Wednesday, October 31, 2001

• "The War On Terrorism Is a Fraud"

  
  

  "The War Is A Fraud." Renowned British journalist John Pilger is grabbing headlines around the world this week for this cover story in a paper which has historically been a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Tony Blair.

• The Oil Slicked Road to War in Afghanistan: A Conversation with Ahmed Rashid

  
  

  During the Gulf War, the role of oil was clear. Of all of the invasions and military occupations around the world,the U.S. chose to come to Kuwait’s rescue because Iraqi troops were knocking on the door of the U.S.’s largest sourceof oil in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia.

• Deliberate Discrimination: Women’s Health Conditions in Afghanistan

  
  

  Physicians for Human Rights has just released a comprehensive report documenting women’s health and human rights in Afghanistan The group planned to release the report even before the September 11 attacks happened, but say the escalated situation in Afghanistan make their findings even more essential. The report finds that Taliban regime’s restrictions on women’s human rights represent some of the most deliberate forms of discrimination against women in recent history. They have compounded profound suffering due to more than 20 years of war, extreme poverty, periodic drought, lack of infrastructure and economic stagnation in Afghanistan.

• Pakistani Author and Playwright Tariq Ali Is Detained at the Munich Airport

  
  

  Two days ago Tariq Ali, a prominent Pakistani writer based in London, was arrested at the airport in Munich, Germany.His crime? Carrying a famous essay by Marx entitled "on suicide" and looking Central Asian.

• Red Cross Raises Half a Billion After World Trade Center Disaster, Then Announces It Won’tspend All of the Money On Its Victims

  
  

  The American Red Cross announced yesterday it will stop asking for donations for victims of the Sept. 11 attacks andThe Red Cross’ Liberty Fund, established after Sept. 11, held an unprecedented $547 million in pledges as of Monday.

• Fundamentalism: An Old Friend and New Enemy, a Conversation with Egyptian Feminist and Author Nawal El Saadawi

  
  

  Nawal El Saadawi was dismissed from her post as Director General of Health and Education in Cairo in 1972 for herpolitical activities. She has been unable to practice medicine in Egypt since. In 1972, she also lost her job in theEgyptian government, and the magazine she founded was closed down. She wrote "Memoirs from the Women’s Prison," aftershe was imprisoned by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat for alleged crimes against the State. She was released one monthafter his assassination in 1981. Because many of her works were banned in her native country, she had them publishedin neighboring Lebanon. The Arab Women’s Solidarity Association, which el Saadawi founded was closed down in 1991 foropposing Egypt’s role in the U.S.-led Persian Gulf War.