September 2004

LONDON – Could it be that the Pinochet affair is now moving inexorably towards its denouement? Even more a cause celebre among human rights activists than the case of the Serbian, Slobovan Milosevic, it remains unresolved since the arrested former dictator was allowed to walk free four years ago from his detention in Britain. General Augusto Pinochet’s crimes were no ordinary crimes of the maintenance of political authority in a time of turbulence. They continued until 1990, long after Pinochet announced in 1978 that the “communist threat”, with which he had justified his coup against the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende, had ended. “The rituals of torture were intended to send horrific whispers through the populace”, wrote Geoffrey Robertson in his book, Crimes Against Humanity. Pinochet, it is alleged, personally supervised the torture operations with the boss of the torture unit, Manuel Contreras, reporting daily to him. He is...

Bush upbeat as Iraq burnsBob Herbert, op-ed columnist in The New York Times Why we should leave IraqJonathan Schell in The Nation & TomDispatch Baghdad Year Zero: Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a Neocon UtopiaA conversation with Naomi Klein, from New Democracy A strident minority: anti-Bush US troops in BaghdadAnn Scott Tyson in The Christian Science Monitor Who are the progressives in Iraq? The Left, the Right, and the IslamistsFrank Smyth, Foreign Policy in Focus Arab League condemns terrorism in Iraq & pledges to support BagdadTruthout – AFP Iraq losing its best and brightestHoward LaFranchi in The Christian Science Monitor Iraq: A descent into civil war?Luke Harding in The Guardian Factbox: Guerilla strongholds in Iraq – where the US has no controlReuters Classic guerilla war forming in IraqBrad Knickerbocker in The Christian Science Monitor The reconstruction. U.S. intelligence pessimistic on Iraq’s futureDouglas Jehl in The New York Times Warring visions...

Why West is losing – About a pathbreaking book by a CIA analystEric Margolis in The Toronto Sun The new cold war with IslamMohawid H. Shah in the Christian Science Monitor andThe Wisdom Fund House Republicans and Democrats unite in linking Iraq with 9/11Stephen Zunes on Common Dreams Cat Stevens to take legal actionBBC One war to alienate moderate Muslims: deport CatBackground to who Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam isand his work for peaceMansoor Ijaz in The Christian Science Monitor

Rabat, Morocco – September 25, 2004 – Published by Kyodo News, Japan The question posed in the title implicitly admits that the Arab world is not presently master of its own destiny. This is quite true and has been so for several decades. The Arab world is composed of 22 countries, including Palestine, a total population of 300 million 40% of whom are under 15 years of age. The region represents an area of 13 million square kilometres (35 times the area of Japan). It is hard to understand what is happening in this region today without recalling elements of a past which is still affecting the present and conditioning the future. Atomization has been and remains one of the basic obstacles facing the region. Eighty percent of the total Arab population is concentrated in 7 countries whereas 7 other countries barely reach 2 percent of that total. This geo-political...

Bush upbeat as Iraq burnsBob Herbert, op-ed columnist in The New York Times Baghdad Year Zero: Pillaging Iraq in pursuit of a Neocon UtopiaA conversation with Naomi Klein, from New Democracy A strident minority: anti-Bush US troops in BaghdadAnn Scott Tyson in The Christian Science Monitor Who are the progressives in Iraq? The Left, the Right, and the IslamistsFrank Smyth, Foreign Policy in Focus Arab League condemns terrorism in Iraq & pledges to support BagdadTruthout – AFP Iraq losing its best and brightestHoward LaFranchi in The Christian Science Monitor Iraq: A descent into civil war?Luke Harding in The Guardian Factbox: Guerilla strongholds in Iraq – where the US has no controlReuters Classic guerilla war forming in IraqBrad Knickerbocker in The Christian Science Monitor The reconstruction. U.S. intelligence pessimistic on Iraq’s futureDouglas Jehl in The New York Times Warring visions for Iraq – Kerry’s and Bush’s views on the futurePeter Grier...

The story behind – Democracy Now! Who seized Simona Torretta?This Iraqi kidnapping has the mark of an undercover police operationBy Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill, The Guardian, Thursday September 16, 2004 Iraqi aid coordinator resigns after abduction of Italian colleaguesReliefWeb, September 9, 2004 Italians unite around hostagesOccupation Watch, September 9, 2004 Website boasts ‘slaughter’ of womenRory McCarthy, The Guardian, September 24, 2004 Free Our Friends -current news and info about the case Bridge to Baghdad official website Petition – free our friends, they are not instruments of the occupying forcesPlease express your solidarity by signing the petition on this page! Says Jan Oberg, TFF director, “I signed it with the comment that the world needs millions of bridges for peace like these courageous people.” He adds: “Those of us working for peace know the risks people take when going to war zones. The two Simonas and their Iraqi colleagues have...

By LONDON – The two big wings of Islam -Turkey in the West and Indonesia in the East – are reforming and changing at a lightening pace, confounding those who only measure Islam by its seemingly stagnant middle ground. Next week Indonesia goes to the polls for its final round in a presidential election that so far has been largely free, courteous and non-violent. Turkey continues with reforms that began in Ataturk’s day in the 1920s but which have recently accelerated under its relatively new Islamist government that is determined to meet all the criteria for entry demanded by the European Union. In fact the countries that contain the largest numbers of Muslims- Turkey (70 million), Indonesia (240m), Bangladesh (114m) and India (121m)- are all liberal minded and democratic. All have populations that overwhelmingly reject the terrorist jihad. All prefer their women uncovered. All find the rigidity of Islamic belief...

Imad Salamey and Frederic Pearson, FPIFToward a US Exit Strategy from Iraqand a Transition to Full Sovereignty International Crisis GroupReconstructing IraqMiddle East report N 30 Peyman Pejman, Common DreamsRebels Begin to Control More Areas in Iraq Tom Regan, TruthoutReport: Civil War most Likely Outcome in Iraq Robert Fisk, TruthoutWe Should Not Have Allowed 19 Murderers to Change our World William Rivers Pitt, TruthoutOne Thousand and One Steve Weissman, TruthoutAmericans: The Missionary Position Bassem Mroue, TruthoutThousands of Iraqis Estimated Killed The NY TimesA Look at 1000 Who Died

Daniel Schorr, CSM,Loose nukes, Russian instabilityOne thing that hasn’t changed much in Russia since Soviet days is the tendency of high officials to cover up when disaster strikes. Coloner Dougla Macgregor, comw.orgArmy Transformation: Implications for the FutureCurrent Army transformation programs are not informed by the realities of modern combat or rigorous testing and experimentation. Frank W. Moore, comw.orgChina’s Military CapabilitiesThe article begins by looking at recent trends and likely future developments in China’s nuclear and conventional forces. Bruce Springsteen, The NY TimesChords for ChangeAbout the nation’s artists’ and musicians’ place in its social and political life – or what it means to be American. William M. Arkin, Yahoo news‘Star Wars’: Pie in the SkyThe missile defense being set up makes no sense financially or strategically. Marc Morano, CNS NewsBush Leading America Into ‘Snake Pit of Fascism,’ Congressman Says

Elsa Boller, Bruderhof CommunitiesA Day At Arrow ParkJust because someone has a good job and an important titledoesn’t mean they make a lot of money. Johann Christoph Arnold, Bruderhof CommunitiesThe Weapon of ForgivenessIn this age of “new wars” we have been made aware of smart bombs and dirty bombs, mini-nukes and biological weapons. Abraham H. Foxman and Wade Henderson, IHTA Partnership to Fight Hate and IntoleranceThe OSCE meeting in Brussels

Bertel Haarder, Politiken.dkHård kritik af VK-plan om ulandsbistand till militæretOppositionen kalder det ‘et alvorligt skred’ i dansk udenrigspolitik, at regeringen vil bruge penge fra ulandsbistanden til militære opgaver. Nyhederne.tv.dk30 ud af 35 lande vil af med Bush

International – The NewsWhite House blocked probe of 9/11 – Saudi link Maureen Dowd, IHTThe return of the Terrifier in Chief William Pfaff, IHTThe pattern is global, but the causes are local The Wisdom FundNew ‘Prime Suspect in the Mass Murders of 9/11’ William M. Arkin, Yahoo newsDefenseFive Big American Blunders in Terror War Jim Lobe, Common DreamsSeeking Method in the Madness of Abu GhraibAn Interview with Belgian Philosopher Lieven De Cauter