Peace

The leadership of the Iraqi Communist Party held a press conference on Aug. 20, at its Abu Nu'as headquarters in central Baghdad, to launch its “Patriotic Democratic Plan” to extricate the country from the current crisis. The press conference, which lasted one and a half hours, was well attended by various media, including the local press, radio and TV stations

In the wake of the failed immigration reform, passionate discussions have arisen among various organizations both for and against the DREAM Act.
It gives me great joy to see students taking nonviolent action to find a solution to the immigration question.

Progress. This is the new watchword for determining whether U.S. military forces should remain bogged down in Iraq. Because the Bush administration has managed to shift the debate from how quickly to bring the troops home to “benchmarks” as the measure of “progress,” it is important to scrutinize just what “progress” really means.

UNITED NATIONS — The Gaza Strip is in danger of a general economic collapse, said a high level UN official, unless Karni crossing, the main point of entry for commercial goods into the territory, is reopened soon.

Puerto Rican resistance to the U.S. war in Iraq, unfolding in the context of struggles for independence and economic justice, has special characteristics. Recent opposition to military recruitment and FBI harassment of youth activists suggests that young people in Puerto Rico are at the center of these conflicts.

NEW YORK — Michimasa Hirata was not supposed to be speaking in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on Aug. 9, the 62nd anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki, Japan. But in a tragic illustration of the bombs’ continuing effects, the originally scheduled speaker was diagnosed with leukemia in April and died within the following two weeks.

It looks as though the administration will use a September report by Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, to paint a rosy picture of the situation there. Elected leaders and broad sections of the American people vow to “not be fooled again,” and are using the current congressional recess to ramp up the fight to set a date to withdraw troops.

Steve Share, editor del Minneapolis Labor Review, estaba en su oficina la tarde del agosto 1 cuando oyó las sirenas de vehículos en camino al derrumbamiento de un puente. Agarró su cámara y salió. Lo que lo impresionó más fue la valentía de gente arriesgando sus vidas para salvar a otros.

Rep. John Conyers has probably done more than anyone in Congress to expose the depths of the constitutional crisis in our country and to fight to protect and restore civil rights and liberties. He is a champion of the broad people’s alliance to defeat the ultra-right.