Author: garykent

Nick Cohen in the Observer examines the BBC’s use of language after the recent terrorist atrocities.

A statement against terror can be signed here. Early signatories include Omar of Iraq the Model, Peter Tatchell, Jane Ashworth (Chair, Labour Friends of Iraq) Osama Al-Moosawi, Alex Gordon (RMT), Micheline Ishay (Director, International Human Rights Program, University of Denver, personal capacity) Debbie Williams (TGWU), Adrian Cohen, and others. (AJ)

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting reports that insurgents are pressuring local doctors to leave Iraq. Incidents of murder and the violent kidnapping of doctors are on the increase. (KW)

Eric Lee has published an open letter to George Galloway. It reads: Last week, following the attacks in London, you wrote: No one can condone acts of violence aimed at working people going about their daily lives. They have not been a party to, nor are they responsible for, the decisions of their government. They are entirely innocent and we condemn those who have killed or injured them. Today a suicide bomber killed two women and injured 24 others in an attack on a shopping mall in Netanya, Israel. Do you condemn the attack in Netanya today? I look forward … Continue reading Eric Lee sends an open letter to George Galloway

Mariam Fam considers, on the Kurdistan Regional Government website, the tough issues facing the new Iraqi constitution drafting committee. The issues that need to be overcome, she claims, are: the structure of government, federalism, and the role of religion.

Searchlight statement on the London bombs

Christopher Hitchens at Slate examines the meaning of the London attacks.

We unreservedly condemn the attacks today on ordinary Londoners and mourn the loss of life and hundreds of injuries. There is no justification whatsoever for these attacks and we hope that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice and that popular vigilance and security action will prevent any further attacks. We do not yet know who carried out these murderous assaults but they have all the hallmarks of terrorist actions in New York, Washington, Bali and Madrid. We hope that no one will take the law into their own hands, as some did against the Irish community when the Provisional … Continue reading LFIQ Statement on the 7/7 atrocities in London

On the eve of American Independence Day, Michael Ignatieff, in the Observer, examines Jeffersonian democracy, its origins, record and Iraq. Worth reading in full.

The IFTU website reports the warm welcome given by the largest UK union to visiting Iraqi trade unionists at their annual conference in Glasgow.