Author Dahr Jamail to Speak in Juneau, Monday, March 10, 2008

Former Alaskan Dahr Jamail is scheduled to speak here Monday, March 10th as part of his speaking tour including Fairbanks and Anchorage. Since speaking here in March 2005 Dahr has released his book -- Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq --
We will ask him to give us his understanding and analysis of the current situation of the "facts on the ground" based on his experiences and his ongoing reporting in cooperation with Iraqi journalists and ordinary citizens.

Where: Egan Lecture Hall, University of Alaska Southeast
When: 7 pm
SAVE THE DATE

UN Security Council Must Listen to Iraq's People and Parliament -- Take Action!

United for Peace and Justice Action Alert
November 20th, 2007

Anytime between now and the end of this year, the UN Security Council will be asked to consider a re-authorization of the U.S.-led occupation in Iraq. The background and details about this is included in the memo below, which is being sent to anti-war organizations around the world. United for Peace and Justice has signed on to this letter because we believe it is important to keep the pressure on the U.S. government from all angles.

We are asking that folks here in the U.S. take part in this effort by making two calls:

1) Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Call the U.S. Mission to the UN at 212-415-4000. Send faxes to 212-415-4443. (Khalilzad was the United States Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.)

2) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Call her office at 202-647-5290, and/or the switchboard at the U.S. Dept of State: 202-647-4000.

Let them know that you do not support a re-authorization of the occupation of Iraq. It is time to end this war and occupation; it is time to bring all of the troops and contractors home!

Peace,

Leslie Cagan
National Coordinator, UFPJ

Give Us Some Real Political Leaders

Inter Press Service
Ali al-Fadhily*

BAGHDAD, Mar 15 (IPS) - Many Iraqis are now looking to local political leadership to fill wide gaps in a fractured government that is failing to provide security and basic needs.

"Iraqis feel lost amongst too many political currents that blew their country away with their narrow sectarian and personal interests," Mohammad Jaafar, a Baghdad-based politician formerly involved in the interim government told IPS.

"I am ashamed to say that I am or even was an Iraqi politician after all the damage to our country that we caused. It is entirely our fault and there is no question about that."

Many politicians feel similarly. Read story on Dahr Jamail's website