Terrorism

1. What was this an attack on?

Was that attack an attack on freedom of speech as such, on democracy, even on the whole Western culture and lifestyle, as was maintained throughout? Or was it, more limited, a revenge directed at one weekly magazine for what some perceive as blasphemy?

2. Is freedom of expression practised or curtailed for various reasons?

How real is that freedom in the West? Just a couple of days before the Paris massacre, PEN [the literary…

If you want a concise, thoughtful background briefing on the ISIS crisis, this is it – written by a journalist with three decades of experience in the region. This is a compelling account of how the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has managed to conquer an area the size of Britain. Patrick Cockburn knew something was coming: he nominated Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, as the Independent’s ‘man of the year’ for the Middle East on
1 January, days before ISIS…

Just over ten years since it failed the public so completely over the 2003 Iraq War, the mainstream media’s coverage of the current Iraq crisis has been predictably awful.

“Stop droning on Mr Cameron… SEND IN THE DRONES” was The Sun’s considered front page on 4 September 2014. At the opposite end of the British press spectrum The Independent’s…

‘Far from reducing international terrorism... the 2003 invasion [of Iraq] had the effect of promoting it,’ a study by a military think-tank at the heart of the British establishment has concluded. The report by the Royal United Services Institute, ‘Wars in Peace: British Military Operations Since 1991’, concludes that: ‘The rise of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) was a reaction to this invasion, and to the consequent marginalisation of Iraq’s Sunni population (including de-Ba’…

London’s Freedom Bookshop was ‘seriously damaged’ by the fire (along with the building’s wiring), despite metal shutters that were fitted after attacks by fascists in 1993.

A wide range of organisations and individuals have offered support for (and donated books to) the anarchist bookshop, which was not insured.

Anarchist workers’ co-op Sabcat have produced a special 100% organic cotton Freedom Benefit T-shirt, featuring the 1970s masthead from Freedom,…

On 19 September, Italy's supreme criminal court, the 'court of cassation', upheld abduction and 'rendition to torture' convictions against 23 Americans, all but one CIA officers. The charges related to an Egyptian imam, Osama Mustapha Nasr, abducted from Italy to Egypt in 2003 and held for four years before being released. The court also ordered €1.5m in damages to be paid to Nasr and his wife. The Italian government may now seek extradition of the 23.

The US government is still allowed legally to detain suspected terrorists indefinitely, after a ruling by the US court of appeals on 2 October. A lower court order had earlier barred indefinite detention under the National Defense Authorization Act.

The court of appeals has allowed the US president to continue detaining indefinitely anyone 'who was a part of or substantially supported' al-Qa'eda, the Taliban or 'associated forces'.

On 21 September, the US justice department released the names of 55 men held at the Guantánamo detention centre on Cuba, who have been cleared for release.

On the list were British residents Shaker Aamer and Ahmed Belbacha. A previous request for this was rejected in 2009, so the disclosure, while not signalling any imminent releases, is being seen as a positive step.

On 27 October 1962, a Russian naval officer named Vasili Arkhipov saved the world.

Twelve US navy ships (part of the US blockade of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis) were dropping practice depth charges on B-59, a submerged Soviet submarine, trying to signal that the sub should surface. The captain of B-59, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, panicked, believing that the Third World War had started. He gave orders to fire a nuclear torpedo, saying, according to one account: 'We're…

In late news, on 2 January, US president Barack Obama signed the national defense authorisation act into law, empowering the US military to arrest and detain without charge or trial those it ‘believes’ are al-Qa’eda supporters, Taliban supporters and ‘associated forces’.

When we read the editorial and coverage of the anniversary of 11 September 2001 in Peace News, we decided not to renew our subscription. Having read all David Ray Griffin’s books we felt the coverage of the anniversary of 11 September in Peace News was lacking in balance, one-sided and inaccurate. It has made us doubt the balance given to other issues in which we are not so well-informed. Sadly we no longer trust the content and regret we will not be subscribing in future.

On 1 September, Thomas Hammarberg, the council of Europe’s rights commissioner, said that since the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, Britain and other European governments had been “deeply complicit” in “countless” crimes by colluding with torture and illegal rendition operation by the US. Hammarberg argued: “In attempting to combat crimes attributed to terrorists, countless further crimes have been committed… Many of those crimes have been carefully and…

In early September, Nottinghamshire police paid £20,000 in an out-of-court settlement to Rizwaan Sabir, the student at Nottingham university who was detained for seven days in 2008 after downloading an al-Qa’eda training manual as part of his research on terrorism.

On 11 September Ryans brother was killed in the attack on the Pentagon - where he was an enlisted specialist in the US army working as a multimedia illustrator. On 14 February 2002 - along with representatives of several other victims families - Ryan launched the Peaceful Tomorrows organisation.

PN: How and why did you start Peaceful Tomorrows?
Ryan: The horror of violence was never real to me before by brother was killed on 11 September, leaving behind a wife…

I’m doing a talk about al-Qa’eda for Peace News Summer Camp which is in two weeks. (Really looking forward to seeing Tracy Curtis perform – I’ve heard Seize the Day and the Carbon…