We Too Are Responsible for the Massacre at Qala-i-Jhangi Fort
by Isabel Hilton

We know how it ended, the prisoners' revolt in Abdul Rashid Dostam's Qala-i-Jhangi fort. Yesterday journalists were allowed in close enough to see the grotesque litter of dismembered bodies. But there were other things Dostam did not want them to inspect: a field, for instance, in which the bodies of some 50 Taliban fighters lay, their hands tied behind their backs.

The smooth account of how this prisoners' revolt began has some murky passages. The 15-day siege of Kunduz had ended with touching scenes. The blood bath that had been flagged up had been avoided. The prisoners - reports vary between 300 and 600 - were taken to Dostam's fortress near Mazar-i-Sharif, trusting, apparently, to Dostam's guarantees. So cordial were the arrangements that two truckloads of men widely considered to be the world's most dangerous prisoners were not even searched for weapons. On Saturday evening, after a Chechen prisoner detonated a hand grenade, Dostam, apparently, did not react.

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Former UN Relief Chiefs Hans von Sponeck and Denis Halliday Speak Out Against an Attack on Iraq
by Hans von Sponeck and Denis Halliday

A major shift is occurring in US policy on Iraq. It is obvious that Washington wants to end 11 years of a self-serving policy of containment of the Iraqi regime and change to a policy of replacing, by force, Saddam Hussein and his government.

The current policy of economic sanctions has destroyed society in Iraq and caused the death of thousands, young and old. There is evidence of that daily in reports from reputable international organizations such as Caritas, UNICEF and Save the Children. A change to a policy of replacement by force will increase that suffering.

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One in Five New Yorkers Used Emergency Food Aid Before 9.11 — And Now Its Worse
by Laura Flanders

President Bush used a traditional Thanksgiving visit to a soup kitchen -- and new holiday TV ads -- to prod Americans last week to "dig a little deeper in their pocket" for neighborhood charities left wanting in the rush to aid terror victims.

"I hope Americans will not substitute the gifts they've given in the aftermath of September 11 for neighborhood groups," said George W.

There's no question, local charities are in trouble. Post 9-11, donations are down and needs are up and nowhere is the confluence of crises worse than in New York.

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by Derrick Z. Jackson

AFTER the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush declared, ''Freedom and democracy are under attack.'' A nation that is serious about its pledge of allegiance would examine the asphyxiated canaries of the 2000 presidential election to find out just how much democracy was under attack, long before Osama bin Laden.

Two weeks ago, a consortium of news organizations released its analysis of the virtual tie in the presidential voting in Florida. It found that George W. Bush still would have defeated Al Gore if the Supreme Court had allowed the four-county recount requested by Gore. However, Gore likely would have won in a full, statewide recount.

The consortium's report died a quick death in public discourse, as bin Laden has replaced butterfly ballots. Americans find it easier to hate the Taliban than to tally up the truth about America's own failings.

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by John Nichols

It is always a tad troubling to reflect upon questions of George W. Bush's familiarity with the Constitution and the original intents of its authors.

Unlike Bill Clinton, whose obsession with Thomas Jefferson caused him to assert the precepts of the founders to a greater extent than any president since Franklin Roosevelt, Bush the Junior rarely references Jefferson, James Madison or other members of the revolutionary cabal that got this American experiment started.

There is little evidence to suggest that the current President Bush was ever particularly drawn to American history as a source of inspiration or insight. He tended, as a student, more toward cheerleader duties and fraternity pranks.

If the president is unfamiliar with the founders, however, they were not unfamiliar with him - or, at least, with his ilk.

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Political apathy has given the administration too much power
by Geov Parrish

For the past ten weeks or so, I've been trying to pinpoint my sense of growing unease with being part of a society that is plunging into a dystopia I've encountered before.

Part of the unease has been due to an anniversary. It's been just about a year since That Election played its ugly, sordid self out. I was no Gore fan, but even last year one of the things I found most noteworthy about Dubya's sanitized but highly visible coup d'etat was the lack of outrage that attended it.

Here's a passage from a Seattle Weekly column I wrote at the time, under the heading "Where Are The Torches?":

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by Jeremiah Bourque

Ashcroft is worried about blacklisting the detainees now. He's worried that if he says who they are, that it'll violate their right to secrecy.

With all due respect, which frankly, these days, is not very much, it is not Ashcroft's bleeping job to worry about that. This is a request by Congress, otherwise known as the democratically elected body that the ENTIRE Executive Branch, not just the President, answers to. Once Congress demands names like this, it ought to be Congress' responsibility, and fault, if the names are leaked out. It is not Ashcroft's business to deny these names and to then, in the same breath, claim that the detentions are not secret.

Forget irony. This is satire. I'd like to know how someone is not being detained in secret if his lawyer does not know where he is (as such incidents have been reported in several portions of the media.)

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by Ira Chernus

There is an eerie quiet across the land.  The chance of a second major terrorist attack is somewhere between “very likely” and “100% guaranteed,” according to the people we pay with our tax dollars to know such things.  I feel like I am on a huge bus heading straight towarda cliff.  We could suggest that the driver steer in a different direction.  But no one wants to talk about it.

Perhaps this is a school bus, where the kids sit quietly because they don’t want to make the driver mad.  Back in early October, newsleaked out that intelligence officials told Congress another attack was100% certain, if we attacked Afghanistan.  The driver -- the president -- got very mad, indeed.  He threatened to limit Congressional briefings drastically (and then backed off).  But Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer had already warned:  “People have to watch what they say.”   The news media got the message.  Some things are better left unmentioned - even impending disaster.

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