A new Pentagon study group called the Iran Directorate has surfaced in recent media reports, drawing analogies to now disbanded (and discredited) Office of Special Plans which pushed for war on Iraq. An Oct. 6 analysis by Daniel Schulman in… Read morePentagon “Iran Directorate” stumps for war
It seems that hubristic neocons, with their ambitions to dismantle Iraq (and, eventually, the rest of the Arab world) are moving in for the kill, posing it as a solution to the sectarian and ethnic strife their own policies unleashed…. Read moreIraq Study Group poses “partition”
From the US Labor Against the War via the Iraq Freedom Congress: Dear Ambassador Khalizad, and Secretaries Rice and Rumsfeld: On September 7 and 8, 2006, members of the U.S. military participated in an aggressive armed raid on the offices… Read moreUS Labor Against the War protests raid on Iraq Freedom Congress
Amid the internecine Palestinian violence now rocking Gaza comes a distrubing report from Israel’s YNet Oct. 8 that an entity calling itself the Islamic Swords of Justice, said to be the Palestinian wing of al-Qaeda, shot up and set fire… Read moreAl-Qaeda in Gaza?
Sarah Ferguson writes for the Village Voice, Oct. 5: Rallies Today: World Can’t Wait—for What? Call them the popular front to MoveOn.org‘s dogged efforts to defeat Republicans at the ballot box this November. Today the anti-Bush campaign World Can’t Wait… Read moreMaoists go mainstream
Houzan Mahmoud, UK-based overseas chair of the Iraq Freedom Congress, writes for The Guardian’s Comment is Free blog, Oct. 7: It’s not a matter of choice More than ever, women are claiming that wearing the veil, burqa or niqab is… Read moreThe hijab: never voluntary
Some 100 Yucatan state riot police attacked a group of peasants at the ejido (collective farm) of Oxcum Oct. 6, lands which the state government is seeking to buy for a new ariport servicing Merida, the capital and major tourist… Read moreRepression in Yucatan
From El Universal, Oct. 4 via Chiapas95, Oct. 4 (our translation): SAN JOSE, Costa Rica.- The president-elect of Mexico, Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, and that of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, agreed on the need to re-evaluate and re-analyze the Plan Puebla-Panama… Read moreCalderon pledges to relaunch Puebla-Panama Plan
It seems Oaxaca’s revolutionary model may be spreading to neighboring states. From Notimex Oct. 1, via Chiapas95: CHILPANCINGO, GUERRERO: This weekend, at least 30 trade unions and social organizations formed the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Guerrero (APPG in… Read more“Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Guerrero” proclaimed
Tensions are remain high in Oaxaca following the killing of pro-government teacher, which protest leaders fear will be usd to justify a crackdown. Math teacher Jaime Rene Calvo Aragon was amember of the Central Council of Struggle (CCL), which is… Read moreMixed signals on Oaxaca crackdown
We have noted the decidedly mixed signals in the question of whether Iran is really seeking the nuclear bomb. Another piece of the puzzle now emerges. From Reuters, Oct. 5: TEHRAN – An old letter by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah… Read moreKhomeini letter emerges in Iran nuclear controversy
This man’s treatment, and the defense’s arguments, constitute another step in the legitimization of torture, and the dumbing-down of the word’s definition. But at least the judiciary is showing a semblance of backbone here. From the New York Times, Oct…. Read moreFeds defend torture before 2nd Circuit
