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Andrew Limburg
Back in November of 2003, while following the news reports, my frustration on how the television news media was ignoring all the controversies surrounding Cheney and Halliburton, exploded into an article. Having listed a barrage of charges and facts that included; tax evasion, fraud, lying, bribes, no-bid contracts, price gouging the government, etc? Ahhh?I figured I had gotten it out of my system, but that didn’t last very long. I could not have imagined in my wildest dreams that in just 3 months time, Cheney, his staff, and Halliburton, would be currently under six separate investigations - all escaping the headlines of the print media, and the top stories of the television media.
Wahida C. Valiante
February is Black History month in Canada. During this month, Canadian children will learn about the indomitable human spirit of an enslaved people who refused to surrender and went on to win hard-fought battles for their equality, freedom and liberty. Sadly however, those milestones have yet to materialize into a permanent victory for their descendents, who even to this day continue to suffer from the deep-seated malady of racial prejudice that festers in the soul of America. It is a malady fed by power, arrogance and greed, a malady that undermines human ideals and potential, spreading discord, destruction, and hate among countless people of different races, colors and nations.
David R. Hoffman for the World Crisis Web
Although alleged “records” about Bush’s tenure in the National Guard are now being disseminated to quell rumors that Bush did not fulfill all his required duties, they appear to be inspiring more questions than answers. The primary one appears to be, “Was Bush being paid for National Guard service while engaging in other enterprises, thus making his alleged service’ more a paper illusion than a reality?” Would it not be the ultimate hypocrisy if the man who started the war with Iraq, and whose political party persistently condemns those living on government “doles,” is revealed to have been the recipient of unearned government income?
Azmi Bishara
Sharon is not going to cede to the Palestinian Authority any land taken in 1948. What he is trying to do is draw the borders while annexing parts of the land occupied in 1967 - this is his idea of “unilateral disengagement”. His speech at the Herzlia Conference should be taken seriously, for the man does not believe that a lasting solution is possible at the moment. He wants to get rid of the roadmap while portraying “unilateral withdrawal” as a daring step. In doing so, Sharon is helped by the clamour the Israeli right is raising about the evacuation of settlements. The right, with nothing better to do, is creating an “existential crisis” about the settlements to be evacuated so as to protect other settlements.
Yamin Zakaria
In 1925, shortly after the symbolic destruction of the Ottoman State, Ali Abd Ar-Raaziq, a graduate from the distinguished institution of al-Azhar University of Cairo, issued a controversial religious edict. He claimed that the institution of the Islamic State is not an integral part of an Islamic society. Many of the readers might be forgiven for assuming that the current infamous Sheikh Tantawi of the same al-Azhar was inspired by the likes of Ali Abd Ar-Raaziq for approving the recent French governments decision to ban the Islamic scarf. Prior to this no genuine Islamic scholar endorsed the abolition of the Islamic State or the ban on the Hijab. It would be superficial and hasty to consider such incidents as merely isolated events in history.
Alexander Golts
Russian President Vladimir Putin may look nothing like Aphrodite, but he was born of the same element. According to legend, the sea foam from which the Greek goddess emerged was mixed with the blood of Uranus, castrated by his son Cronus. As a politician, Putin rose from the blood and muck of the Chechen war, and they have left their mark on his entire presidency. Endless war in the North Caucasus has proven to be Putin’s all-purpose campaign strategy. The four years of Putin’s first term, during which the war raged on unabated, have made clear that Russian voters are prepared to endure endless lies from their leaders about the latest “phase” of the “operation” in Chechnya, as well as a staggering number of Russian dead.
James Conachy
Contrary to the predictions of the Bush administration, the Pentagon and much of the USA media, the capture of Saddam Hussein has not brought about any significant reduction in the intensity of Iraqi opposition. Nearly one year after the invasion, USA troops are compelled to conduct over 1,500 patrols per day to try and disrupt resistance activities and to maintain control over the country. According to the most recent briefing by the Provisional Authority, the number of attacks on USA forces has increased over recent weeks, from 18 to 24 per day. Summing up the impact of Hussein?s capture on the scale of fighting, a 101st Airborne colonel said, “I would say there has been no noticeable difference in any way, shape or form since the time he was captured.”
Xymphora
UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is now saying that he was unaware that the 45 minute claim referred to battlefield weapons. If this is true, it means he dragged his country into war without taking the time to properly inform himself of the most basic facts which served as the rationale for war. Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, actually had the audacity to say that he had not discussed the nature of the weapons with Blair because it had not then been a major issue. Hoon knew that press reports were misleading because there was in fact no imminent threat, but did absolutely nothing to correct the misapprehension, making it clear that it was intended by the Blair government that the British people be deceived. These people seem to think that a lie that they get away with is somehow blessed into becoming the truth.
Mazin Qumsiyeh
The daily killings in the illegally occupied areas (200 civilians killed in the past two months) and occasional intense assaults, such as on Jenin refugee camp, that leave dozens of civilians dead are called war crimes by human rights organisations, but are ignored by many media outlets. By contrast, attacks inside Israel are described in detail and the media never shy away from using the labels of massacres and terrorism in those instances. The net result is that Israeli lives and deaths become valued while Palestinian lives and deaths are diminished or erased from our conscience.
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