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Pipeline Renews Debate on Sea-Dumped Chemical Weapons

Matthew Berger October 27, 2009 Matthew Berger

(IPS) – On Sep. 24, a beachgoer near Swansea, Wales reported a piece of military equipment washed up on the shore. Three days later, the two members of the team that had showed up to dispose of the shell developed symptoms compatible with mustard gas – a chemical warfare agent used in the two world wars and other conflicts.

Concern over sea-dumped chemical weapons such as the mustards that washed up in Wales is growing, particularly in the Baltic Sea – the site of the dumping of 40,000 tonnes of surplus and seized chemical weapons in the years following World War II and the proposed site of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany.

Following presentations at the U.N. last week and meetings on Capitol Hill later this week, Vaidotas Verba, Lithuania’s ambassador to the Netherlands and to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, hopes to spread awareness of this sea-borne hazard and build momentum for a draft resolution to be presented at the U.N. General Assembly next fall. read more

Anti-Capitalism Goes Mainstream: New Film Opens Space for Radical Debate

Alex Knight October 22, 2009 Alex Knight

Capitalism: A Love Story, which opened in 962 theaters earlier this month, is Michael Moore's most ambitious work yet - taking aim at the root cause behind the injustices he's exposed in his other films over the last 20 years. This time capitalism itself is the culprit to be maligned in Moore's trademark docu-tragi-comic style. And by using the platform of a major motion picture to make a direct assault at the root of the problem, Moore has created space in the political mainstream for a radical conversation (radical meaning "going to the root").

A Brief History of Loyal Opposition to War

Chris Lombardi October 21, 2009 Chris Lombardi

"I joined the military to kill Iraqi people," Kristofer Goldsmith said softly in a Congressional hearing room in May of last year. The slim young veteran, his mohawk pulled back from his head in a half-braid, kept his eyes focused forward as news photographers scurried under the table at which he sat, saying: "I remember on September 12, 2001, looking up at the TV screen as a sixteen-year-old boy, saying we should use biological weapons and eliminate the threat in the Middle East."

Obama’s Choice: Play it Safe or Risk it All to Keep Hope Alive

Sandy LeonVest October 20, 2009 Sandy LeonVest

President Barack Obama has a choice to make - and it is one of Faustian proportions. He needs to decide who he wants to be, and how he wants history - and his children - to remember him. More specifically, he needs to decide whether he wants to be a Great Leader or whether to play it safe in the interest of being a two-term president.

US Senate Panel Extends Controversial Patriot Act Provisions

Jason Leopold October 16, 2009 Jason Leopold

Guinea: A Wave of Horror But No UN Action

Rene Wadlow October 14, 2009 Rene Wadlow

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara

A wave of horror spread among the assembled delegates at the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva as news of the September 28 shootings of unarmed participants in a political meeting in Conakry was known. It was the last days of the Council session which was then in its final stage of negotiating and voting resolutions. Was there anything that the UN human rights body could do?