Subjects Archives: Imperialism

  • War Work

    General William Tecumseh Sherman declared that “War is hell,” but every grunt or swab that has ever served knows that, more than anything else, war is work.  Staging operations, killing people, breaking their things, and sometimes cleaning up the mess, all involve tremendous amounts of human labor. Current estimates are that there are at least […]

  • Lebanon: Reflexions and Lessons [Liban: Réflexions et Leçons]

      Face à l’évènement, certains veulent faire supporter à la Résistance tout le poids de cette guerre.  C’est endosser l’erreur.  La grande majorité des analystes politiques internationaux savent que cette guerre était prévue à courte échéance, avec ou sans prétexte ; Israël ne manque pas d’en créer au besoin.  Souvenons-nous de l’invasion de 1982 : […]

  • Class Struggle and Socialist Revolution in the Philippines: Understanding the Crisis of U.S. Hegemony, Arroyo State Terrorism, and Neoliberal Globalization

      Prodded by Amnesty International (AI), the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Asian Human Rights Commission, Reporters Without Borders, and other international organizations, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently cobbled a group to look into the allegations of massive human rights violations — over 729 victims of extrajudicial killings, and 180 involuntary “disappearances,” by the latest count — during her […]

  • The Decline of Israel: An Interview with Nahla Chahal [Nahla Chahal Le déclin d’Israël]

    Coordinatrice des Campagnes civiles internationales pour la protection du peuple palestinien (CCIPPP), Nahla Chahal est chercheur à Paris.  Elle fut l’une des dirigeantes, dans les années 1970, de l’Organisation d’action communiste du Liban (OACL).  De retour du Liban, où elle a passé plus d’un mois pendant l’offensive israélienne, elle raconte et analyse ces événements. Quel […]

  • Will US Hijack UN Resolution on Iran?

      In an article published by the Mail & Guardian Online on June 27, titled “Iran Cannot Engage in Serious Talks with US,” I briefly explained some of the reasons why Iran would not be able to engage in serious talks with the United States or accept the European incentives package offered in exchange for […]

  • If the Palestinian Authority Disappears. . . .

      Here is another contradiction for Israel to deal with: the collapse of the Palestinian Authority.  The Wall Street Journal reports: Israel’s war with Hezbollah has overshadowed a looming crisis in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, where conditions have deteriorated to the point that some in the Palestinian government are exploring the prospect […]

  • Demonstration against the War in Lebanon, Tel Aviv, 5 August 2006

    Thousands of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel, peace organizations, and political parties took to the streets of Tel Aviv on 5 August to protest against Israel’s invasion of Lebanon.  The demonstration was organized by a coalition of peace organizations, including Gush Shalom, Yesh Gvul, Coalition of Women for Peace, Ta’ayush, ICAHD, AIC, Hadash, Balad, […]

  • Why Have “Laws of War”?

      4 August 2006 Last night, whatever hopes anyone had that this war was drawing its last breath and would take minimal — if hopefully no more — victims were brutally shattered like the bridges that crumpled under the latest warplane onslaught. Lebanon awoke today to more destruction and chaos.   To more fears that no […]

  • Olmert: Mad for a Total War

    Click on the cartoon for a larger view. Gaza, Beirut, Damascus, Tehran! Carlos Latuff, born in Rio de Janeiro on 30 November 1968, is a political cartoonist.  He is the author of the famous “We Are All Palestinians” series, comparing oppressed peoples at various times and places (Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, Blacks in South […]

  • Northern Virginians for Peace & Justice Invites You to a Panel Discussion

    IRAN: A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES? Issues to be addressed include: The century-long history of big power intervention in Iran. The US-Iran conflict over Iran’s nuclear energy program.  What are the international legal issues?  What do the Iranian people think? Impact of sanctions or US military intervention.  What is the likely impact on Iran […]

  • Dateline Beirut

      Part 1 Wednesday, 19 July, Afternoon (The local time is six hours behind Japan Time.) After many detours, I arrived at Beirut. Planning to cover Samawa, I left Japan a week ago (on the 12th), and I was making preparations in Amman, but I couldn’t arrange for an entry into and security in Iraq, […]

  • Israel’s Failed Dream of the “Iron Wall”

      Ralph Peters, a columnist of the New York Post (“Israel’s New Wars,” 17 July 2006), takes note of the fact that Israel, preferring to stick to air strikes, has not decisively sent its ground troops into Lebanon and frets that “Israel is signaling its enemies that it’s afraid to risk its soldiers’ lives.”  Besides, […]

  • Little Birds: A Devastating Window on the War

    At a time when the Iraq war continues to be a defining issue on the American scene, it is ironic that the most powerful and uncompromising documentary on the subject remains almost entirely unknown and unseen in this country.  It took Japanese filmmaker Takeharu Watai a year and a half to film more than 123 […]

  • Neocon Redux: Blame Iran, Back Israel

      Israel’s military offensives in Gaza and Lebanon have reenergized the neoconservatives, who see an opportunity to regain influence lost as a result of setbacks in Iraq.  While insisting on unconditional U.S. support for Israel, the neoconservatives are also pushing for possible U.S. attacks on Tehran’s nuclear facilities in retaliation for its support of Hezbollah. […]

  • Mumbai Train Bombings:A Pretext for an Indian “War on Terror”?

    A series of bomb blasts ripped through packed commuter trains July 11 in Mumbai, India.  Seven bombs exploded one after another during the evening rush hour.  As of this writing, 186 people had died and nearly 800 injured, while hundreds more were still missing. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the bombing. The […]

  • McDonough Calls Canada’s Gov’t on War Crime Complicity

    July 14, 2006 Hon. Peter MacKay Minister of Foreign Affairs Lester B. Pearson Bldg., A-10 125 Sussex Dr. Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2 Dear Minister, I write to express outrage at your government’s response to the destruction levelled by Israel on the innocent civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. The world has rightly condemned the killings and […]

  • What They Want Is the Head of the Resistance Movement

      Click on the image to watch the program at the Mosaic Archive. “Israel Mobilizes Towards Hezbollah Positions,” Abu Dhabi TV, UAE, Mosaic: News from the Middle East, 14 July 2006 It’s war again.  As in the past, it’s an Israeli war in terms of the men and materiel; a joint Israeli-American war in terms […]

  • “Recognize the Centrality of the Palestine Question”: An Interview with George Galloway

      George Galloway MP is the controversial British politician who has proved a thorn in the side of advocates of the Iraq war.  He is a fierce advocate of the Palestinian state, and a redoubtable campaigner against oppression and injustice throughout the world.  In 2005 he made a memorable appearance before the US Senate, successfully […]

  • Confronting Bipartisan Empire: The Case of the Iran Freedom Support Act

    The depth and breadth of bipartisan commitment to the US empire among America’s political elite is best seen in the House vote on HR 282, the “Iran Freedom Support Act,” essentially a bill to “make U.S. sanctions against Iran under ILSA permanent unless there is a change of government in Iran”1:   YEAS NAYS PRES […]

  • The Dogs of War — Barking at the Moon?

    The current debate in Congress over the war in Iraq has put the myth of victory and its opposite — surrender– back on the front pages.  These are actually more than myths; they are genuine misrepresentations of what’s happening in Iraq — lies, in other words.  It doesn’t really matter, though, because those who want […]