Documentary feature film narrated by the late, acclaimed historian Howard
Zinn, part of a National Film Tour
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101174586589909&ref=mf
April 12, 2010 -- 6:30 pm
Leavey Library Auditorium -- USC campus
Admission: $5.00
Using dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and
speeches of everyday Americans, the documentary feature film THE PEOPLE
SPEAK gives voice to those who spoke up for social change throughout U.S.
history, forging a nation from the bottom up with their insistence on
equality and justice.
Based on Howard Zinn's best-selling books, A People's History of the United
States, and with Anthony Arnove, Voices of a People's History, THE PEOPLE
SPEAK illustrates the relevance of these passionate historical moments to
our society today and reminds us never to take liberty for granted.
This film, which includes 20 minutes of never-before aired footage, is
co-directed by Moore, Arnove and Zinn and features dramatic and musical
performances by Allison Moorer, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Dylan, Bruce
Springsteen, Chris Robinson, Christina Kirk, Danny Glover, Darryl "DMC"
McDaniels, David Strathairn, Don Cheadle, Eddie Vedder, Harris Yulin,
Jasmine Guy, John Legend, Josh Brolin, Kathleen Chalfant, Kerry Washington,
Lupe Fiasco, Marisa Tomei, Martín Espada, Matt Damon, Michael Ealy, Mike
O'Malley, Morgan Freeman, P!nk, Q'orianka Kilcher, Reg E. Cathey, Rich
Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Staceyann Chin, and Viggo
Mortensen.
The Los Angeles Times called THE PEOPLE SPEAK "striking, exhilarating...the
performances are thrilling" and The Boston Globe said: "The
documentary...works beautifully. Each passionate reading flows out of the
previous one."
Los Angeles screening:
April 12, 2010 - 6:30 pm
Leavey Library Auditorium - USC Campus
651 West 35th St
Los Angeles, CA 90089
Info: lacityiso@yahoo. com - (626)-375-2873
***
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25186.htm
US Puppet Cuts His Strings
Thwarted by the American government on compromise with Taliban, Karzai has
begun openly defying his patrons
By Eric Margolis
"Toronto Sun": April 11, 2010
Henry Kissinger once observed that it was more dangerous being America's
ally than its enemy.
The latest example: the U.S.-installed Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who
is in serious hot water with his really angry patrons in Washington.
The Obama administration is blaming the largely powerless Karzai, a former
CIA "asset," for America's failure to defeat the Taliban. Washington accused
Karzai of rigging last year's elections. True enough, but the U.S.
pre-rigged the Afghan elections by excluding all parties opposed to western
occupation.
Washington, which supports dictators and phoney elections across the Muslim
world, had the chutzpah to blast Karzai for corruption and rigging votes.
This while the Pentagon was engineering a full military takeover of
Pakistan.
The Obama administration made no secret it wanted to replace Karzai. You
could almost hear Washington crying, "Bad puppet! Bad puppet!"
Karzai fired back, accusing the U.S. of vote-rigging. He has repeatedly
demanded the U.S. military stop killing so many Afghan civilians.
Next, Karzai dropped a bombshell, asserting the U.S. was occupying
Afghanistan to dominate the energy-rich Caspian Basin region, not because of
the non-existent al-Qaida, or Taliban. Karzai said Taliban was "resisting
western occupation." The U.S. will soon have 100,000 soldiers in
Afghanistan, plus 40,000 dragooned NATO troops.
Karzai even half-jested he might join Taliban.
Washington had apoplexy. A vicious propaganda campaign was unleashed against
Karzai. The New York Times, a mouthpiece for the Obama administration and
ardent backer of the Afghan war, all but called for the overthrow of Karzai
and his replacement by a compliant general.
An American self-promoter, Peter Galbraith, who had been fired from his job
with the UN in Kabul, was trotted out to tell media that Karzai might be
both a drug addict and crazy.
Behind this ugly, if also comical, spat lay a growing divergence between
Afghans and Washington. After 31 years of conflict, nearly three million
dead, millions more refugees and frightful poverty, Afghans yearn for peace.
For the past two years, Karzai and his warlord allies have been holding
peace talks with the Taliban in Saudi Arabia.
Karzai knows the only way to end the Afghan conflict is to enfranchise the
nation's Pashtun majority and its fighting arm, the Taliban. Political
compromise with the Taliban is the only - and inevitable - solution.
But the Obama administration, misadvised by Washington neocons and other
hardliners, is determined to "win" a military victory in Afghanistan
(whatever that means) to save face as a great power and impose a settlement
that leaves it in control of strategic Afghanistan.
Accordingly, the U.S. thwarted Karzai's peace talks by getting Pakistan,
currently the recipient of $7 billion in U.S. cash, to arrest senior Taliban
leaders sheltering there who had been part of the ongoing peace negotiations
with Kabul.
It was Karzai's turn to be enraged. So he began openly defying his American
patrons and adopting an independent position. The puppet was cutting his
strings.
Karzai's newfound boldness was due to the fact that both India and China are
eager to replace U.S./British/NATO domination of Afghanistan. India is
pouring money, arms and agents into Afghanistan and training government
forces. China, more discreetly, is moving in to exploit Afghanistan's
recently discovered mineral wealth that, says Karzai, is worth $1 trillion,
according to a U.S. government geological survey.
Russia, still smarting from its 1980s defeat in Afghanistan, is watching
America's travails there with rich enjoyment and not a little yearning for
revenge. Moscow has its own ambitions in Afghanistan.
This column has long suggested Karzai's best option is to distance himself
from American tutelage and demand the withdrawal of all foreign occupation
forces.
Risky business, of course. Remember Kissinger's warning. Karzai could end up
dead. But he could also become a national hero and best candidate to lead an
independent Afghanistan that all ethnic groups could accept.
Alas, the U.S. keeps making the same mistake of seeking obedient clients
rather than democratic allies who are genuinely popular and legitimate.
© 2010 The Toronto Sun
***
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/world/asia/13afghan.html?ref=world
U.S. Troops Fire on Afghan Bus, Killing Civilians
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and TAIMOOR SHAH
Published: April 12, 2010
KABUL, Afghanistan - American troops raked a large passenger bus with
gunfire near Kandahar city on Monday morning, killing at least five
civilians and wounding 18, Afghan authorities and survivors said.
The attack infuriated Kandahar leaders and could harm public opinion on the
eve of the most important offensive of the war, which is intended to take
control of the Kandahar region from the Taliban this summer.
Hundreds of demonstrators poured into the area around a bus station on the
western outskirts of Kandahar city, shouting anti-NATO chants and blocking
the road for one hour, according to people in the area.
The bus driver and one of the passengers said that an American convoy 60 to
70 yards ahead of the bus opened fire as the bus began to pull to the side
of the road to allow another military convoy traveling behind to pass.
The two convoys and the bus were on the main highway in Sanzari, about 15
miles, or 24 kilometers, west of Kandahar city. All of the windows on one
side of the bus were shot out.
Troops opened fire on the bus just after daybreak as it was taking scores of
passengers to Nimroz province, said Zalmy Ayoubi, a spokesman for the
Kandahar provincial governor.
Some of the wounded were in critical condition, and the death toll could
rise, local officials said.
Mr. Ayoubi said five civilians had been killed, including one woman.
The Interior Ministry in Kabul issued a statement saying four civilians had
been killed and 18 wounded, blaming "NATO forces" traveling in front of the
bus for the shooting.
An American military spokesperson put the casualty toll at five dead - all
men - and said four others had been wounded, but added that other details
would be made public later.
Mr. Ayoubi, the provincial spokesman, said, "We strongly condemn this action
carried out by NATO forces, and we want a thorough investigation of the
incident, to find out why they targeted the civilian bus."
If the Afghan government's casualty toll is correct, it would imply that
troops fired scores or even hundreds of rounds. It was not immediately clear
why such a large fusillade would have been directed at a passenger bus.
"An American convoy was ahead of us and another convoy was following us, and
we were going to pull off of the road, and suddenly the Americans opened
fire," said one passenger, Nida Mohammed, who suffered a shoulder injury.
"We were not close to them, maybe 60 yards away from their convoy," Mr.
Mohammed said.
A helicopter evacuated some wounded, he said.
"This bus wasn't like an a suicide bomber, and we did not touch or come
close to the convoy," he said. "It seems they are opening fire on civilians
intentionally."
The driver of the bus, Mohammed Nabi, said, "I was going to take the bus off
the road." Then the convoy ahead opened fire.
Like Mr. Mohammed, he said the Americans were about 60 to 70 yards away.
"We were not close enough and we did not violate their signal," he said. "It
is a huge bus full of passengers, and if they think we were a suicide
bomber, we are sad that the American have killed innocent people."
"We don't feel safe while traveling on the main highways anymore because of
NATO convoys," he said.
The incident came a week after the American-led military command in Kabul -
after initial denials of culpability or a cover-up - admitted that its
forces had killed three Afghan women during a bungled American Special
Operations assault in February.
NATO officials are struggling to contain fallout from a series of tirades
against the foreign military presence by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai,
who has also assailed the killing of civilians by Western forces.
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