May 2009
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Netanyahu Chooses Warehousing By Jeff Halper
Although the Obama Administration may truly desire viable two-state solution and even understands all Israel’s tricks, it is also clear that without significant pressure it cannot be achieved. And here is where the real problem arises. Israel’s trump card has always been Congress, where it enjoys virtually unanimous bi-partisan support. And Obama’s own Democratic Party,… Continue reading
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More twists in the tale of Binyam Mohamed By Andy Worthington
Former Guantánamo prisoner Binyam Mohamed has been back in the UK for two months, but his lawyers’ year-long legal struggle to secure evidence from the British government – relating to its knowledge of his torture in Pakistan and Morocco between April 2002 and May 2004 – shows no sign of being resolved Continue reading
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Video: Iran: Saman Salour, "The Final Match"
‘The Final Match’ was made as part of Art for the World’s ‘Stories on Human Rights’ on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Continue reading
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Guillaume Andreux and Charlotte Pello, “Ken Loach: ‘Make the Interests of Ordinary People Come First’”
Hundreds of thousands of people are now abandoning the old way of doing politics, tired of the establishment that has caused the current social situation. If we don’t take advantage of this moment, we may have to wait another 15 to 20 years before finding a new political opportunity. That’s why I think the NPA… Continue reading
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Joe Bageant: A redneck view of the Obamarama
When it comes to expressing plain truths, few are as gifted as American rednecks. During recent travels in the Appalachian communities of West Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky I’ve collected scores of their comments on our national condition and especially President Barack Obama. Continue reading
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Globovisón: The Loose Cannon of Venezuelan Media By Carlos Ruiz
As the anti-capitalist character of the Chavez government revealed itself, it became starkly clear that democratic opinion was not being reflected in the established private media. Influential newspapers dropped their pretenses of varying ‘liberal’ tendencies, and increasingly appeared to be acting from an agreed playbook. Continue reading
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Video: "Massive Casualties Feared in Nigerian Military Attack on Niger Delta Villages"
Nigerian Joint Task Force troops, made up of the army, navy, air force and mobile police, launched an offensive on communities across Warri south and southwest government areas on 13 May after JTF troops were reported to have been attacked by armed groups in Delta state, according to Amnesty International. Continue reading
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Video: Nigeria – Sweet Crude Directed by Sandy Cioffi
“For fifty years, crude oil has been flowing from under the feet of the people of the Niger Delta. For fifty years, they have been promised that this would mean a better life. This promise has never been kept. Now, the people have had enough.” Continue reading
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Iraq: Provoking the Inevitable By Dahr Jamail
The Sahwa played a critical role in the reduction of overall violence in Iraq. When the US decided to pay off the resistance (to the tune of $300 per month per fighter) that was effectively shredding occupation forces from late 2003 until mid-2006, the number of US military personnel being killed began to decline, and… Continue reading
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‘Right to refuse’ By Harry Feldman
Obama’s hugely ambitious plan aims for an “independent, democratic and contiguous Palestinian state,” which would not have a military of its own and would be forbidden from entering into military pacts with other nations “for Israel’s security.” Continue reading
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Obama, Netanyahu and Iran
Never before has such an open, detailed and thorough study of Israel’s offensive options been published. The authors of the 114-page study meticulously gathered all available data on Israel’s military capabilities and its nuclear program, and on Iran’s nuclear developments and aerial defenses, as well as both countries’ missile inventory. Continue reading
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Video: “Absolutist” to defend the law? Michael Ratner
23 May, 2009 It’s outrageous to equate people who demand the rule of law with those who break it Bio Michael Ratner is President of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York. He has taught at Yale Law School, lectured at Columbia Law School, and was President of the National Lawyers Guild. Continue reading
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Internet Threatened By Censorship, Secret Surveillance, And Cybersecurity Laws By Stephen Lendman
Net Neutrality must be defended at all costs. Preserving a viable, independent, free and open Internet (and the media overall) is essential to a functioning democracy, but the forces aligned against it are formidable, daunting, relentless, and reprehensible. Some past challenges suggest future ones ahead. Continue reading
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An Analysis of El Salvador’s Political and Economic Realities: Can Funes Succeed?
Even though he represents the leftist party Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), Funes sees himself as a moderate idealist in his political views and has high aims for his moderate administration. However, the opposition party, Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) will heavily scrutinize the expected policy changes and is unlikely to meekly succumb… Continue reading
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Book Review: Nathaniel Mehr, “Making Visible the Frames of War”
Butler assesses the ways in which a variety of methods of control — from ’embedded’ journalism to immigration rules based on highly derivative notions of identity — have served to entrench a perception of a threatening and anti-modern ‘other,’ whose torture and physical destruction is thus rationalised. Making a stand for the humanity of the… Continue reading
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The Cuban Five: A Starkly Controversial Case
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International have criticized the U.S. government’s policy regarding the Cuban Five and have accused it of perpetrating human rights violations against the group. Beginning with their arrest and subsequent trial three months later, the five Cuban defendants have been held without bail for a period of thirty-three months. Continue reading
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Red Herrings and The “War on Terrorism” By Larry Chin
The furor over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s knowledge of the Bush/Cheney administration’s use of torture is the latest Washington noise that conveniently diverts attention from the illegitimate ‘war on terrorism’ that continues to serve as the justification for torture, murder and war. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 