Peace

In an important breakthrough for U.S.-Cuba trade, two members of Montana’s congressional delegation clinched an agreement in Havana on Sept. 14 to sell $10 million of agricultural products to the island nation.

President Bush stunned the nation Sunday night with his request for an additional $87 billion for the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. In a hastily-scheduled television speech, Bush sought to defend the Iraq war and occupation as polls show his support declining.

Traffic congestion, polluted air and beaches, overcrowded schools, potholes, blackouts, broken water mains and decaying bridges are daily miseries that most everyone has had to confront. These hazards and disruptions will continue and in some cases worsen, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is escalating to a new crisis level, with unforeseen dangers, including full-scale war, which could engulf not only Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, but the entire region as well.

It was 58 years ago – Aug. 6, 1945 – and I was on the verge of turning 16. I remember the day vividly.

While we in Texas worry about the safety of our soldier friend in Iraq, he’s worrying about how to improve our PWW circulation. Here are more excerpts from his correspondence.

In Nagasaki on Aug. 8, the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) and Communist Party USA (CPUSA) met to discuss their common struggle against the Bush foreign policy doctrine of first strike nuclear war.

The following is the slightly abridged text of a speech to the 2003 World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in Nagasaki, Japan, Aug. 3-9. The complete speech is available at www.peacefultomorrows.org/voices/index.php.

The Israeli air force assassinated two leaders of the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas party, Aug. 30. The helicopter rocket attack on the Hamas leaders’ car, on a main street of a Gaza Strip refugee camp, also killed several civilian passersby including an 8-year-old girl. Another Israeli air force assassination attack on a heavily populated area in Gaza Sept. 1 killed at least one Palestinian and wounded 20 passersby, including several children. This attack was the seventh assassination conducted by the Israeli armed forces in the occupied territories since Aug. 21, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) charged.

Last week’s six-country meeting on reducing tensions and easing the nuclear standoff on the Korean peninsula ended with a mixture of hope and uncertainty. The three-day talks in Beijing between the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia concluded on Aug. 29. Upon adjournment, the six countries agreed to continue the multilateral discussions in two months.