Many people in the West have seen the film “Apocalypse Now". Only very few Iraqis probably have. However, they are experiencing “Apocalypse Now” in real life, with horrific consequences.

Contrary to the ridiculous claims of Bush and his generals that security in Iraq is improving (it has permanently improved since May 2003, hasn’t it?), hundreds have died in the last few weeks alone. According to the official figures of the pro-American Iraqi Interior Ministry, the death rate of Iraqi civilians and police officers has averaged over 800 a month between August 2004 and May 2005. In other words, Iraq is officially experiencing every month 16 times what London suffered on 7th July! Read more...

It has been compared it to last year’s “Orange Revolution” in the Ukraine. That may be about right. Neither side in the crisis that has erupted since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, widely attributed to Syria’s security forces, has anything to offer the Lebanese masses. Read more...

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese - maybe over a million according to Al Jazeera- flowed through the streets of Beirut to protest against the attempt by the United States, backed by France and Israel, to force the withdrawal of Syrian troops and install a regime subservient to their interests. Read more...

Since the death of PLO leader and Palestine Authority leader Yasser Arafat last November, political and diplomatic events have moved swiftly. On 9 January Abu Mazen was elected President of the PA in a popular vote inside the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Early in February a formal ceasefire between the PLO and Israel was announced at a summit between Abu Mazen and Israel’s Prime Minster Ariel Sharon at Sharm al-Sheik. Read more...

The recent attack by the Israel Air Force against a so-called terrorist camp in Syria marked a significant escalation of Israel's aggressive foreign policy. But as significant as this attack was the official reaction of the US administration was of no less importance. Read more...

The European Social Forum 2004 Preparatory Assembly gathered on 16-18 April in Istanbul. A “programme workgroup” held on the afternoon of Friday 15 April was effectively an assembly session too. Of the several hundred activists present, naturally a far larger proportion came from Turkey, Greece, Hungary and the Balkans. Read more...

L5I members present at the Istanbul Preparatory Assembly of the 2004 European Social Forum during the weekend 16-18 April proposed a number of measures to try and ensure the ESF in London in October is a success. Read more...

The supreme leader of the Iranian Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has declared last week's parliamentary elections a great success for the existing regime and a blow to blow to Iran's enemies, namely George Bush. Read more...