contributions

In both Vietnam and Iraq, the U.S.’ practice has not matched its claims about the spread of democracy. And to exit Iraq without victory would be a severe blow to its attempt at global primacy and to the illusory self-respect of its people.
ON April 23, 1975, President Gerald Ford announced at Tulane University (New Orleans, Louisiana) that nothing would be gained by any discussion of a war "that is finished as far as America is concerned". Move on, he said, so that the U.S. can "restore (…)

Daniel Barenbolm remembers his playing partner
Edward Said was many things for many people, but in reality, his was a musician’s soul, in the deepest sense of the word.
He wrote about important universal issues such as exile, politics, integration. However, the most surprising thing for me, as his friend and great admirer, was the realisation that, on many occasions, he formulated ideas and reached conclusions through music; and he saw music as a reflection of the ideas that he had (…)

by Piero Bernocchi, Marco Bersani, Raffaella Bolini, Salvatore Cannavò, Roberto Giudici, Maurizio Gubbiotti, Piero Maestri, Alessandra Mecozzi, Felice Mometti, Luciano Muhlbauer, Alfio Nicotra, Anna Pizzo, Franco Russo For a year we worked on organizing the London European Social Forum. We were aware that the situation in Great Britain was complex: a great capacity to mobilize, especially against the war, and a wide social participation didn’t coincide with sets of relationships aimed at (…)

Okay, tell me the truth. Does anyone think that millionaire preppy George W. Bush has a badly tailored shirt or a badly tailored suit in his wardrobe?
The question is important because that’s the lame excuse that Bush and Karl Rove have come up with to try and quiet the media buzz about the bulge under his jacket during the three presidential debates.
After behaving like total cowards for the past two weeks, the White House press corps finally squeaked. In an interview with Bush, ABC’s (…)

By Patrick Graham
As the British Government has approved sending its soldiers north to free up the US Army to attack Falluja, it is necessary to focus on what this coming onslaught will mean for the city and its people.
Falluja is already being bombed daily, as it is softened up for the long-awaited siege. It has been a gruelling year for its people. First, they were occupied by the US Army’s 82nd Airborne, an incompetent group of louts whose idea of cultural sensitivity was kicking a (…)

New York City filed a lawsuit today in an effort to stop the monthly Critical Mass ride. They are asking a judge to grant them an injunction enjoining "all other participants in Critical Mass bicycle rides form engaging in conduct that requires a permit without having first obtained such a permit"
This of course begs the question: does riding a bike require a permit? Critical Mass has been a feature in New York City for nearly a decade, but over the last three months the city’s commitment (…)

By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
In a massive pre-election embarrassment for the Bush administration, nearly 350 tons of lethal explosives - which could be used to trigger nuclear weapons - have vanished from a military facility in Iraq supposed to have been guarded by US troops.
Hardly had the disappearance come to light than John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger, seized on the episode as proof that George Bush was incapable of keeping America safe. The material could (…)

A whistle-blower objected to the government’s Halliburton deals-and says now she’s paying for it By ADAM ZAGORIN & TIMOTHY J. BURGER
In February 2003, less than a month before the U.S. invaded Iraq, Bunnatine (Bunny) Greenhouse walked into a Pentagon meeting and with a quiet comment started what could be the end of her career. On the agenda was the awarding of an up to $7 billion deal to a subsidiary of Houston-based conglomerate Halliburton to restore Iraq’s oil facilities. On hand (…)

by Dan Glaister in Los Angeles
President Bush’s campaign in Florida, which handed him victory in 2000, took a blow yesterday when two of the state’s newspapers failed to endorse his candidacy.
The Orlando Sentinel, which has not endorsed a Democrat for president since Lyndon Johnson, opted for John Kerry.
"This president has utterly failed to fulfil our expectations," an editorial said.
"We turn now to his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, with the belief that he is more (…)

by Victoria Covell This letter, right from the heart, is for the women who have decided not to vote on November 2nd. But I will not speak to why you won’t vote, but to why you will.
In these momentous times, I hear the voices of the individuals of my lineage...family members who 1765 in Boston, MA, organized and supported the Sons and Daughters of Liberty; firebrands of the American Revolution...urging me to make a stand for the three sisters of democracy: liberty, equality, and (…)