Circulate the petition - No War with Iran! At this writing, over 1900 people have signed the Just Foreign Policy/Peace Action petition against war with Iran through the Just Foreign Policy website. Peace Action has collected 15,000 signatures. Signing the petition takes less than a minute. To circulate the petition, use this link: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/involved/iranpetition.html
Just Foreign Policy Hosts Screenings of "Iraq for Sale" Last night Just Foreign Policy hosted screenings of Robert Greenwalt's documentary "Iraq for Sale" about abuses of private contractors in Iraq: at the New School in New York City (more than 150 attended) and at the Illinois Disciples Foundation in Champaign, Illinois (more than 100 attended.) We circulated the "No Iran War" petition. We encourage Just Foreign Policy supporters to attend a local screening, or better still, host your own. The great thing about hosting is that people find out about your screening from the national web site. But you can limit attendance as needed. Hosting a screening is very little work. If you think you might host a screening please let us know: info at justforeignpolicy.org. The web site for the film, showing local screenings, is http://iraqforsale.bravenewtheaters.com/
Summary: U.S./Top News Most adults in the US want their government to set a date for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. 53 per cent of respondents think the U.S. should set a timetable for withdrawal.
Richard Garfield, a public health professor at Columbia University, mocked President Bush's criticism of a Johns Hopkins study published in the British medical journal the Lancet which estimated 600,000 Iraqis have been killed as a result of the US invasion. "I loved when Bush said 'their methodology has been pretty well discredited,' " said Garfield. "That's exactly wrong. There is no discrediting of this methodology."
A commission formed to assess the Iraq war and recommend a new course has ruled out the prospect of victory for America, the New York Sun reports.
Britain's top military commander, General Dannatt, said British soldiers should leave Iraq "sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems."
The US push to win Security Council backing for tough, swift sanctions against North Korea was set back by China and Russia Thursday, suggesting trouble for the US in a similar push to punish Iran, the New York Times reports.
China is planning to adopt a new law that seeks to crack down on sweatshops and protect workers' rights by giving labor unions real power for the first time since it introduced market forces in the 1980's, the Times reports. The move, which underscores the government's growing concern about the widening income gap and threats of social unrest, is setting off a battle with American and other foreign corporations that have lobbied against it by hinting that they may build fewer factories here.
An Army judge sentenced Sergeant Ricky Clousing to 11 months in confinement for going AWOL. He will serve 3 months. Clousing worked in Iraq as an interrogator. "My experiences in Iraq forced me to re-evaluate my beliefs and my ethics," Clousing said. "I ultimately felt I could not serve."
16 Afghans released from years in captivity at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo arrived in Afghanistan Thursday. The head of Afghanistan's reconciliation commission, said most of the prisoners were innocent and had been turned in to the U.S. military by other Afghans because of personal disputes. One former prisoner reported that he was repeatedly tortured.
Iran The Iranian leadership is vowing to continue to defy an international demand to stop nuclear activities, the New York Times reports. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Tuesday Iran would continue its uranium enrichment program, asserting the program was intended for peaceful civilian purposes. He said the decision was made easier by the fact that Iran voluntarily suspended enrichment three years ago, a cooperative gesture that proved fruitless.
Iraq Iraq Sunni politicians accused Shiite lawmakers Thursday of using dirty tricks to push through a new law on federalism, AP reports. One of the main Sunni parties said quorum had not been reached. The session was closed to the public, and the measure was passed by show of hands, with no count of the vote.
Trash collection has become one of Baghdad's most dangerous occupations, the New York Times reports. A bomb could be lurking beneath any heap of refuse, and insurgents are willing to kill to prevent them from being discovered. The danger to trash collectors is at the root of one of the most visible symptoms of collapse in Baghdad - garbage is ubiquitous, especially in dangerous neighborhoods.
The Progressive Government Institute has published the "Iraq Reconciliation Plan" resulting from a meeting of U.S. peace activists with Iraqi members of Parliament, sheikhs, and torture survivors.
Palestine The Israeli air force carried out strikes that killed eight Palestinians and wounded about 20 on Thursday, the New York Times reports.
Lebanon Michael Ignatieff, a former Harvard professor running for the leadership of Canada's Liberal Party, is facing a political uproar over remarks in which he labeled a "war crime" Israel's deadly bombing of the Lebanese town of Qana, the Washington Post reports.
Venezuela Mark Weisbrot, writing on Daily Kos, criticizes press coverage of President Chavez' UN speech for omitting key background for Chavez' remarks about President Bush: the Bush administration's involvement in the 2002 military coup that briefly overthrew Venezuela's democratic government, and the administration's continued intervention in Venezuela.
France/Turkey The French National Assembly approved legislation Thursday that would make it a crime to deny that the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey during and after World War I were genocide. The legislation, which was criticized by Turkey's government and some EU officials, could further complicate talks for Turkey's admission to the EU, the International Herald Tribune reports.
Contents: http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/newsroom/blog/
-------- Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org
Just Foreign Policy is a membership organization devoted to reforming U.S. foreign policy so that it reflects the values and interests of the majority of Americans.