Month: December 2004

December 28 was another day of terrible violence perpetrated by the ‘resistance’. 17 Iraqi policemen were massacred north of Baghdad. Five people were killed and 22 wounded, mostly National Guards, by a homicide bomber in Baquba. Bin Laden and Al-Zarqawi have declared war on the elections. How should the left respond? Howar Ziad, the Kurdish representative to the United Nations from 1999 to 2004, and now Iraq’s new ambassador to Canada, argues that the fight against the ‘resistance’ is an anti-fascist fight. ‘They must not win!’ he cries. This is the fighting faith we need. Armed with this faith a … Continue reading They Shall Not Pass! The Democrats Answer to the Fascistic ‘Resistance’

The Labour Website of the Year, an annual competition sponsored by LabourStart, is a chance for trade union members to vote online for their favourite union websites. In last year’s competition, over 5,500 trade unionists voted for more than 460 sites. This year, one of the 100 officially nominated sites belongs to the Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions (IFTU). A large number of votes for the IFTU site would significantly raise the profile of the organization and its online presence. Labour Friends of Iraq encourages its members and supporters to vote for the IFTU site today by clicking here

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad writes in the Guardian on the spirit at the Iraqi Communist Party election rally in Baghdad. “Hundreds of women, men and children, poured from all over Baghdad into a big indoor basketball court. All were waving little red flags, singing and chanting old communist slogans. But the funny thing was, they were happy. The whole atmosphere was entirely unlike any other rally, especially a march I had witnessed two days earlier to commemorate the father of Moqtada al-Sadr, at which thousands of men dressed in black happily whipped themselves with metal chains, while others bashed their skulls with … Continue reading ‘Maybe Now We Have a Future’

Ann Clwyd MP, The Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Human Rights in Iraq (and Joint President of Labour Friends of Iraq) has been reporting from Iraq for BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ Programme. To listen to yesterday’s clip, from Kirkuk, (14 December) go here and scroll down to 08.46 on the Running Order. (Alan Johnson)

Its not just the brand-mangers at the Premiership who scream about the power of football. And football is not just a tool used by ruling elites to whip up nationalism or to bond to them an otherwise potentially rebellious working class. Football can be a negative political tool but it can also be a force for strengthening community networks and inter-communal ties.

(LFIQ found these documents posted on the website of the journal What Next? http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk and as such in the public domain) LFIQ invites readers to study these letters very carefully. We would draw our readers attention to just two points before encouraging them to read the entire exchange. First, Rix objects first to the StWC’s expressed support for ‘any means necessary’ used by the Resistance. Rix writes to Murray ‘If you think I am going to sit back and agree with beheadings, kidnappings, torture and brutality, and out right terrorization of ordinary Iraqi and others, then you can forget it’. … Continue reading A new exchange of letters between Mick Rix, ex-General Secretary of ASLEF and Andrew Murray, Chair of the Stop the War Coalition

Saddam’s Mass Graves Saddam’s mass graves are being uncovered. There are 62 pages of powerful and moving photographs of the mass graves at http://massgraves.info

Alex Gordon conducted interviews with IFTU members in Britain as part of an exchange with Unison. They outline how they defeated anti-women proposals and took back their headquarters from US troops. The full text can be found at the IFTU web site by clicking above.