contributions

by Stephen Soldz
[Talk delivered July 22, 2004 to Roslindale Neighbors for Peace and Justice]
After invading Iraq, the leader of the conquering army proclaimed:
"Our armies do not come in your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators ... I am commanded to invite you to participate in the management of your own civil affairs."
Was this George Bush, Tony Blair, Paul Bremer, or Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez? No, it was conquering British General Stanley Maude, in 1917.1,2 (…)

By Roseanne Gerin
A recent Army inspector general’s report on prisoner abuse by the U.S. military found that more than a third of the interrogators supplied in Iraq by defense contractor CACI International Inc. had not been trained in military interrogation methods and policies.
But the report also concluded that CACI met the military’s statement of work, which did not require military interrogation training as a prerequisite for employment.
The Arlington, Va., company said it was (…)

At least 10 families a day are leaving Samarrah, 120 km from the Iraqi capital Baghdad, because of rising tension between US forces and insurgents there, according to humanitarian agencies and religious leaders.
Iraqi Red Crescent workers are stockpiling food and medical supplies in Baghdad to take to Samarrah if fighting breaks out, Mazin Abdullah Salloum, vice-president of the Iraqi Red Crescent, told IRIN in Baghdad, adding that officials over the weekend made contingency plans to deal (…)

By Kate Kelland
Lawyers for six Iraqi families who allege their relatives were killed by British troops in post-war Iraq take their case to the High Court this week to argue that human rights laws were breached.
The cases involve five Iraqi civilians who were killed in shootings while going about their daily lives after the official end of the U.S.-led war on Iraq in May 2003.
One further case involves the death of Baha Mousa, an Iraqi former hotel receptionist who died in British (…)

The ’Anybody But Bush’ movement is morally and politically bankrupt
by Justin Raimondo
Antiwar activists who thought they were going to be able to communicate their views to Democratic party delegates in Boston this week are in for an unpleasant surprise:
"Protesters for the next few days will be enclosed in a shadowy, closed-off piece of urban streetscape just over a block away. The maze of overhead netting, chain link fencing and razor wire couldn’t be further in comfort from the (…)

Author "Krzysztof Kęciek"
Translated by Piotr Chmielarz
Translation of article from polish newspaper „Przegląd"
Nr 30 (239) 25 July 2004 article is titled in polish language "W co gra Izrael?Under title "Hundreds of Mossad agents operate in Kurdistan- say eminent American journalist. Jewish commandos from super secret formation Mistaravim, learns Kurdish fighters in north Iraq. Mossad agents sometimes they imitate businessmen’s penetrates from Iraqis Kurdistan to Syria and Iran they (…)

The kidnappers of seven foreign truckers stayed a threat to start executing their hostages, as insurgent violence claimed at least seven lives across the country and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi blamed the US-led invasion for bringing terrorism to Iraq.
But even as one group of kidnappers backed off its grisly death threat, a separate armed group threatened to kill an Iraqi and two Pakistanis it claimed to be holding.
Violent attacks claimed at least seven lives across the country, with (…)

By Caroline Overington, Herald Correspondent in Boston
A lot of people in the US are opposed to the war in Iraq, and they want to vote for a party that will bring the troops home. The Democratic Party has not promised to do that, which is why many protesters have gathered in Boston.
They had hoped to stage a series of peaceful protests, to show the Democrats, who are holding their convention in Boston this week, how strongly they feel.
However, organisers of the convention have (…)

By Joshua Holland, Gadflyer
"Black Conservative to Rebut NAACP Leader’s Remarks in C-SPAN Interview," read the press release from Project 21, an organization of conservative African-Americans.
I had read in Reuters that Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP, had called groups like Project 21 "make-believe black organizations," and a "collection of black hustlers" who have adopted a conservative agenda in return for "a few bucks a head."
So I tuned into C-SPAN with interest to hear what (…)

by Gustavo González
QUITO - ’’Cultural resistance’’ marked the huge fiesta that opened the first Social Forum of the Americas Sunday in the Ecuadorian capital, which has drawn at least 8,000 activists, united once again under the slogan ’’another world is possible’’.
The Sunday through Friday gathering, the first regional edition of the World Social Forum held every year since 2001, is an assembly ’’of all the poor,’’ Ecuadorian indigenous leader Blanca Chancoso, speaking in the name of (…)