Peace

WASHINGTON – George W. Bush praised the “fierce courage” of U.S. soldiers as he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day. The same weekend, he dedicated the World War II memorial, posing as the “war president” in his bid for a second term. click here for Spanish text

News Analysis

With the naming of an interim Iraqi government following a contentious process, Iraq’s struggle for sovereignty and an end to the U.S. occupation enters a new phase.

LOS ANGELES – “Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld must resign or be fired,” said Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) to a May 22 meeting with constituents from the Lincoln Heights neighborhood, part of his congressional district here.

Longtime Philadelphia labor activist Jim Moran had little use for George W. Bush’s May 24 Iraq policy speech.

“It didn’t score any points with me,” Moran said.

The National Board of the Communist Party USA released the following statement on May 23.

The torture by U.S. military intelligence of Iraqi detainees at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq has ignited outrage at home and abroad.

WASHINGTON – The Rev. Graylan Hagler, pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church here and a leader of United for Peace and Justice, says it is time for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to go.

Israeli troops unleashed a campaign of terror on the Palestinian residents of the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip last week, using tanks, helicopter gunships, missiles and bulldozers to demolish hundreds of Palestinian homes and render thousands of people homeless in a matter of days.

Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia charged nearly two months ago that U.S. intelligence operatives directed torture of Iraqi prisoners.

Elizabeth Fausto’s brother, Jose – an army reservist now serving in Iraq – recently learned that his deployment has been extended a second time, for a period of 120 days.

LOS ANGELES – When Rossana Cambron, a special education teacher from Whittier, Calif., saw Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) on a local Spanish-language television program April 30 speaking favorably of a military draft, she got mad.