contributions

The Guardian (UK)
September 11, 2003
Brothers and sisters of Mexico and the world, who are gathered in Cancun in a mobilisation against neo- liberalism, greetings from the men, women, children and elderly of the Zapatista National Liberation Army. It is an honour for us that, amid your meetings, agreements and mobilisations, you have found time and place to hear our words.
The world movement against the globalisation of death and destruction is experiencing one of its brightest moments (…)

Pentagon targets Latinos and Mexicans to man the front lines in war on terror
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by Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles
The Independent
10 September 2003
With the casualty rate in Iraq growing by the day and President George Bush’s worldwide "war on terrorism" showing no signs of abating, a stretched United States military is turning increasingly to Latinos - including tens of thousands of non-citizen immigrants to do the fighting and dying on its behalf. (…)

Cancun Report: As Empire Builder, the U.S. Feels the Heat
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By Tom Hayden
AlterNet September 10, 2003
CANCUN, Sept. 8. "The Real Cancun" is a pretty trashy film, with hard-partying American college kids being awakened by mariachi musicians against the vista of a Hilton hotel designed like the nearby Mayan ruins. In one scene, its hero, Alan, tells his drinking partner, "People like what they can’t have. So, if you want a girl to really like you, just (…)

By John Authers in Cancun and Sara Silver in Mexico City Financial Times
http://search.ft.com/s03/search/article.html?id=030909000984
Sept 09, 2003
Mexican peasant leaders are planning a mass demonstration against free trade tomorrow to mark the opening of the World Trade Organisation’s ministerial meeting in the Caribbean resort of Cancún. Their attempt to reach the convention hall will be the first test of elaborate security measures designed to avert the violence seen at other (…)

By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, September 9, 2003; 9:03 AM
Even Howard Dean’s detractors now believe he’s for real.
Real as in: Scoff all you want, this guy actually could be president.
The good doctor’s media treatment has gone through several distinct phases. First he was the colorful gadfly who had no chance of winning the nomination but was getting plenty of press. Then he was the serious threat who was suddenly raising truckloads of cash through some kind of (…)

By David Wessel — Wall Street Journal - Sept 4, 2003
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106262466678910800,00.html
Two young high-school graduates with similar job histories and demeanors apply in person for jobs as waiters, warehousemen or other low-skilled positions advertised in a Milwaukee newspaper. One man is white and admits to having served 18 months in prison for possession of cocaine with intent to sell. The other is black and hasn’t any criminal record.
Which man is more (…)

Jonathan Schell, The Nation and TomDispatch.com September 5, 2003 Viewed on September 10, 2003
The basic mistake of American policy in Iraq is not that the Pentagon — believing the fairy tales told it by Iraqi exile groups and overriding State Department advice — forgot, when planning "regime change," to bring along a spare government to replace the one it was smashing.
The mistake was not that, once embarked on running the place, the administration did not send enough troops to do the (…)

by Barbara Crossette
UNITED NATIONS - A couple of years ago, a conservative organization called the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute produced a very contentious report claiming that the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) was complicit in China’s forced abortion policy.
The report led directly to a White House decision in early 2002 to withhold the $34 million U.S. contribution to the fund that had already been appropriated by Congress. That a State Department investigative team went (…)

New York Times September 8, 2003
By LARRY ROHTER
SANTIAGO, Chile
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/08/arts/music/08CHIL.html
More than just a pair of concerts, it was also a kind of exorcism. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the bloody coup that overthrew the leftist government of Salvador Allende, some of Latin America’s best-known pop, folk and rock stars performed over the weekend at the National Stadium here, the site of some of the worst atrocities committed by the government (…)

HELEN THOMAS Who’s counting the dead in Iraq?
Remember the enemy body counts during the Vietnam War? Some of those U.S. tabulations were highly exaggerated in an effort to show gains on the battlefield.
Well, we don’t do that anymore.
The Pentagon has meticulously reported the American fatality toll in Iraq, now up to 286. That number includes 183 deaths from hostile fire since the start of the war. It also includes 148 dead since May 1 when President Bush declared the end of major (…)