World Analysis Newswire Archive

Booklet compiled by Bristol Anarchist Bookfair Collective - 3 articles looking at recollections and critiques of J18 and the anti-capitalist movement and the possibilties for future organising.

There is a stark similarity between some aspects of the political atmosphere dominant over Iran today and those under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh right before the U.S.-led coup of 1953 that resulted in the overthrow of the legitimate government of Iran and the establishment of a U.S.-puppet government of the Shah.

On an emotional day for many, the Iraq Enquiry hears testimony from former British Prime Minister, Anthony Blair, over his part in the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003.

"Clinton said that a “cornerstone” of European security is the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.” She repeated U.S. calls on Russia to honor the terms of a cease-fire agreement that ended the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war and the administration’s refusal to recognize Russia’s claims of independence for the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia." Neither Cliton or the current author bother to recall for us that it was Russia that was the victum of a surprise attack from Georgia, a US "partner." I wonder why?

* The public pronouncement from the Editorial Collective of El Libertario in mid-January 2010 on the current situation in Venezuela.

A proposal for a non-ideological, word-of-mouth election campaign based on the principle of trust. In the forthcoming UK general election, candidates who represent no political party, only themselves (and by association the communities in which they live), stand for election with the single pledge to resign if elected. This gives voters a “none of the above” option, allowing them to vote against all the parties; but more than that, it gives them the chance to vote positively, for a trustworthy candidate who doesn't want power over others, and thus to vest moral authority in the local community, not in a distant Parliament.

Here's a funny text:

The continued incarceration of the Belgrade Six and fears over Serbia's willingness to maintain the human rights of its citizens has prompted mutterings both inside and outside the country - particularly as the process for country's EU membership application speeds up.

"Expectations were too high". "We overestimated our ability". Time magazine’s interview with the President made for grim reading, unless you’re Israeli. Obama’s claim that "divisions within their societies" made "meaningful conversation...very hard" can be taken as a significant climb-down from the bold stance taken in Cairo.

Dr. Nafeez Ahmed provides us with an overview of the role played by US military and intelligence practices in the creation of terrorism, particularly Al-Qaeda. He tells us about the status of investigations into the Blair government’s complicity with the Bush administration in supporting the invasion of Iraq. He discusses possible factors behind Americans’ long-held denial and dismissal of dark US foreign policy practices as conspiracies. Mr. Nafeez talks about the Obama administration, the ongoing posture of US corporate interests and the desire to dominate world energy supplies, the so-called liquid bombing plot and how it was mythologized in the US, and more.

On Christmas Day, 2009, 23-year old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allegedly tried to blow up a plane on route from Amsterdam to Detroit by detonating a device stitched to his underwear. Fortunately, in yet another example of the level of sophistication of the new league of violent extremists, Abdulmutallab succeeded only in setting fire to his own crotch, before being apprehended by fellow passengers.

Copyleft artwork by Brazilian cartoonist Latuff.

"There is no need for US military in Haiti?: Why have they arrived w/o obviously needed supplies? Just bullets. What is their purpose?"

"Further, the BBC, like most mainstream press today, targets Venezuela (as well as a short list of other countries like China), constantly highlighting what it perceives to be problems here in a way that it does not do for other countries. The media finds one or two mistakes or problems with the Venezuelan government, and uses it to discredit the Bolivarian revolution, and therefore, the possibility that other ways are possible. On the other hand, the 55% of Mumbai’s population living in slums, and the one billion people in the world living in slums and going without sufficient food, and so on, couldn’t possibly indicate that capitalism is the system that is failing."

On January 4, Tim Luckhurst, former BBC journalist and current Professor of Journalism at the University of Kent, wrote an article in the Independent with the dramatic title, ‘Demise of news barons is just a Marxist fantasy.’ Luckhurst argued that leftist critics are gleefully predicting the end of corporate journalism:

“There will be no further need for newspapers or broadcasters to host debates and represent public opinion. The internet will let every citizen speak for themselves. The masses will seize the means of media production. We will witness an era of revolutionary change.” ( http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/opinion/tim-luckhurst-demise-of-news-barons-is-just-a-marxist-fantasy-1856668.html)

Discussion with former BBC & ITN Foreign Correspondent Alan Hart aired last week on BCfm. The conflict in Israel/Palestine seems to be just about the most divisive in the world. This discussion marks the return of those who participated in the Gaza convoy.

Whatever may be said about the 'rights and wrongs' about Ted Kaczynski's approach to 'the revolution', none can surely denie his precise analysis,( admittedly not as in depth as could be), of technology versus our freedom?
read on and discuss, please:

An overview of the situation in the wake of the attacks on Abahlali baseMjondolo.

The concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere is already so high that the climate system has been brought out of balance. The CO2 concentration and global temperatures have increased more rapidly in the last 50 years than ever before on Earth, and will rise even faster in the coming decades. This adds to a multitude of other serious ecological imbalances, the impacts of which threaten the lives and livelihoods of the people of the world, most acutely, impoverished people and other vulnerable groups.

"For its part, the CIA provided Special Operations Group personnel under the command of a lieutenant colonel assigned by the Special Operations Command in Fort Bragg, N.C. They had been in Venezuela since 2001 and belonged to the U.S. Special Operations Intelligence Support Activity. They reportedly made contact with high-ranking officers in the Venezuelan Armed Forces, including Gen. Lucas Rincón, Vice Minister of Security; Gen. Luis Camacho Kairuz; businessmen and labor union leaders from the Venezuelan Workers Federation, among others.

“The coup was also supported by Special Operations psychological warfare (PSYOPs) personnel deployed from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They put together Spanish-language television announcements, purportedly from Venezuelan political and business leaders and aired by Venezuelan television and radio stations, saying Chavez "provoked" the crisis by ordering his supporters to fire on peaceful protesters in Caracas. U.S. electronic warfare technicians also helped to jam cell phone and radio frequencies in Caracas and other major cities in co-operation with the Intelligence Battalion Brig. Gen. Andrés Ibarra of the Venezuelan Army's high command.”

The threat against Venezuela is certainly not a bizarre idea. It is up to all of us, as this year begins, to redouble our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and the defense of their Revolution."

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10,000 US Troops just arrived in Haiti... Are we sure their mission will be pruely a humanitarian one? Please spread widely. General Joe