Last night I attended a fundraiser for the US to Gaza mission that intends to bring humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. It was an incredible success. About 350 mostly young people had crowded the hall, most of whom stayed on past 10 pm to listen to the invited speakers. The presence of so […]
Geography Archives: Iraq
U.S. Reverses Course and Designates Anti-Iranian Jundallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
In a notable turn-around, the U.S. Department of State today designated Jundallah as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). In early 2009, shortly after President Obama came into office, the United States considered designating Jundallah as an FTO, as a conciliatory message to the Islamic Republic of Iran. In March 2009, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali […]
Brazil: Abortion in Presidential Election
Pope Benedict XVI backs José Serra, determined to continue to make uteruses church properties in Brazil. Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist. Cf. Leonardo Boff: “No Brasil a cada dois dias morre uma mulher por abortos mal feitos, como foi publicado recentemente em O Globo na primeira página” (In Brazil a woman dies every other […]
Iran War Talk: “Once the Military Option Is on the Table, It Never Goes Away”
October 28, 2010 Today, Marc Lynch — a professor at George Washington University who blogs at Foreign Policy — published a timely piece entitled “Keep the Iran War Talk Quiet.” As Marc notes, “there’s some hope that Iran will return to nuclear talks with the P-5+1 in Geneva on Nov.15, even if they probably will […]
Kirchner Rescued Argentina’s Economy, Helped Unite South America
The sudden death of Néstor Kirchner today is a great loss not only to Argentina but to the region and the world. Kirchner took office as president in May 2003, when Argentina was in the initial stages of its recovery from a terrible recession. His role in rescuing Argentina’s economy is comparable to that of […]
Iran and Honduras in the Propaganda System: Part 2, The 2009 Iranian and Honduran Elections
As we stated at the outset of Part 1,1 there is no better test of the independence and integrity of the establishment U.S. media than in their comparative treatment of Iran and Honduras in 2009 and 2010. Iran held its most recent presidential election on June 12, 2009. This followed a typically short three-week campaign […]
For Colored Boys Who Speak Softly
For colored boys I will crucify myself like Christ let my blood purify and sanctify these words create a doctrine and go knocking door to door letting the people know that messiahs are here that we are messengers even though we embody the word queer that we are a reminder of how colonization has […]
Iran’s “Soft Power” Increasingly Checks U.S. Power
October 13, 2010 Twenty years ago, Harvard’s Joseph Nye famously coined the term “soft power” to describe what he saw as an increasingly important factor in international politics — the capacity of “getting others to want what you want,” which he contrasted with the ability to coerce others through the exercise of “hard” military and/or […]
The Death Penalty, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the European Parliament
What does the USA have in common with China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea? You would hardly guess, but the European Parliament stated loud and all too clear on October 2nd: those are the countries which put lots of people to death. In a long, detailed resolution, approved almost unanimously by 574 members […]
Iran and Honduras in the Propaganda System: Part 1, Neda Agha-Soltan versus Isis Obed Murillo
It would be hard to find a better test of the integrity of the establishment U.S. media than in their comparative treatment of Iran and Honduras over the past couple of years (2009-2010). Iran has been on the United States’ regime-change hit list for many years. Since the first-half of 2003 (and overlapping its soon-to-be-discredited […]
Interview with Hooman Majd: US-Iran Relations in the Age of the Ayatollah
Equally at home in Tehran or New York, Hooman Majd benefits from a background as intricately woven as any Persian carpet. The son of a diplomat under the shah of Iran, Majd attended schools in California, India, Iran, North Africa, and England. After the tumultuous 1979 Islamic Revolution, return to Iran for Majd and others […]
Signs of the Beginning of the End of the Long Retreat of Labor
Six years ago, I organized a bus from the Albany area to attend the “Million Worker March,” which was an attempt by longshore local ILWU Local 10 and some activist African-American union leaders to present labor’s demands during the 2004 election year. That rally was not supported by the AFL-CIO and of course fell far […]
Turkey’s Political Shift
Part 1 Aijaz Ahmad: Israel, which is completely isolated in the region, is very unhappy about the fact that Turkey is rising as a power which is establishing very productive and extensive contacts in the region. Israel was very happy when both of them were completely isolated in the region: Turkey was in the […]
Contingent in Oct. 2 Jobs Rally to Demand: “Money for Jobs, Not War or Sanctions against Iran!”
On Oct. 2, tens of thousands of people from across the United States — members of civil rights organizations, labor unions, community groups and religious institutions — will rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to demand “Jobs, Justice and Education!” (See www.onenationworkingtogether.org.) As part of this effort, the peace movement is mobilizing […]
As’ad AbuKhalil: “The Shift from a Unipolar US World to a Multipolar World Is Overstated”
As’ad AbuKhalil, or Angry Arab as he is more commonly known after his blog The Angry Arab News Service, is in real life a most friendly and forthcoming man. A Lebanese-born author of four books on the Middle East, he is professor of political science at California State University and is visiting professor at […]
Iran and Iraq: War Anniversary Focused on Youth Friendship
27 September 2010 Iranian and Iraqi youth were the stars at a 24 September ceremony to celebrate peace between their countries. On this date thirty years ago began the eight-year Iran‐Iraq war that killed and injured hundreds of thousands of both sides. With a whole generation of orphans wishing to prevent future conflicts, the focus […]
The World Cannot Run the Risk of a New Conflict like the One in Iraq
Excerpts: In recent years, the Brazilian Government has invested heavily in South America’s integration and peace. We have strengthened our strategic partnership with Argentina. We have reinforced Mercosul, including through unique financial mechanisms among developing countries. The establishment of the Union of South American Nations — UNASUL — aims at consolidating a genuine zone of […]
The Language of Power: Interview with Jean Bricmont
Jean Bricmont is professor of theoretical physics at the University of Louvain, Belgium, and is a member of the Brussels Tribunal. He is the author of Humanitarian Imperialism and co-author, with Alan Sokal, of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science. He has written critically about ‘humanitarian interventionism’ since the Kosovo war in 1999. In […]
Bradley Manning: American Hero
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is accused of leaking military secrets to the public. This week, his supporters are holding rallies in 21 cities, seeking Manning’s release from military custody. Manning is in the brig for allegedly disclosing a classified video depicting U.S. troops shooting civilians from an Apache helicopter in Iraq in July 2007. The […]
Mr. Ahmadinejad Comes to New York
As he has every year since becoming President of the Islamic Republic, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is coming to New York this week to attend the United Nations General Assembly. Several important U.S. media outlets have either already conducted (MSNBC, ABC) or will conduct (PBS’ Charlie Rose and CNN’s Larry King) interviews with Ahmadinejad in connection with […]
