Anti-war – Page 3 – Mike Marqusee

Sep 3, 2006

The voice within – a pilgrimage to Walden Pond

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 3 September ON a recent visit to the United States, I made a pilgrimage to Walden Pond, a glistening body of water prized for its depth and clarity (only 20 miles from Boston) as well as for its association with the visionary writer, Henry David Thoreau. From July 1845 to… Read more

Aug 6, 2006

Imperial whitewash

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 6 August As of November last year, anyone applying for British citizenship has to pass a test demonstrating both proficiency in English and “sufficient knowledge of life in the United Kingdom”. In preparation for the test, applicants are asked to study a booklet that begins with a brief history of Britain…. Read more

Jun 25, 2006

London: police and “terrorists”

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 25 June At 4 AM on June 2nd, another grim episode in the war on terror was played out on a quiet residential street in east London. In what the media initially hailed as a major anti-terrorist triumph, 250 heavily armed police descended on a house where, it was alleged,… Read more

Mar 14, 2006

Reasons to march

The occupation of Iraq is an ongoing disaster – and the first thing we have to do to help Iraqis is end it. “Comment is free”, The Guardian, 14 March Three years ago, at one of the huge demonstrations that preceded the invasion of Iraq, I ran into a 16-year-old friend, visibly excited by the… Read more

Feb 19, 2006

The cartoon and the commentators

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 19 February It’s impossible not to be dismayed by the spiral of events. A witless racist cartoon is elevated into a totem of western democracy and holocaust denial becomes a symbol of resistance to imperialism. The message contained in the Danish cartoon was blunt: it drew an equation between Muslims… Read more

Feb 5, 2006

Iraq protests: three years on

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 5 February Three years ago, the world witnessed something unprecedented. On the same day, in 900 cities in forty countries north and south, east and west, thirty million people took to the streets in protest against the imminent attack on Iraq. There were demonstrations in Moscow, Karachi, Dhaka, Manila, Johannesburg,… Read more

Dec 27, 2005

Free speech and the war on terror

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD The Hindu, 25 December Two pieces of legislation currently wending their way through Britain’s Parliament illustrate how the war on terror is being used to dismantle the very freedoms it’s supposed to secure. Both criminalise the expression of ideas and neither is likely to deal effectively with the problem it purports to… Read more

Nov 27, 2005

Saga of an on-going crime

BOOK REVIEW: Secrets and Lies: The True Story of the Iraq War by Dilip Hiro (Politico’s, ?9.99 paperback) The Spokesman, Issue 88, November 2005 In August 2003, the Bush administration published its “100 Days in Iraq” report, declaring confidently: “Most of Iraq is calm, and progress on the road to democracy and freedom not experienced… Read more

Revisiting recent history

WHEN Bill Clinton told a group of students in Dubai recently that the Iraq war had been a “big mistake”, champions of the current White House occupant were quick to accuse him of hypocrisy. For once, they had a strong point. To be clear, Clinton’s criticism was confined to the conduct of the war, not… Read more

Nov 10, 2005

Fallujah: a name that will live in infamy

The Guardian, 10 November [Below is the complete article; an edited version appeared in The Guardian.] One year ago this week, in the wake of Bush’s re-election, US-led occupying forces launched a devastating assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The mood was set by Lt Col. Gary Brandl: “The enemy has got a face…. Read more