White poppies. Sometimes something rings a little bell amid the gloom, like a bird singing after a catastrophe, or a light in a raging storm. It's a symbol of peace, first introduced in Britain by the Co-operative Women's Guild in 1936. The notion that hope for peace might live, however, is apparently so outlandish that the symbol is little known and only makes rare appearances, as it did in P.E.I. this Remembrance Day, and always seems to upset someone.
iraq war
Iraq war leaks should be an election issue in U.S. midterm elections
Just days away from crucial midterm elections, WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, unveiled the largest classified military leak in history. Almost 400,000 secret Pentagon documents relating to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq were made available online. The documents, in excruciating detail, portray the daily torrent of violence, murder, rape and torture to which Iraqis have been subjected since George W. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished." The WikiLeaks release, dubbed "The Iraq War Logs," has been topping the headlines in Europe. But in the U.S., it barely warranted a mention on the agenda-setting Sunday talk shows.
John le Carré: Calling out the traitors
John le Carré, the former British spy turned spy novelist, has some grave words for Tony Blair. More than seven years after the invasion of Iraq, the former British prime minister, now out of office and touring the world pushing his political memoir, is encountering serious protests at his book signings.
"I can't understand that Blair has an afterlife at all. It seems to me that any politician who takes his country to war under false pretenses has committed the ultimate sin," he told me when I sat down with le Carré recently in London. "We've caused irreparable damage in the Middle East. I think we shall pay for it for a long time."
Torture in Iraq continues
Combat operations in Iraq are over, if you believe President Barack Obama's rhetoric. But torture in Iraq's prisons, first exposed during the Abu Ghraib scandal, is thriving, increasingly distant from any scrutiny or accountability. After arresting tens of thousands of Iraqis, often without charge, and holding many for years without trial, the United States has handed over control of Iraqi prisons, and 10,000 prisoners, to the Iraqi government. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Conscientious objectors given a lifeline by private member's bill
"Kevin," an American war resister, has been in hiding for four years in Calgary. He left home so he would not be sent back to Iraq and its "fraternity of guns."
Related rabble.ca story:
Let's make September 11 a day without war
The ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States should serve as a moment to reflect on tolerance. It should be a day of peace. Yet the rising anti-Muslim fervour here, together with the continuing U.S. military occupation of Iraq and the escalating war in Afghanistan (and Pakistan), all fuel the belief that the U.S. really is at war with Islam.
September 11, 2001, united the world against terrorism. Everyone, it seemed, was with the United States, standing in solidarity with the victims, with the families who lost loved ones. The day will be remembered for generations to come, for the notorious act of coordinated mass murder. But that was not the first Sept. 11 to be associated with terror:
American war resister wins another victory in federal court
U.S. war resister Jeremy Hinzman has won the right to appeal his deportation order, setting the stage for a new immigration review process for all those Iraq- and Afghanistan-assigned American soldiers who came to Canada as conscientious objectors.
The Federal Court of Appeals ruled in a unanimous three-judge decision on July 6 that the immigration officer in charge of Hinzman's refugee case in 2008 was in error to deny his application for permanent residence status because she didn't take into account his pacifist religious beliefs.
Immigration Minister must act as directed by Parliament and let U.S. war resisters stay in Canada
WAR RESISTERS SUPPORT CAMPAIGN
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Jeremy Hinzman, Nga Nguyen and their son Liam.
TORONTO-This afternoon the Federal Court of Appeal issued its unanimous judgment that an immigration officer's decision rejecting Jeremy Hinzman's application for permanent residence in Canada was "significantly flawed" and "unreasonable."
Chelsea Manning deserves a pardon and a Nobel Peace Prize
Irish protest for Chelsea Manning. (Photo: Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)