contributions

BAGHDAD, June 1, 2004 (IPS) - Largely lost amidst the horrors of the graphic torture photographs that continue to emerge out of Abu Ghraib is a leaked report from the International Committee of the Red Cross published a few weeks ago by the Wall Street Journal.
In its report, the ICRC, the only organization besides the United States military that has been allowed to inspect the prison, wrote that "ninety percent of captives were caught by mistake."
Ninety percent? How is that possible, (…)

31 May 2004 - In the run-up to the war, the Bush administration was making urgent and dire claims about Iraq possessing chemical and biological weapons. Vice President Dick Cheney warned publicly on Aug. 26, 2002, that Iraq would have nuclear weapons "fairly soon." And lawmakers, as U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson told an audience at Daytona Beach Community College last week, were being told in secret briefings by the administration that Saddam planned to attack U.S. cities with chemical and (…)

A portion of this conjecture appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, May 29, and remained among the ‘five top stories viewed online’ over the weekend. Here is the original text, plus amendments. The content is largely drawn from the collaborative act of detective work unfolding on the web. To draw firm conclusions about the circumstances of the Berg beheading would be unwise at this stage, however US citizens may wish to pressure the Pentagon to release all tapes, transcripts and (…)

Robert Burns, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, May 31, 2004 — American troops in Iraq died at a rate of more than two per day in May, pushing the combined death count for April and May beyond 200, according to Pentagon figures. For the National Guard and Reserve, whose part-time soldiers make up at least one-third of the 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, the trend in casualties during May was especially troubling.
At least 22 citizen soldiers died, nearly one-third of all U.S. losses in May. (…)

In Washington DC:
Gather 12 noon at the White House (Lafayette Park)
March to Donald Rumsfeld’s house
In San Francisco:
Gather 11 am at UN Plaza
(Market between 7th & Hyde, Civic Center BART)
In Los Angeles:
Gather 12 noon at Olympic & Broadway
March to Downtown Federal Building
Anyone who is paying attention knows that we are at a turning point in history. The people of the United States must act now to signal their opposition to the Bush (…)

Hi everone,
This is the preposal for the web page on the esf site, If you think anything needs adding please email to list, do bear in mind that we want this as quitly as possable. we also need this translated into differnt laugues. sorry it not an attackment, lots love richy Calling all artists, photographers, bands, graffiti artists, jugglers, actors, playwrights, theatre companies, storytellers or something we have not thought of!
Welcome to the European Social Forum (ESF) which (…)

Invitation June 5/6 in Manchester at Bridge 5 Mill, 22A Beswick Street, Ancoats National meeting for the Local Social Forum in UK hosted by Manchester Social Forum We welcome the partecipation of people from Local SFs from other countries in Europe Saturday 5 June 10-5 pm
Sunday 6 June 10-1 pm The agenda, the workshops and the layout of the meeting will be discussed at the beginning A possible outline might be: Introduce and meet each other. The work of each (…)

The Time Has Come to Re-ignite a Vast Movement of Working People Against War and Occupations and for Fundamental Social Change in America
By RALPH SCHOENMAN
Working people—the vast and overwhelming majority of the population—confront an unprecedented crisis. The government and the State itself have been captured by a tiny oligarchy of the corporate rich. They have hijacked our political process in a class war of the privileged few against the exploited many.
Business Week described (…)

By BOB HERBERT
Most Americans were shocked by the sadistic treatment of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. But we shouldn’t have been. Not only are inmates at prisons in the U.S. frequently subjected to similarly grotesque treatment, but Congress passed a law in 1996 to ensure that in most cases they were barred from receiving any financial compensation for the abuse.
We routinely treat prisoners in the United States like animals. We brutalize and degrade them, both men and women. (…)

On May 18 and 21, 2004 I wrote to http://www.millionworkermarch.org/ the listserv for the march and the endorsers to date. May 18, 2004
Dear Fellow Worker:
I am a member of the Industrial Workers of the World [IWW-Milwaukee GMB], and only recently heard about he million worker "parade" [as Malcolm X used to call it]. We are interested in participating, but have some questions. Is this event being organized by a capitalist front organization a.k.a. the Democratic party? Or is it really a (…)