Too many of us are muddled in trying to explain U.S. policy from the perspective that we are a democratic republic undivided by socioeconomic class.

This is not surprising. After all, this is what we were taught from earliest childhood; and the belief has been reinforced all the way to the grave.

However, the absurdity of this assertion should be obvious to any student of history. The hypocrisy of rhetoric versus the reality created by policy is simply too great to ignore, and it is growing worse every year.

To understand American policy in historical context we must divorce ourselves from the old paradigm that has been ingrained in us - America as a classless democratic republic.

This is simply a popular myth used by the ruling class to deceive and subvert the working class into servitude. U.S. policy makes sense only when we examine its formulation as stemming from plutocratic interests, rather than democratic principles

America as we know it was founded upon the eradication of its indigenous people—the American Indians. When the declaration of independence was written, slavery was the institution that drove the economic engines of the country.   more »

With his desire to purge Iranian culture of the un-Islamic influence of 'decadent western music', President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad needs all the allies he can get.

But now he has support in the unlikely form of Kiarash Alimi, a teenage Iranian musician who has taken up rap to persuade fellow youth their tastes are misguided.

Alimi, 19, who is among Iran's most promising artists, has backed the conservative President by attacking the 'cultural bombardment' from the West and counter-attacking the enemy through one of its most subversive sounds: rap.

In his album The Guy From Shahrak-e Gharb, named after an affluent north Tehran suburb, he lampoons wealthy young Iranians who submerge their national identity beneath a facade of basketball, Che Guevara T-shirts and street talk based on that of America's inner cities.

With more than a dash of irony, the title song draws on the influence of US rapper Eminem, who is a big hit in Iran.   more »

The much-belated, poll-prompted outcry of a few American elected officials against the widespread use of torture by the Bush Administration - following years of silent acquiescence in the face of incontrovertible evidence of deliberate atrocity - is a welcome development, of course.

But it has left an even more sinister aspect of Bushist policy untouched, one that likewise has been hidden in plain sight for years.

On September 17, 2001, George W. Bush signed an executive order authorizing the use of "lethal measures" against anyone in the world whom he or his minions designated an "enemy combatant." This order remains in force today.

No judicial evidence, no hearing, no charges are required for these killings; no law, no border, no oversight restrains them. Bush has also given agents in the field carte blanche to designate "enemies" on their own initiative and kill them as they see fit.

The existence of this universal death squad - and the total obliteration of human liberty it represents - has not provoked so much as a crumb, an atom, a quantum particle of controversy in the American Establishment, although it's no secret.   more »

Among radicals, the late English essayist and novelist George Orwell is highly regarded for his perspicacity in revealing the importance of language in propagandizing and indoctrination.

In his epic novel 1984, Orwell described an upside-down world where “War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery,” and “Ignorance is Strength.”

Progressives are well aware of how language can be twisted to convey inside-out impressions; thus, the “killing of civilians” is dubbed “collateral damage,” “aggression” is “preemptive war,” and “an ethnically cleansed town” is “a settlement.”

A few weeks ago, I engaged in a dialogue with a progressive writer about the terminology used in his articles. I noted that he had initially used the term “insurgents” in quotation marks and afterwards the term was used without quotation marks.

I asked, since “insurgents” is a preferred designation of imperialists and their corporate media, why the writer used this word without quotation marks later in the article.

I also asked why the writer did not refer to those struggling against the occupation as a “resistance”. Furthermore, I asked why the writer referred to US or “coalition” forces but not “occupation” forces.   more »

IS SADDAM BEING DRUGGED TO "KEEP HIM QUIET'?

There is an aspect of the proceedings being conducted in the Green Zone that raises serious and disturbing questions. Almost all of this week’s media reports of the trial described the comportment of Hussein and his co-defendants on Wednesday as “subdued.”

The New York Times reported, “Dressed in a dark suit, he looked gaunt and subdued... and never stood up. He said at one point, ‘I want to tell the media—there is no letter from me.’ But his voice could scarcely be heard.”

This sharp departure from Hussein’s earlier demeanor suggests that the US authorities orchestrating the trial may have resorted to drugging the defendants in order to get the kind of show trial that they desire.

The American media has seized upon this week’s proceedings in the US-orchestrated show trial of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to deflect attention from Washington’s own crimes against the Iraqi people and the debacle of the US occupation of the country.

The reporting of the trial has centered on Saddam Hussein’s statement to the court acknowledging that he ordered the trial of 148 Iraqi Shiites as part of his regime’s reprisals against a 1982 assassination attempt in the town of Dujail. The attempt on Hussein’s life occurred in the midst of the Iran-Iraq war.   more »

By taking control of virtually all of Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area on the border with Afghanistan, the Taliban have gained a significant base from which to wage their resistance against US-led forces in Afghanistan.

At the same time, the development solidifies the anti-US resistance groups in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, which will now fight under a single strategy.

The Taliban recently declared the establishment of an "Islamic state" in North Waziristan, and they now, through the brutal elimination of the criminal elements who previously held sway, in effect rule in the rugged territory.

As a tribal area, North Waziristan has always enjoyed significant independence from Islamabad, and even on the occasions when the Pakistani army has ventured into the area to root out foreign fighters or Afghan resistance figures, it has received fierce opposition, and in effect been forced to back off.

The Taliban and their supporters plant roadside bombs on the routes used by the Pakistani paramilitary forces, and virtually every day one or two vehicles are blown up.   more »

Tony Blair has proclaimed that God will judge whether he was right to send British troops to Iraq, echoing statements from his ally George Bush.

Contradicting warnings from advisers not to mix politics and religion, the Prime Minister said that his interest in politics sprang from his Christianity and its "values and philosophy" had guided him in public life.

Explaining how he managed to live with the decision to go to war in Iraq, Mr Blair replied: "If you have faith about these things then you realise that judgement is made by other people. If you believe in God, it's made by God as well."

His remarks, made in an interview to be shown on ITV's Parkinson show tonight, invite comparison with President Bush, a born-again Christian, who has made a virtue of bringing religion into politics.

But they also carry the risk of inflaming opinion in the Arab world, where the term "crusader" is commonly used to condemn Christian leaders who meddle in the Middle East.   more »

3 MARCH

India's Growing "Upper Crust" Flaunt Their Status Symbols

Muhammad Cartoons: The West's Self-Righteous Arrogant Attitude

You're in the Army Now: Torture, Death & Consensual Gay Sex

Britain Had Its 'Gitmo' 25 Years Ago...Long Kesh, in N. Ireland

Bush in Pakistan: Musharraf Sleeps with the Enemy

Al Qaeda Leaves Iraq...US Now Backing Sunnis

Paul Krugman on the Disaster-Prone President

India: Bush Appoints Singh as His Sheriff in South Asia