Page 809 – Toward Freedom

Destination Darfur: A New Cold War Over Oil

Vijay Prashad August 14, 2007 Vijay Prashad

In February, George W. Bush announced the creation of a new unified combatant command for Africa. After several years of deliberation, the Pentagon finally agreed to create the African Command (AFRICOM), which will relieve the European Command (EUCOM) and the Central Command (CENTCOM), which earlier shared responsibility for Africa.

Israeli Violence: Reflections on the Summer War in Lebanon

Khurram Aziz August 14, 2007 Khurram Aziz

Israelis call it the second Lebanon war. Those thirty four days of fierce fighting left the mighty Israeli army demoralised and searching for answers. The government appointed Winograd Commission, chaired by retired judge Eliyahu Winograd, has yet to produce its final analysis into the war. However, the preliminary report is a damning assessment of a country unleashing extreme military violence in the region.

Behind the Scenes: Warlords’ Deadly Battle in Congo

Keith Harmon Snow August 9, 2007 Keith Harmon Snow

The "four-day war" that rocked Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo from March 22-26, 2007 was called a "cleaning" by insiders. The realities behind the scenes remain cloaked by the international media and world institutions, and the big losers, yet again, are the Congolese people. This is the inside story.

From the cover of Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa

Book Review: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa

Robin Lloyd August 7, 2007 Robin Lloyd

I've just read two books by two people who care passionately about Africa and the AIDS pandemic that has swept and is sweeping the continent. The first, by Canadian diplomat and humanitarian Stephen Lewis is entitled Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa. The second, by Canadian journalist Stephanie Nolen is 28 Stories of Aids in Africa.

Argentina’s Bonfire of Memory

Benjamin Dangl August 7, 2007 Benjamin Dangl

Pinochet and Videla

Guitar strumming and singing starts and stops with the passage of wine and steak. The gaiety of this party in Argentina is in contrast with the topic of conversation. Some of the partygoers are sons and daughters of dissidents persecuted in the dictatorship and they talk about disappearances and torture as if it all took place yesterday. The past keeps seeping into view, like the persistent smoke from the barbecue.

Angola’s Holden Roberto and Post-Violence Planning

Rene Wadlow August 7, 2007 Rene Wadlow

Holden Roberto

There are people who, having once been in the spotlight and having left center-stage for so long, one assumes that they are dead. Thus, I was surprised when I read the short obituary in the International Herald Tribune on August 4th, 2007 that Holden Roberto, the former insurgency leader in Angola, had just died at the age of 84.