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Memoirs of a war correspondent

The Great War For Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle EastBy Robert FiskFourth Estate 20051366 pages, $39.95 REVIEW BY MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN This book makes compelling reading. It is a record of Fisk's first hand experiences of events in Iraq,

UNITED STATES: Bush cites Tal Afar as 'reason for hope'

In a speech in Cleveland on March 20, US President George Bush cited the Iraqi city of Tal Afar, 60 kilometres west of Mosul, as providing a "reason for hope" that the US would win its now three-year-long war in Iraq. Last September, Tal Afar was the

A 'new' socialism

KATOOMBA — "The Venezuelans have learned a lot from the experiences — good and bad — of other revolutions, and out of that are building a 'new' socialism for the 21st century", Fred Fuentes told a public meeting organised by Green Left Weekly

Rod Quantock pokes fun at power

Rod Quantock is a Melbourne institution in comedy. This year, he marks his 20th anniversary at the Melbourne Comedy Festival with his new show Australia. Australia looks at this wide brown land and examines what's so good about it, other than its

Victorian conference prepares struggle

Dick Nichols, Melbourne The March 18 Victorian state conference of the Socialist Alliance, held in Melbourne's Trades Hall, focused on the fight against the Howard government's Work Choices legislation and its racist policies against Muslim and

Forum on Chinese refugees

SYDNEY — On March 20, the NSW Refugee Action Coalition held a forum about the 151 Chinese asylum seekers (of 245 detainees) being held in Villawood detention centre. Speakers included Mark Goudkamp from RAC NSW; Chin Jin from the Federation for a

Snowy privatisation: 'A breach of democracy'

Zoe Kenny Craig Ingram, the state MP for East Gippsland and a long-term campaigner for the regeneration of the Snowy River, spoke to Green Left Weekly about the Snowy River Hydroelectric Scheme privatisation plan. What have the NSW and Victorian

IRAQ: US escalates air attacks on Iraqi towns

Doug Lorimer The US military has "dramatically increased air strikes in Iraq during the past five months", Tom Lasseter, the US Knight Ridder Newspapers' Baghdad correspondent reported on March 14. "A review of military data shows that daily

Vietnamese-Venezuelan cooperation steps up

Socialist Vietnam and Venezuela, led by socialist President Hugo Chavez, have agreed to build a "strategic relationship" and to bring their economic relationships on a par with their already strong political links. The countries' two-way trade in

Political artist challenges perceptions

Diplomatic RelationsArtworks by Azlan McLennanThe Anti Mascot Project, part of the New Wave FestivalPlatform Two art space, Flinders Street, Melbourne, until April 2 REVIEW BY ELSIE SNASHALL-WOODHAMS A display of artworks by controversial

UNITED STATES: Global warming at 'tipping point'

On March 15, Reuters reported on new findings by the Washington-based World Resources Institute that human-fuelled global warming has reached a "tipping point". The institute has released a report surveying recent scientific research, which found

VSU: the job and service cuts begin

Ed Ascroft The federal government's propaganda about its "voluntary student unionism" (VSU) legislation, rushed through parliament on December 12, emphasised "choice". But already, universities are feeling the impact of this "voluntary" law in cuts