indian State of Punjab is going to have a state policy on organic farming very soon. The Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh has announced this in current session of the assembely.Though announcements made are always political but, policies always drafted without any political vision.This lack of vision takes policies always away from the very people on whose name and welfare the policies were declared

22 March, 2006

The Nuclear Madness Of George Bush
By Jon Lamb

On February 6, US President George Bush confirmed his intention to commit the US to a program of reprocessing nuclear fuel. Touted as a key measure in the ''Advanced Energy Initiative’‘, outlined in Bush’s January State of the Union speech, the plutonium extracted from spent fuel is allegedly to be used as a fuel source for a new generation of nuclear power plants across the US and elsewhere

Bush Says US Troops To Remain In Iraq Indefinitely
By Jerry White

At a White House press conference Tuesday morning President George W. Bush suggested that the US would continue the occupation of Iraq for years, if not decades, to come

The Iraq War: Three Years On
By Robert Fisk

Even today the occupation powers tell awesome lies. Democracy is taking hold when the "Iraqi" government controls only a few acres of Baghdad greensward. The insurgency is being crushed when 40,000 armed Iraqis are ripping into the greatest army on Earth; freedom is taking hold when thousands of Iraqis are dying each month

Operation Swarm Of Lies
By Dahr Jamail

Operation Swarm of Lies is part of yet another Cheney administration media blitz to put a happy face on this horrendously failed misadventure in Iraq. All too aware of the plummeting US public support for the war effort, and with approval ratings for the so-called president at an all time low, Bush had been sent out on the campaign trail to apply fresh gloss to the tattered sheen of the US occupation of Iraq

India And UK-US Bush Wars
By Gideon Polya

On the occasion of the Third Anniversary of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq it is timely to note the human and economic cost of the Bush Wars – 2.7 million excess deaths and a cost to the US of US$1-2 trillion

The Jericho Prison Raid
By Ramzy Baroud

Could it be possible that the Israeli army raid on a Jericho prison on March 14 was done without careful coordination between Israel, the United States and Britain?

Woodward's Plame-Leak Deep Throat
By Jason Leopold

White House officials who are sympathetic to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby say "official one" is former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. But numerous senior officials at the State Department, the CIA, and the National Security Council have said that "official one" is National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley

WSF Towards Karachi And Nairobi
By Tord Björk

WSF is built on an intriguing balance to be able to practically and politically organise the huge events and the process it carries forward. Whether this cooperation will be able to become relevant to the masses participating in international protests against oppression and to politicize the global polarisation between rich and poor is still an open question

Give Us Your Huddled Masses - Or Not
By William Fisher

The mantra of just about everyone who speaks on this subject has become “America’s immigration system is broken and must be fixed”. But that’s about where the agreement ends. As to what do about the problem, there are almost as many “solutions” as there are immigrants

20 March, 2006

Three Years Of Occupation And Bloodshed
By Baghdad Burning

Three years later and the nightmares of bombings and of shock and awe have evolved into another sort of nightmare. The difference between now and then was that three years ago, we were still worrying about material things- possessions, houses, cars, electricity, water, fuel… It’s difficult to define what worries us most now

Death Squad Democracy
By Mike Whitney

The notion that Iraq is now consumed by civil war depends on a number of assumptions that are inherently false

Libby Attorney Identify CIA Officials In Plame Leak
By Jason Leopold

The identity of intelligence officials who are thought to have passed information about covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson to Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter"

America's Best-Kept Secret
By Robert S. Becker

“War is the health of the state” declared Randolph Bourne and our “state” is capitalism and New York is the capital

The Age Of Anxiety Redux
By William Fisher

One of the public’s responses to that post 9/11 environment is popping pills. Since that dreadful day, there has been a rapid and dramatic increase in sales of anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, and sleep aid drugs

Verichips: An Invasion Of Privacy?
By Stephanie Puder

Although it sounds like science fiction, microchips meant to be implanted into human beings are here, they are being marketed world wide, and have even been approved by the FDA, and yes people have already begun to get them implanted

Some Thoughts About Jesus,The Church,
My Country, And The War
By Doug Soderstrom

And I am convinced our country is under attack (not from without, but rather from within) by that of a rising tide of fascism threatening to consume everything that we, as a nation, once held dear, a neoconservative campaign eerily similar to that which occurred in Germany as Adolph Hitler rose to power

Humanity Suffers The Savagery Of The American
Empire’s Post 9/11 Worldview
By Jason Miller

It is easy to lapse into deep cynicism, but our democracy is on life support, not dead. If We the People exercise what is left of our Constitutional rights, there is a chance we can reclaim our nation. If we don’t, we have thrown in the towel and lost

Why Do India's Dalits Hate Gandhi?
By Thomas C. Mountain

As Dalits organize themselves and begin to challenge caste based rule in India, it behooves all people of good conscience to start to find out what the Dalits and their leadership are fighting for. A good place to start is with M.K. Gandhi and why he is so hated by Dalits in India

17 March, 2006

Are You About To Nuke Iran?
By Ingmar Lee

The ramp-up rhetoric to an Iran attack now issuing from the White House is reaching an all too familiar fever pitch. Can anybody doubt that BushCo. is preparing to attack Iran? This attack may well include a nuclear component for which they have been preparing. Two weeks ago, British and American physicists detonated a brand new kind of nuclear blast, "Operation Krakatoa" in Nevada

Siege Of Jericho Prison: US, Britain
Complicit In Israeli War Crime
By Bill Van Auken

The lawless attack launched against the Palestinian prison in Jericho Tuesday marks a further provocative escalation in the offensive launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in the wake of last January’s election victory for Hamas

Coalition Mobilizes For Man’s
Rights In US Courts
By Sonia Nettnin

A US citizen for almost 30 years and a resident of Bridgeview, IL Salah has been charged in both the State of Israel and the US for allegedly funneling money to the Palestinian Occupied Territories and into Israel for Hamas military operations in 1993. The US prosecutors want to use the 1993 Hebrew statements signed by Salah while he was in Israeli custody as evidence. Salah’s lawyers have filed a motion to suppress the statements. They say Salah was tortured into signing the 1993 confessions and that the confessions are in a language Salah does not understand

Media Lies And Hypocrisy In
Wake Of Milosevic’s Death
By Bill Van Auken

The death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in his jail cell at the Hague on Saturday has unleashed a torrent of historical distortions and outright lies that echo the propaganda campaign waged more than seven years ago to justify the US-NATO war against the country

16 March, 2006

The US Gulag Prison System
By Stephen Lendman

The US prison system, with no exaggeration about as shockingly abusive as the gulag abroad. It qualifies for that label by its size alone - more than 2.1 million as of June, 2004 and growing larger by about 900 new inmates every week. Blacks (mostly poor and disadvantaged) especially are affected. While they make up just 12.3% of the population, they account for half the prison population, and their numbers there have grown fivefold in the last 25 years. Hispanics (also poor) account for another 15%

Israel's Attack On Jericho: Palestinians
Remain Without Protection
By Ali Abunimah and Arjan El Fassed

The Israeli attack on Jericho and kidnap of a number of Palestinian prisoners, including the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) demonstrates once again the fiction that there is a functioning Palestinian "government" in the occupied territories

India: One Country, Two Worlds
By Girish Mishra

Two reports have appeared simultaneously. One report has been carried by the American magazine Forbes and the other by the German journal Der Spiegel’s English version. These two reports underline that India, despite being one country, is getting divided into two worlds, which may have disastrous consequences

Terrorists Or Resistance Fighters:
America’s Dilemma In Iraq
By Gerald Rellick

But now after three years, and the recognition that the war was a fraud, theses brave soldiers in Iraq know the difference: 70- 75% of them want the war to end and want to come home to their families rather than fight George Bush’s personal war

President Bush’s Ken-Doll Performance
An Insult To Women
By Lucinda Marshall

President Bush’s fawning attempt to frame himself as a champion of women is not only delusional, his remarks on International Women’s Day were an affront to women everywhere

How To Lose Friends And Encourage Extremists
By William Fisher

When this year's Human Rights report appeared last week, I e-mailed it to six of these old friends and asked them for their reactions "off-the-record". They had a lot to say, but it all came down to this consensus: The United States had forfeited its right to report on abuses committed by others by committing its own, failing to correct them, and then holding no one in authority accountable

With Friends Like These
By Sheila Samples

Most Americans are critically aware of the importance of security in the wake of 9-11. But with best friends and partners like the United Arab Emirates, the Carlyle Group and Halliburton controlling the house -- we have little time to worry about enemies at the gate

15 March, 2006

Iran: Where Do We Go From Here?
By Mike Whitney

The US administration knew from the beginning that the UN Security council would not support sanctions or military action. The intention was simply to increase suspicion about Iran’s nuclear programs and mobilize public support for a war

Deja Vu All Over Iran
By Robert Dreyfuss

In the past few weeks, we’ve seen the Bush administration create a brand-new Office of Iranian Affairs at the State Department, which looks suspiciously like a step toward creating the Iraq war planning office at the Pentagon called the Office of Special Plans. No word yet on whether the Department of Defense plans to create a parallel Office of Iranian Affairs, but it can’t be far behind. So that’s déjà vu, for sure

The Middle East Muddle:Is Peace Still Possible?
By Bernard Weiner

The run-up to the impending war against Iran -- and make no mistake, the foundations are being laid daily by the Bush Administration -- bears a remarkable resemblance to the propaganda barrage before the U.S. attacked Iraq

Mass Starvation And Democracy Prevention
By Ghali Hassan

Nothing has displeased the US and its allies more than free and fair democratic elections. The recent Palestinian elections are just a case in point. While Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections freely and fairly, the next step for the US, Israel and their European vassals is to demonise Hamas, undermine democracy and continue the violence and the destruction of the Palestinian society

Accepting Reality: America Lost The War In Iraq
By Remi Kanazi

America has lost the war in Iraq. The chance for victory vanished long ago with the hearts, minds, arms, legs and lives of the Iraqi people. The insurgence hasn't won; rather the American government never obtained the formula to win

Remembering A Valiant Journalist: Atwar Bahjat
By Ramzy Baroud

According to Reporters Without Borders, a total of 82 journalists and media assistants have been killed since the start of US war on Iraq and the subsequent invasion and occupation in March 2003. Seven of those were killed this year alone. One of the seven is Al-Arabiya correspondent, Atwar Bahjat, a young Iraqi journalist and most certainly one of the best

US India Alliance And Global Equations
By Ram Puniyani

The changing dynamics of development is seeing that China is coming up strong and fast as a potential super power. US will undertake every possible move to create and alliance which is formidable and can take on the other superpower in case it comes in the way of US designs on the political and economic control of the World. The new found love of US for India is based on this practical calculation

14 March, 2006

Arctic Sea Ice Fails To Re-form
By Steve Connor

Sea ice in the Arctic has failed to re-form for the second consecutive winter, raising fears that global warming may have tipped the polar regions in to irreversible climate change far sooner than predicted

Bush's Nuclear Madness
By Stephen M. Osborn

The latest information I have had from the followers of Bush is that he has demanded and received permission to use nuclear “bunker busters” in Iran in a preemptive strike. As a nuclear veteran I can affirm that this is absolute madness

Iraq: Permanent US Colony
By Dahr Jamail

US policymakers have replaced the Cold War with the Long War for Global Empire and Unchallenged Military Hegemony. This is the lens through which we must view Iraq to better understand why there are permanent US bases there

Bush’s Roadblock At The Security Council
By Mike Whitney

The Bush administration has no proof that Iran has violated the terms of its treaty. The IAEA has no proof that Iran has violated the terms of its treaty. The UN Security Council has no proof that Iran has violated the terms of its treaty. The whole fiasco has been orchestrated to deceive the public and pave the way for war

From Green Beret to Peace Activist:
William T. Hathaway and His Books
By Daniela Rommel

By overcoming his Special Forces indoctrination, William T. Hathaway became a defector from the warrior corps and an opponent of militarism. His books shine light into our civilization's heart of darkness and show us ways out of the violence

Quoth The Craven Evermore
By William Fisher

For those who enjoy the political theater of the absurd, the Dubai Ports World soap opera was the only show in town last week.And it was a hoot! The actors came straight out of Central Casting

13 March, 2006

The British Companies Making
A Fortune Out Of Iraq
By Robert Verkaik

British businesses have profited by at least £1.1bn since coalition forces toppled Saddam Hussein three years ago, the first comprehensive investigation into UK corporate investment in Iraq has found

Iraq: A Cluster Of Torture Prisons
By Ghali Hassan

The $20 billion initially appropriated by the US administration to “reconstruct” Iraq were a gift to US corporations and the Bush cronies. The only visible construction in Iraq today is the rise in the construction of prisons

The End Of Civilization
By Dave Eriqat

I believe that what we’re witnessing today is the inception of a titanic and protracted competition for survival: between countries, between civilizations, between governments and their people. Moreover, I believe the Bush administration is the first to recognize this competitive future, which explains its fundamentally different – seemingly feckless – behavior compared to past administrations

Gandhi In California
By David Howard

On March 12, 2006, the seventy-sixth anniversary of the Salt March, as the world suffers the intended and unintended consequences of a hideous war of aggression against Iraq, Latino conscientious objectors and parents of fallen soldiers begin their own two-week march of nonviolent protest

Bush's Ports Affair
By Pratyush Chandra

The rhetoric war around the ports deal allows the US rulers to stabilise their global hegemony and imperialism - by homogenising the domestic citizenry by heightening fear and paranoia, while "reaching out to the world", assuring the world that they are conscious of the "white man's burden"

Western Double Standards And
The New United Nations Human Rights Council
By Anthony Ravlich

While the United States is holding up the formation of the new United Nations Human Rights Council because it wishes to exclude States with poor human rights records the double standards of many Western democracies are overlooked

The European Union Dilemma: Israel,
Palestine And The Geneva Initiative
By Am Johal

The European Union, as well as other parties, will need to utilize their economic arrangements with Israel and the Palestinian Authority to meet the stated obligations both nations have committed themselves to under the Roadmap to Peace process and earlier agreements

Move Over Intelligent Design,
Here Comes Bhartiya Creationism
By Ra Ravishankar

A fictional account of a tete-a-tete between Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, the spiritual leader of the Texas-based Vedic Foundation and a Hindutva activist

11 March, 2006

The 48 Hour Media-blitz For War With Iran
By Mike Whitney

In the last 48 hours all the major players in the Bush administration have issued statements warning of the impending danger of Iran

What The Iran 'Nuclear Issue'Is Really About
By Chris Cook

The realpolitik is of course that those in power in the US and Iran have the reason they give - and the real reason - for what they do: and for the US, the real reason is and has been for many years energy security above any other consideration

New World Relationships
By Noam Chomsky

The prospect that Europe and Asia might move toward greater independence has troubled US planners since World War II. The concerns have only risen as the ‘tripolar order’ — Europe, North America and Asia — has continued to evolve. Every day, Latin America, too, is becoming more independent

Realpolitik Gone Nuclear
By Joseph Grosso

It appears that the Bush administration is covering its bets in one of the world's hottest spots with two nuclear-armed states who have already been near the brink of nuclear war and have fought three other wars since their inception

The Nonsense Of Nation-Building In Afghanistan
By John Chuckman

Canadians today are asking what is the purpose of the mission in Afghanistan. The answers offered include that empty term, nation-building

Kartoon- Krieg: Politics As War By Other Means
By Lila Rajiva

The rash decision to publish the cartoons of Mohammed cannot be defended as freedom of speech for a simple reason - these cartoons are not speech but acts. Acts of provocation and belligerence. They are the opening - or perhaps continuing - rounds of war

Advani's (W)rath Yatra For
National (Dis)integration
By V.B.Rawat

Lal Krishna Advani is back to what he has been an 'expert' for the past 15 years. After the bomb blasts at the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi, he hurriedly organized a press meet and informed the hungry journalists that he along with Rajnath Singh would embark on 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' (India integration Yatra) against the policies of the United Progressive Alliance government which have resulted in the blast at Varanasi

10 March, 2006

The Secret War Against The Defenseless
People Of West Papua
By John Pilger

Indonesia's brutal occupation of West Papua, a vast, resource-rich province -- stolen from its people, like East Timor -- is one of the great secrets of our time.An estimated 100,000 Papuans, or 10 percent of the population, have been killed by the Indonesian military. This is a fraction of the true figure, according to refugees

Rene Preval's Impossible Mission
By Stephen Lendman

The way things are now, Rene Preval may be lucky just to stay alive and keep his sanity and blood pressure under control. On day one in office he'll be virtually alone trying to govern a country still run by criminals under the aegis and with full support of the US

US Pushes For Larger UN
Intervention In Western Sudan
By Brian Smith and Chris Talbot

The newfound interest of the Bush administration in western Sudan has nothing to do with humanitarianism, however, but is bound up with the geo-political interests of US imperialism. There is growing concern about China’s influence in the region. For several years the main recipient of oil from Sudan, China has now increased investment and is developing its political relations with Khartoum

Stopwatch Ticking For Darfur
By David Morse

Joey Cheek, the 26-year-old speedskater from Greensboro, N.C. shattered the world's record, when he streaked through the men's 500-meter race in 34 seconds.But when he stood up to receive his gold medal, Cheek accomplished something just as extraordinary. He broke the silence surrounding the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan

See Dick Loot
By Dahr Jamail

Halliburton and its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) have been making hay in the burning Iraqi sun for years now. It is, of course, no coincidence that the man sitting as vice president played a key role with his influence in obtaining the lion's share of contracts in Iraq for the company he was CEO of prior to his self-appointed position. Yet none of this is news

Middle East Democracy And The Hamas Factor
By Ramzy Baroud

While Israel sees little harm in making Palestinians a 'whole lot thinner' as a result of its economic sanctions policy, the US' rash response in chastising Palestinians will likely scar US credibility, or whatever remains of it

How the Green Party Slays Their Own
By Joshua Frank

An Interview with John Murphy

M.S. Golwalkar: Conceptualizing Hindutva Fascism
By Ram Puniyani

Beginning this twenty Fourth February, RSS combine has undertaken programs in different parts of the country to celebrate the centenary year of RSS second Sarsnghchalak (supreme dictator), Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, known in Sangh circles as Shri Guruji. What are going to be the implications of this celebration?

09 March, 2006

CIA Leak Path: Cheney, Libby, Woodward
By Jason Leopold

In mid-June 2003, when former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's criticism against the White House's use of pre-war Iraq intelligence started to make national headlines, Vice President Dick Cheney told his former chief of staff and close confidant I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to leak classified intelligence data on Iraq's nuclear ambitions to a legendary Washington journalist in order to undercut the charges made against the Bush administration by the former ambassador

Lying And Deception As The Government Policy
By Ramzy Baroud

What is even more imprudent than the invasion of Iraq and the 'war on terror' is the Bush administration's determination to interpret the tragedy of that stricken nation in a way that lays blame on just about everyone else but itself. And yet this is just one thread within an elaborate web of lies and deceit initiated by the Bush administration years ago

Bush Is Herding Cats In The American
Jewish community
By William Fisher

On the heels of the surprise victory of Hamas in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, President George W. Bush is discovering just how difficult it is to try to herd a bunch of cats

Dick Cheney's Time-Release Poison
By Irving Wesley Hall

Defense Secretary Cheney first used depleted uranium munitions in the 1991 Gulf War. Result? Almost 2/3rds of the vets are sick. Will this happen to the troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq? Read on and judge for yourself

Liberty - Use It Or Lose It
By Niranjan Ramakrishnan

If we are really serious about our outrage, we can start by helping roll the impeachment ball up the (Capitol) Hill: Rep. Conyers has a resolution calling for a select committee to explore impeachment, complete with subpeona powers. Twenty eight House members have signed on. Has yours? Why not knock on your Representative's door to ask that he join Conyers in this effort?

Satan Is Resting Easy: The Power Of
Christ "Propels" Them
By Jason Miller

Remember, Big Brother is watching, listening and reading. In light of the illegal surveillance they are conducting at the behest of their incompetent, rogue, and murderous Commander-in-Chief, I am dedicating this essay to the NSA

Indo-US Nuclear Deal- Some Unexplored Angles
By Buddhi Kota Subbarao

Indo-US civilian nuclear collaboration may ultimately lead to promoting US business interests and the inevitable media spin would make it much more difficult for the people of India to guard themselves against nuclear safety violations

Pesticide Lobby Launches Offensive
On Environmental Groups
By Umendra Dutt

The Pesticide Industry has now gone on an all out war cry, not against the Pests, as is their mandate but against public science, concerns of health and the ensuing public opinion that is growing against their products

Best Bakery Jessica Lal And The Cake Of Justice
By Sorit Gupto

It is just a mere coincidence that nine persons has convicted in Best bakery and nine has been acquitted in the Jessica lal murder case but the recent judgments on both the cases presents some typical characteristics of the criminal justice system of India

04 March, 2006

Bush Visit To Pakistan Will Intensify
Musharraf's Crisis
By Peter Symonds

US President George Bush arrived in Pakistan last night amid heavy security and a series of anti-US protests in cities across the country. While the main purpose of the one-day trip is to help shore up the shaky regime of President Pervez Musharraf, the Bush administration is directly responsible for much of the political turmoil confronting the Pakistani military strongman

03 March, 2006

The Reality Of India-US Nuclear Deal
By Binu Mathew

The nuclear deal with India is not a benevolent gift from the emperor to a client state. It was a clever move to put India out of the competition for fossil fuels

Bush Secures Nuclear Accord With India
By Keith Jones

Unquestionably, there are economic motivations behind the agreement. For one thing, the US nuclear industry hopes to cash in

Somebody Is Trying To Provoke A Civil War In Iraq
By Robert Fisk & Tony Jones

I'd like to know what the Americans are doing to get at the people who are trying to provoke the civil war. It seems to me not very much. Something is going wrong with the Administration

The Brinkmanship Of Energy Geopolitics
By Mathew Maavak

The Persian Gulf crisis can indeed escalate into an extreme, maximalist scenario. The decisive factor - as always - depends on the energy reservoir of the protagonists

Details Emerge In Latest Round Of
Plame Emails ‘Found’ By The White House
By Jason Leopold

The White House confirmed Tuesday that it recently turned over to Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald 250 pages of emails from the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney related to covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, a vocal critic of the Bush administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence

Crisis And Disintegration Of The Arroyo
Fascist Regime In The Philippines
By E. San Juan, Jr.

The end of the Arroyo fascist regime is fast approaching. It is bound to implode in one big catastrophic upheaval that will unleash violence and murderous abuses symptomatic of the decay of the bankrupt neocolonial system

Melting Antarctic Raising Sea Levels
By Steve Connor

More evidence has emerged indicating the Antarctic ice sheet is melting so fast it is contributing to a rise in global sea levels

Wheat Imports: Will India Reverse To
A Ship To Mouth Existence?
By Vandana Shiva

On February 2, 2006, a mere two months before the rabi harvest of wheat, the government announced duty-free import of five lakh tonnes of wheat

02 March, 2006

Widespread Protests Against Bush's India Visit
By Nirmala George

Tens of thousands of Indians waving black and white flags and chanting 'Death to Bush!' rallied on Wednesday in New Delhi to protest a visit by US President George W Bush.More protests are planned for today

Bush In Pakistan
By Faheem Hussain

Tomorrow the most hated man in the world will be in town and will be welcomed by our President

Son Of Guantanamo
By William Fisher

Legal, diplomatic, religious and human rights authorities are struggling to be heard on what many consider to be the "Son of Guantánamo" -- a secret prison in Afghanistan where the U.S. military is said to have been holding some 500 "enemy combatants" for as long as three or four years without access to lawyers

American Youth Counter Recruitment
By Sonia Nettnin

The militarization of America’s youth is the U.S. military’s strategic device for recruitment into the armed forces

Iraq: A Solution To Nothing
By Scott Ritter

As the United States and Iraq approach the third anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, it might do all Americans well to take some time out and reflect on how we got where we are, as well as where we are going in Iraq and the Middle East as a whole

Caught In The Crossfire
By Mike Whitney

It’s going to be "militia-rule" for quite a while in the new Iraq. America can either withdraw now or prepare to get caught in the crossfire

United Iraqi Protests Against US
Divide And Rule Policy
By Dahr Jamail and Simon Assaf

The recent killings in Iraq are not due to entrenched divisions between Sunni and Shia. Dahr Jamail and Simon Assaf explain what’s fuelling hatred – and the battle for unity

Atwar Bahjat: A believer In Iraq
By May Ying Welsh

A tribute to Atwar Bahjat, the Al-Arabiya correspondent who was shot and killed in Samarra the day al-Askari shrine in Samarra was destroyed

Sponge Bath Nation
By M Rajshekhar

The Indian state of Maharashtra has taken a step towards using water more sustainably. Will the rest of India follow? Unlikely

Kosovo Since 1999
By Am Johal

Seven questions with Kosovo democracy activist Delfin Pllana

Nepal’s Deep Crisis
By David Seddon

The scene is set for a deepening crisis as the Maoists and the conservative forces renew the armed conflict that has torn Nepal apart. The political parties appear unable to develop a coherent and effective strategy to bypass the palace and create the basis for a return to an inclusive, democratic regime

Execution Debacle:Two Families Suffer On
By Helen Keeler

It’s fair to say that no one enjoyed the chaos that ensued from the scheduled execution of Michael Morales last month. Two families watched the unfolding events with fraught emotions, hardly able to take it in

01 March, 2006

Bush In pursuit Of Key strategic
Partnership With India
By Keith Jones

US President George W. Bush travels to South Asia this week with the aim of cementing a strategic and “global” partnership with India. According to his aides, the trip is among the most important that Bush has made in his entire presidency

Ahead Of Bush’s Visit, Chirac Pushes
French Interests In India
By Sarath Kumara

A three-day visit by French President Jacques Chirac to India last week highlighted the growing competition of the major powers for influence in New Delhi

The India That Can (No Longer) say No
By Niranjan Ramakrishnan

Today, when India is an expanding power, exporting not just food but steel, with rising incomes, foreign acquisitions and a nuclear bomb, she is often viewed as nothing more than 'a country with a middle class of 400 million'. And the moral voice? it hasn't been heard from in years

Iraqi Blogs Tell Of Violence, Hope
By Firas Al-Atraqchi

A new force in Iraq news coverage is coming of age – the Iraqi blogosphere

Iraq: The Wages Of Chaos
By Mark LeVine

As Iraq spirals deeper into chaos and perhaps civil war in the wake of the attack on the Golden Mosque, critics of the US-led invasion and occupation will no doubt refocus attention on the role of Israel in the march to war and the conduct of the occupation

Imperial Conquest, Torture, And
A Little Matter Of Genocide
By Jason Miller

Americans are not an evil lot, but we are culpable for having allowed a string of truly despicable human beings to perpetrate the Iraqi genocide that has been taking place since the Reagan Regime. The monstrous psychopaths now infesting the White House have taken malevolence to a whole new level. Let us remind ourselves that The White House belongs to us and that Bush serves us

The Water Wars
By Ben Russell and Nigel Morris

Across the world, they are coming: the water wars. From Israel to India, from Turkey to Botswana, arguments are going on over disputed water supplies that may soon burst into open conflict

Feinstein Family War Profits
By Joshua Frank

Senator Dianne Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, could well be called the Democrats' Daddy Warbucks. He's scored bundles from war contracts. He has recently purchased a $16.5 million crib in San Francisco and along with his wife has handed hundreds of thousands of dollars over to fellow Democrats

Citizen Healer, Do No Harm
By David Howard

March 1, International Death Penalty Abolition Day

Let Us Consider Repossession Of What Is ours!
By Ted Bohne

This is a call to action. It is addressed to every American who can read, most especially Veterans of any sort. We can and must now consider the option of relieving the regime of George Walker Bush of his command. This includes ALL of his associates. We cannot, and MUST not let this situation degenerate any further

Eco-Crisis In Punjab And Governmental-Toxicity
By Umendra Dutt

This is election year in Punjab . Therefore, it is indeed very useful time for the civil society. The society must ask questions to every political party about their agenda and plans for environmental health crisis and sustainable life systems in Punjab

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