Peace and Justice Post

Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world’s richest country faces economic crisis

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Disadvantaged Americans queue for aid in New York

By David Usborne in New York | The Independent, April 1, 2008

We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.

Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

The increase – from 26.5 million in 2007 – is due partly to recent efforts to increase public awareness of the programme and also a switch from paper coupons to electronic debit cards. But above all it is the pressures being exerted on ordinary Americans by an economy that is suddenly beset by troubles. Housing foreclosures, accelerating jobs losses and fast-rising prices all add to the squeeze.

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The Guardian, 3, 200
Tania Braningan in Beijing

A Chinese court has jailed one of the government’s most prominent critics for three and a half years on subversion charges, prompting an international outcry.

The US immediately criticised the ruling and the European Union called for the release of Hu Jia, a dissident who has pursued issues ranging from democratic rights, support for Aids sufferers and self-determination for Tibet.

Human rights groups also put pressure on the International Olympic Committee – currently in Beijing to finalise arrangements for the August games – to speak out about the repression of activists.

They warned that Hu’s sentencing this morning reflected a systematic crackdown on critics ahead of the Olympics, pointing out that he is the third activist to be convicted on the same charge in just two months.

The 34-year-old had been held under house arrest in his flat at the Freedom City complex for more than 200 days before his detention in December. During this time he made a video diary showing the intense scrutiny he was subjected to. His wife and baby daughter remain under house arrest.

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In central London on the evening of March 15^th around 150 people met together to commemorate the life and struggle of Dr George Habash, founder of the Arab National Movement and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; a man who contributed more than most to the revolutionary struggles of a liberated Palestine and a free and united Arab Nation. Organised by the George Habash Memorial Committee (London) the meeting brought together people from many different backgrounds from all over England. It was especially significant that most of those attending were young people from mainly Palestinian, Arab and also Western backgrounds, whose political affiliations reflect the political spectrum of the Palestinian liberation movement.

In front of a backdrop of a massive Palestinian flag and next to a portrait of George Habash with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, Sukant Chandan opened up the meeting as Chair by welcoming the attendees and the guest speakers Dr Manuel Hassasian PLO representative to Britain, George Galloway MP, and Leila Khaled the legendary Palestinian revolutionary and central committee member of the PFLP.

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Sott.net, April 1, 2008
Peter Dejong
Associated Press

Israel announced plans to build 1,400 new apartments in the West Bank and disputed part of Jerusalem, despite warnings by Palestinians and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that they could hurt peace efforts between the two sides.

While the announcement Monday could further damage the standing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak moved on Tuesday to bolster the moderate leader, saying he will consider opening the Gaza Strip’s crossings if Palestinian militants there stop bombarding Israel with rockets.

The Israeli announcement on new construction came shortly after Rice wrapped up a two-day visit and left for Amman to meet Abbas. In the Jordanian capital, Rice said Israel should stop such construction projects, but to no avail.

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By Gareth Porter | Asia Times, April 2, 2008

WASHINGTON – As it became clear last week that “Operation Knights Assault” in Basra in south Iraq was in serious trouble, the George W Bush administration began to claim in off-the-record statements to journalists that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had launched the operation without consulting Washington.

The effort to disclaim US responsibility for the operation in which government forces battled with the Shi’ite – Mahdi Army – militias is an indication that it was viewed as a major embarrassment just as top commander General David Petraeus and ambassador Ryan Crocker are about to testify before Congress.

Behind this furious backpedaling is a major Bush administration miscalculation about Muqtada and his Mahdi Army, which the administration believed was no longer capable of a coordinated military operation. It is now apparent that Muqtada and the Mahdi Army were holding back because they were in the process of retraining and reorganization, not because Muqtada had given up the military option or had lost control of the Mahdi Army.
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Immanuel Wallesrstein, Commentsary No. 230, 2008

It is not I who is saying that Wall Street is really predicated on greed, but Stephen Raphael. And who is Stephen Raphael? He is a former member of the Board of Bear Stearns, the Wall Street bank that collapsed last month. And where did Raphael say this? In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, which is more or less the house journal of Wall Street. And what was Raphael’s point? It was to explain (or was it to excuse?) the collapse of the firm. “This could happen to any firm,” he said.

Yes, indeed it could. And it did. Meanwhile, while this was happening, the chairman of the firm, Jimmy Caynes, was nonchalantly playing bridge in a tournament. Not too smart for a greedy banker. As a result, he lost most of his personal fortune, and another greedy firm, JPMorgan Chase, came in like a vulture and made a killing. Oh, incidentally, some 14,000 employees of Bear Stearns are, or will soon be, out of a job.

Is then capitalism nothing but greed? No, there are other things to it, but greed plays a very big role. And greed, by definition, works for some at the expense of others. So, some firms are going bankrupt these days – on Wall Street, and elsewhere in the world – and others are not. The United States as a country is going bankrupt, and others are not. The United States doesn’t call it that, but that is the truth of it.

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Bush Trying to Bolster Confidence, Commitment Toward War in Afghanistan

BEN FELLER
AP News

Mar 31, 2008 15:02 EST

President Bush wants to bolster the multinational fight in Afghanistan by reminding NATO allies that the war is in their interest — and by persuading them to send more troops into battle.

But this will be a challenge for Bush, who arrived Monday night in Kiev, Ukraine, at the start of a trip that also will include Romania, Croatia and Russia. The NATO alliance is strained currently and is engaged in soul-searching about its place and mission in a rapidly changing world.

Beyond Afghanistan, Bush is trying to score a breakthrough on a U.S.-based missile defense system in Europe. And he wants NATO to expand its borders.

At the center of the trip is the NATO summit, starting Wednesday in Bucharest, Romania. The war in Afghanistan is under fresh review as the 26-nation NATO alliance confronts al-Qaida and Taliban forces, rising violence and internal debate about whether member nations are contributing enough.

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Chris Floyd

Global Research, March 31, 2008

Empire Burlesque

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I. One Tick Closer to Midnight Last Friday, Dick Cheney was in Saudi Arabia for high-level meetings with the Saudi king and his ministers. On Saturday, it was revealed that the Saudi Shura Council — the elite group that implements the decisions of the autocratic inner circle — is preparing “national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts’ warnings of possible attacks on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactors,” one of the kingdom’s leading newspapers, Okaz, reports. The German-based dpa news service relayed the paper’s story. Simple prudence — or ominous timing? We noted here last week that an American attack on Iran was far more likely — and more imminent — than most people suspect. We pointed to the mountain of evidence for this case gathered by scholar William R. Polk, one of the top aides to John Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and to other indicators of impending war. The story by Okaz — which would not have appeared in the tightly controlled dictatorship without approval from the top — is yet another, very weighty piece of evidence laid in the scales toward a new, horrendous conflict. We don’t know what the Saudis told Cheney in private — or even more to the point, what he told them. But the release of this story now, just after his departure, would seem to be a clear indication that the Saudis have good reason to fear a looming attack on Iran’s nuclear sites and are actively preparing for it.

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Iran in the Crosshairs

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS | Counterpunch, March 31, 2008

The US Congress, the US media, the American people, and the United Nations, are looking the other way as Cheney prepares his attack on Iran.

If only America had an independent media and an opposition party. If there were a shred of integrity left in American political life, perhaps a third act of naked aggression–a third war crime under the Nuremberg standard–by the Bush Regime could be prevented.

On March 30, the Russian News & Information Agency, Novosti, cited “a high-ranking security source: “The latest military intelligence data point to heightened US military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran.”

According to Novosti, Russian Colonel General Leonid Ivashov said “that the Pentagon is planning to deliver a massive air strike on Iran’s military infrastructure in the near future.”

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