June 2007

by Erin Genia

Chechnya falls outside Americans' awareness of international affairs, despite the dire impact of US foreign policy on the embattled republic. Russia is a key US counter-terrorism ally whose participation in the "war on terror" legitimizes its conquest of Chechnya.

The media is responsible for public approval of atrocities against the Chechen people by issuing reports that omit crucial realities of the crisis -- its history, pervading human rights abuses, and impunity -- in addition, bias is exhibited in assertions that all Chechens are Muslim "terrorists." Many journalists who do . . .

March 2007

by Molly Gibbs

Having recently returned from Washington DC, and listening to House and Senate hearings on c-span, I believe our Federal government has failed. Both the Congress and the office of the Presidency are dysfunctional to the degree that the corporate system on which their power is based must be challenged.

The only people who can do that are you and I.

March 2007

by Marco Rosaire Rossi

In Erbil, Iraq -- high on top of Mount Korek in the northern part of the Kurdistan Autonomous Region -- sits one of Iraq's dormant treasures. It's not oil, or natural gas, or any other natural resource that Iraq is known for; this dormant treasure of Iraq is science. On top of a 2,127 meter high mountain rests what would have been a first-rate observatory and the only major observatory in the Middle East. Built in 1973 for $160 million by president Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, this observatory had three telescopes, each one ranging in size from 1.25 to 3.5 meters. Its . . .

March 2007

[Speech given at Ehren Watada rally by Peter Bohmer]

Growing resistance inside and outside the U.S. military, together with the Vietnamese resistance to the U.S. occupation in Vietnam forced the U.S. to withdraw from Vietnam. We can and will do the same in Iraq, hopefully sooner than later.

The Bush administration has given many reasons for its invasion and occupation of Iraq:

February 2007

by Drew Hendricks

Many people in our community oppose the war in Iraq. And while I often agree with my community on issues of war and peace, in this instance I disagree. I do not oppose the war in Iraq.

I don't think that the United States should have any troops stationed anywhere outside the United States. I'm against the Empire. But what those troops are doing in Iraq is not a war -- it's an occupation. It's the colonial administration of another nation, and the suppression of the people of that nation. It's a war crime, and I oppose it. But the war isn't being fought by the US military. The . . .

June 2006

by Marco Rosaire Rossi

Despite the lofty rhetoric, the United States did not fight the Cold War against the tyranny of Communism. The former Soviet Union was a side issue for the United States. The primary targets and victims of the Cold War, both domestically and abroad, were democratic forces that could demonstrate that more inclusive social systems -- particularly economic and political - are possible. It was often the case, as in Central and South America, that United States sought to drive left-leaning political systems into the arms of the Soviets as a pretext for military invasion. For . . .

May 2006

by Dave Lindorff

What do you call a nation that provides medical aid to desperately poor people in Mexico, heating assistance to low-income families in the U.S., crucial project financing to some of the poorest countries in Africa, and aid to impoverished Caribbean island nations?

If you're the New York Times, you call it "provocative," and you call the leader of that country "the next Fidel Castro."

March 2006

by Abid Aslam

Water, water everywhere and we are duped into buying it bottled.

Consumers spend a collective $100 billion every year on bottled water in the belief--often mistaken, as it happens--that this is better for us than what flows from our taps, according to environmental think tank the Earth Policy Institute (EPI).

For a fraction of that sum, everyone on the planet could have safe drinking water and proper sanitation, the Washington, D.C.-based organization said this week.

February 2006

by Cory Fischer-Hoffman & Greg Rosenthal

Two of Latin America's most respected independence figures, José Martí and Simón Bolívar, recognized nearly a century ago that their homelands would never be free of imperial domination until Latin America came together in solidarity as a united force. In the lands of these timeless figures, a unique partnership has developed between Cuba and The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela which defies the logic of neo-liberalism. Cuba and Venezuela are demonstrating an alternative relationship based on humanism and solidarity. This . . .

January 2006

The Venezuela Reader: The Building Of A People’s Democracy

Edited by Olivia Burlingame Goumbri

Book review by Greg Rosenthal

Following the example of Cuba’s humanist approach to guaranteeing its people the right to quality education and health, Venezuela has embarked upon a historical mission to eliminate poverty in a country where nearly 70% of the population is poor. As Chavez consistently reiterates, the only way to end poverty is to empower the poor and marginalized.

December 2005

by Cory Fischer-Hoffman

MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA- During the week of November 1-5, in the Argentine beach town of Mar del Plata, the 25-year struggle between neo-liberalism and grassroots social movements met head-on. George Bush came to Argentina, with thousands of security, to attend the IV Summit of the Americas - whose theme is "Creating Jobs to Reduce Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance."

June 2005

by Jeff Cohen

Looking for an easy way to protest Bush foreign policy week after week? And an easy way to help alleviate global poverty? Buy your gasoline at Citgo stations.

And tell your friends.

Of the top oil producing countries in the world, only one is a democracy with a president who was elected on a platform of using his nation's oil revenue to benefit the poor. The country is Venezuela. The President is Hugo Chavez. Call him "the Anti-Bush."

May 2005

by Alice Zillah

At the Support the Truth event on February 18, former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter told an Olympia audience that the Bush administration had reviewed plans in October 2004 to attack Iran in June of 2005. "The Pentagon was told to be prepared to launch a massive aerial attack against Iran, Iraq's neighbor to the east, in order to destroy the Iranian nuclear program."

May 2005

by Mike Whitney

"If the world's central bankers accumulate fewer dollars, the result would be an unrelenting American need to borrow in the face of an ever weaker dollar - a recipe for higher interest rates and higher prices. The economic repercussions could unfold gradually, resulting in a long, slow decline in living standards. Or there could be a quick unraveling, with the hallmarks of an uncontrolled fiscal crisis."

New York Times editorial 4-2-05