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Dahr Jamail

Unembedded Reporting From Iraq: An Interview with Dahr Jamail

Benjamin Dangl October 31, 2005 Benjamin Dangl

In 2003, tired of the US media's inaccurate portrayal of the realities of the Iraq War, independent journalist Dahr Jamail headed to the conflict himself. Instead of following in the footsteps of mainstream media's embedded, "Hotel Journalists," Jamail hit the Iraqi streets to uncover the stories most reporters were missing. His countless interviews with Iraqi citizens and from-the-ground reporting have offered a horrific look into the bowels of the US occupation. From covering the bloody siege of Falluja to breaking a story on Bechtel's failure to reconstruct water treatment plants, his writing and photographs depict an Iraq that is much worse off now than it was before the US invasion. As one Abu Ghraib detainee explained to Jamail, "the Americans brought electricity to my ass before they brought it to my house."

Uruguay Protest

Cellulose and Forestation: Two Sides of a Predatory Model

Raúl Zibechi October 27, 2005 Raúl Zibechi

The construction of two huge cellulose factories on the Uruguay River that threaten to pollute the binational stream illustrates how a model of forestry imposed by neoliberalism in the 1990s is gaining ground in the Southern Cone. Standing on a makeshift stage in the center of Montevideo, writer Eduardo Galeano addressed the crowd in a calm tone: "There are decisions that are made in 15 minutes but have consequences for centuries." It was May 27, 2005 during a demonstration against the construction of two huge cellulose factories on the shores of the Uruguay River. It was not the first time that environmental and social organizations had taken to the streets to protest the two megaprojects, which threaten to pollute the country's main river, shared with Argentina. But it was the first time that it was done under a progressive or leftist government.

Laura Flanders

Laura Flanders: Anti-War Radio Journalist

Bob Feldman October 26, 2005 Bob Feldman

Laura Flanders is one of the most influential anti-war journalists in the United States. Her tough debating skills, powerful intellect and sharp wit have made her a force to reckon with in media today. In addition to hosting countless radio shows, including her current program on Air America Radio, she recently came out with Bushwomen, a book that examines the background of powerful Republican Party women like Condoleezza Rice and Lynn Cheney. Flanders became involved in activism in the 1980s as a student Barnard College, where she circulated petitions against the U.S. government's intervention in Central America and demonstrated against Columbia University's refusal to divest itself of its investments in U.S. corporations doing business in South Africa during the apartheid era. Flanders initially became involved in the U.S. alternative media world as a radical filmmaker.

9/11 Collapse

Mission improbable: Challenging the official story of 9/11

Greg Guma October 24, 2005 Greg Guma

For more than four years, the public has repeatedly been urged to ignore "outrageous" conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that set in motion the so-called "war on terrorism." However, the official explanation that has been provided - and widely embraced - also requires the acceptance of a theory, one involving a massive intelligence failure, 19 Muslim hijackers under the sway of Osama bin Laden, and the inability of the world's most advanced Air Force to intercept four commercial airplanes.

Child Soldier in Uganda

Uganda: ICC Issues Arrest Warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army

Rene Wadlow October 20, 2005 Rene Wadlow

Child Soldier in Uganda
On October 14, 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague announced that it issued warrants for the arrest of five leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), the first such step taken by the new human rights court. The ICC prosecutor has accused Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA and four of his closest commanders, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen, and Raska Lukwiya, of killing, raping and robbing civilians.  The chief ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, put a special emphasis on the LRA's systematic kidnapping of children, forcing them to fight and using girls as sex slaves. The ICC has no police of its own and must depend on cooperation from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex-Zaire), where the LRA leaders are believed to be operating.