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June, 2005 | ABOUT INTERACT | JOIN | ACT | CONTACT |
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"We're
making really good progress in Iraq"
George W. Bush, in his April 28, 2005, news conference.
A U.S. Army soldier
comforts a child mortally wounded in a car bomb blast in Mosul, Iraq.
How Money Works By Lila Schow
President
Bush led the country into war based on false information, falsified
threats and a fictitious estimate of the consequences. His war and the
continuing occupation transformed Iraq into a training ground for
jihadists who want to hunt Americans, and a cause célèbre for stoking
resentment in the Muslim world. His war and occupation squandered the
abundant good will felt by the world for America after our losses of
September 11. He enriched his cronies at Halliburton and other private
interests through the occupation. And he diverted our attention and
abilities away from apprehending the masterminds of the September 11
attack; instead, we are mired in occupation. The President's war and
occupation in Iraq has already cost $125 billion, nearly 1,600 American
lives, more than 11,000 American casualties and the lives of tens of
thousands of Iraqis. The occupation has been more costly in this regard
than the war.
There is no end in sight for the occupation of Iraq. The President says we will stay until we're finished. A recent report by the Congressional Research Service concluded that the United States is probably building permanent military bases in Iraq. The President refuses to consider an exit strategy. The Republican Congress gives the President whatever he asks for. We can draw no clearer distinction with the President than over this war. He cannot right a wrong (unjustified war) by perpetuating a military occupation. Military victory there is not possible. General Tommy Franks concedes that. The war will end when we say it's over. The Democratic leadership should be pressing for quick withdrawal of all troops from Iraq.
An Open Letter to Howard Dean
Accounts of Depleted Uranium reported by various media outlets around the world
THE U.S. ELECTORAL SYSTEM is our nation's crazy aunt in the attic. Every few years she pops out and creates a scene, and everyone swears that something must be done. But as soon as election day passes, we're happy to ignore her again — at least until the next time she frustrates the will of the people.
10 Steps to Better Elections What’s your reaction to InterAct, our stories or our letters? Contact us and we’ll print your comments.
On May 4 --
despite the dangers of catastrophic reactor accidents, the horrendous
folly of creating massive amounts of atomic waste, and the proven role of
nuclear power technology in nuclear weapons proliferation -- a New York
Times editorial contended "there is mounting evidence that damage from
global warming may dwarf any environmental risk posed by nuclear power. It
is therefore critical to keep nuclear power as part of the nation's energy
mix." Such commentaries encourage us to believe that widespread
conservation and renewable resources aren't viable, as if the only real
choices are a radioactive future or an overheated globe.
This kind of nuclear fundamentalism is exactly what has smoothed the way for countries to acquire nuclear weapons technologies -- and in some cases nuclear bombs -- in recent decades. Like an institution run by religious fanatics, the New York Times still cannot let go of its corporate faith in the great god nuclear power.
Nuclear Fundamentalism and the Iran Story InterAct’s 5 Minutes to Make a Difference
Much of what is foul and backward in American society has been
encouraged and cultivated in the armed forces, inviting or producing a
considerable crowd of sadists, psychopaths and, frankly, perverts. These are
often lumpenized elements of the population, given nothing culturally or
morally, exposed to the most reactionary influences—religious fundamentalism,
nationalism, the cult of blood and guns.
US military atrocities and the moral choice facing the American people
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What do monkeys
have to do with war, oppression, crime, racism and even e-mail spam? If the cult of motherhood has taken an angry turn these days, it’s easy to understand why. Mothers (and fathers) across the country are struggling to balance the needs of their families and the demands of their jobs. And despite our collective rhetoric on valuing families, parents are largely forced to shoulder these burdens alone. If we really want mothers to relax, marriages to prosper and children to thrive, it’s time for the government to implement an everyday Mother’s Day strategy that will make a difference for years to come.
Roses, Relaxation And Real Reform
I think that
the government has successfully proved that any service member has reasonable
cause to believe that the wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq were illegal.
-- Lt. Cmdr. Robert Klant, presiding at Pablo Paredes' court-martial Our children's future is bleak unless far more of us act now: There is no need for a conflict between being a good mother and being civically engaged. Editorials: Notable and Newsworthy An Open Letter to Howard Dean by Dennis J. Kucinich The Cruelest Cuts by Mark Winne US War Crimes and the Legal Case for Military Resistance by Paul Rockwell Staying What Course? by Paul Krugman The Angry Patriot by Christopher Ketcham Iraq "Moving Towards Open Civil War" by Seymour Hersh Nuclear Fundamentalism and the Iran Story by Norman SolomonThe most striking inefficiency of our health system is our huge medical bureaucracy, which is mainly occupied in trying to get someone else to pay the bills. A good guess is that two million to three million Americans are employed by insurers and health care providers not to deliver health care, but to pass the buck to other people. A Private Obsession by Paul Krugman Criminals Belong in Prison by William Rivers Pitt Engaging Kids in Society by Dolores Huerta A Sad Mother's Day for Some by Cindy Sheehan I have this dream. In my dream, I turn on my TV and CNN is on. Some talking head is there to do the top of the hour report. In my dream, the talking head says, "Today in Iraq, the 26,000 liters of anthrax, the 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin, the 500 tons which is one million pounds of sarin, mustard and VX gas, the 30,000 munitions to deliver these agents, the mobile biological weapons labs, the uranium from Niger and the robust nuclear weapons program that George W. Bush told us about in his January 2003 State of the Union address were, once again, not found anywhere. Now here's Flappy with the weather." One of These Days by William Rivers Pitt
The top-level government memo marked
"SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL," dated eight months before Bush sent us
into Iraq, following a closed meeting with the President, reads, "Military
action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam through
military action justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the
intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy."
Impeachment Time: "Facts Were Fixed."
Europe's Rules Forcing US Firms to Clean Up Unwilling to surrender sales, companies struggle to meet the EU's tough stand on toxics.
The most
effective and strategic way to stop this occupation and prevent future
wars is to deny the people who wage these wars their spoils - to make war
unprofitable. And we can't do that unless we effectively identify the
goals of war
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