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Barack Obama and Race in America

Barack Obama's speech on race relations in America, given last week in Philadelphia, had the misfortune of being overshadowed by, or cast as a reaction to, publicized comments made by Obama's long-time spiritual mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Obama's speech was one of the most honest and necessary interventions into American mainstream political discourse in years; obviously, that ought not shield it from critique.This will take you to a reaction piece to Obama's speech featuring contributions by the editorial board of The Black Commentator.

Also, the Real News's Paul Jay focuses on Obama's loudly-demanded 'denouncing and renouncing' of Wright, in conversation with Prof. Dwight Hopkins at the University of Chicago's Divinity School. This can be found in that neat mini-video-library from the Real News at the top of this page.

Paging Cohn-Bendit, Bensaid

For the Guardian, Tariq Ali reflects on the various irruptions in progressive politics that took place between 1965-75, on this, the anniversary of the founding of the 22 March movement in Nanterre in 1968. We're generally wary of nostalgic evocations of '68, as well as its totemic status in Western left politics; Ali's piece, however, is analytic rather than elegiac.

Winter Soldier

Here's a crucial video from the Real News regarding US media reporting of both casualties suffered by American troops in Iraq and the catastrophic acts carried out by some of those troops. They also show a few clips from a news conference conducted by Iraq Veterans Against the War, highlighting the 'Winter Soldier' program, in which Iraq War veterans testify as to the nature of their actions, and those of their commanders, while serving.

Works Consulted #10

Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Norton Critical Editions
Frank Norris, McTeague, Oxford World Classics
Lauren Berlant, 'Slow Death: Sovereignty, Obesity, Lateral Agency', Critical Inquiry 33, Summer 2007; and The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship, Duke University Press, 2002
Elizabeth Grosz, Space, Time and Perversion: Essays on the Politics of Bodies Routlege, 1995
JM Coetzee, Diary of a Bad Year, Harville Secker, 2007

Vacation's over

For today, just a few articles on the devastation of US economy brought to our attention by our dear friend JL.

The first is from NE favorite and ex-Reagan administration official Paul Craig Roberts, who discusses in this article the position of the US as a bankrupt superpower, outlining US financial dependence on foreign countries that will, he projects, grow increasingly unwilling to cover for the superpower in its fiscal irresponsibility. Along similar lines, here are few about the impending federal bailout of the US financial system: one from Paul Krugman, another, more detailed assessment from Pam Martens (which includes a commentary on the Spitzer fiasco that, frankly, we at No Empires can't quite get on board with).

Undoubtedly, there were be more to come on this front.

The death of Rachel Corrie, and the invasion of Iraq, five years on

A brief update from northern Paris.

Five years ago today, International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie was crushed under an Israeli/American Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza. As Tom Wright and Therese Saliba report, Rachel Corrie's parents are in Israel this week to ttend the first Arabic-language production of My Name is Rachel Corrie, an immensely powerful one-woman play (we've mentioned it before) brought to New York last year thanks to the courage and tenacity of Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner. Cindy and Craig Corrie come against the backdrop of an utter lack of accountability regarding the circumstances of their daughter's murder; neither Caterpillar, Inc. nor the Israeli government/IDF seem to face any danger of prosecution, and they certainly haven't made any efforts to appear contrite.

RIP, Rachel.

Another (almost anniversary) sees the lead opinion piece in this weekend's Observer making the claim that

Whatever the tragic consequences of the Iraq war, we must learn from them, and when the circumstances are right, not flinch from using all the power at our disposal.

Earlier in the piece it is stated that no one could have foretold the catastrophe that eventually unfolded in Iraq, despite an overwhelming amount of journalistic evidence and political opinion to the contrary. The UK's 'liberal' newspapers continue to lose their way...

A 'bombshell' from Vanity Fair

We urge you to take the time to read this investigative piece from Vanity Fair's David Rose, which lays bare the machinations behind the US's unflagging support of Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, and presents Hamas's takeover of Gaza last summer as the only way for Hamas to pre-empt a Fatah coup that could have happened at any time.

Following Hillary Clinton's recent and crucial primary victories, Alex Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair see only nastiness ahead as Clinton aims to discredit Barack Obama no matter the cost. This, they say, bodes extremely well for John McCain, and could also lead to an increasing rate of attrition among young Democratic voters as Obama's message of "hope" is trampled.

phase ii

Kathleen and Bill Christison are strongly and eloquently endorsing the Nader candidacy, citing Barack Obama's indebtedness to the Israel lobby and ambiguousness on the role of the US Army in Iraq. Crucially, they implore pro-Obama democrats not to seek to limit voters' choices in the 2008 election.

Israel, meanwhile, has withdrawn troops from the Gaza Strip, threatening further operations at any time. Missing Links, a great blog that does a round-up of interesting items from the Arab press, features a long post on various reports on this most recent attack on Gaza--as well as connections that large numbers of people in the Arab world are making between Israel's assault and the arrival of the USS Cole in the waters off of Lebanon.

Well-Made World 33

Of note in Israel this week was a remark by Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai, in which he threatened a 'shoah' in Gaza if Qassam rocket attacks do not cease; the word is rarely used other than to refer, of course, to the Holocaust. The situation in Gaza worsens, with nearly 40 Palestinians--including civilians, and, of those, nine were children--dead in the past few days. The physical attenuation of Gaza's population continues. Electronic Intifada's Ali Abunimah with reaction.

An interesting article from former Israeli journalist Yonatan Mendel on the coextensiveness between the Israeli press and the Zionist project. Mendel looks in particular at the curiosities and double-standards of language that are scattered throughout Israeli journalism.

America's Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, noted Thursday that the security situation in Afghanistan is worsening, with President Karzai controlling not even a third of the country. Karzai, the Guardian notes, denies the American intelligence assessment (which itself echoes earlier, more critical reports by various think-tanks), claiming that his government in fact controls a vast majority of the country. Declan Walsh finds the explanations given by Nato commanders curious. Those commanders claim that the steady increase in suicide bombings is evidence that the Taliban is being "worn down." This claim--which hints at the fact that suicide bombing is an act marked significantly by desperation--is one never heard with regard to suicide bombings in Israel, which are discursively framed as proof of a larger looming (pan-) Arab threat. Walsh also credits the safe haven offered to Taliban fighters in Pakistan with playing a huge role in the Taliban's resurgence.

In his latest piece for Counterpunch, Patrick Cockburn discusses Turkey's bold-faced invasion of Northern Iraq (the only part of the country, he notes, that was at peace until last week), comparing Turkey in their hunt for PKK Turkish Kurd Gorillas to Israel in their repeated incursions into Gaza. He points out that this most recent development in Iraq weakens the state of the Kurdish Regional Government, which, according to Cockburn, was "one of the few concrete achievements of the US and British invasion of Iraq five years ago." Cockburn goes on to provide another useful counter-narrative to the relatively cheery reporting on the "surge" offered by the Times and its cohorts.