Declaration of the Left Worker-Communist Party of Iraq-LWPI Regarding the “Elections

The Chinese news service Xinhua boasts Dec. 10 of the opening of a new luxury tourist train across Tibet under the auspices of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation. Meanwhile, observing International Human Rights Day, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) in the refugee community of Dharamsala, India, issued a statement saying the human rights situation in Chinese-occupied Tibet remains "tense and grim."

Torture remains to be one of the gravest issues in Tibet. The Tibetan prisoners of conscience are subjected to severe torture and maltreatment in a network of detention centres and prisons in Tibet. Following ten years of appeals and negotiations, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred Nowark, finally made an unprecedented trip to the People’s Republic of China from 20 November till 2 December 2005. Upon the completion of his visit, he reported that torture "remains widespread" in China and Tibet and also complained that his fact finding mission was obstructed by the authorities. TCHRD documented 88 known deaths of Tibetan prisoners of conscience since 1987 and is equally concerned about the 145 known Tibetan prisoners currently detained in various Chinese detention centres and prisons.

Nir Rosen has a piece in the December Atlantic Monthly entitled "If America Left Iraq: The case for cutting and running." Rosen poses the following questions and answers them all himself:

Would the withdrawal of U.S. troops ignite a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites?

No. That civil war is already under way—in large part because of the American presence. The longer the United States stays, the more it fuels Sunni hostility toward Shiite "collaborators." Were America not in Iraq, Sunni leaders could negotiate and participate without fear that they themselves would be branded traitors and collaborators by their constituents. Sunni leaders have said this in official public statements; leaders of the resistance have told me the same thing in private.

On Dec. 4, a group of approximately 200 uniformed and armed men, identified as members of the Bloque Norte of the AUC paramilitary movement, under the command of "Jorge 40," entered the hamlets (veredas) La Más Verde y Nuevo Horizonte, in the district (corregimiento) of Santa Isabel, Curumaní municipality, Cesar department; various abuses against the civil population were reported, and several people were detained of which 22 were later found dead of gunshot and stab wounds. (Asociación Minga, Dec. 10 via Red de Defensores)

The world is paying little note, but China may have a full-scale peasant revolt on its hands soon. The hideous irony is that the American idiot left, rather than loaning solidarity to the heroic Chinese peasants, will cheer on their oppressors in the name of (a now wholly fictional) "socialism." Bush, meanwhile, will use the Beijing regime's human rights abuses against the peasants as a lever to pry further economic concessions (privatization of land and resources, dropping of trade barriers) which will only make the lot of the peasantry even worse, disenfranchising them of what little autonomy and self-sufficiency they have left. From AFP via al-Jazeera, Dec. 7:

This analysis recognizes that the US military presence in Iraq is ultimately counter-productive to a recovery of the country's oil industry. But it seems to assume that US leaders are capable of smelling the coffee and getting out. It fails to recognize the danger (to US elites) of a power vacuum that could result in the world's second greatest oil reserves (and concomitant geo-strategic power) falling into the hands of an imperial rival (China, Russia, even France)—or, worse still, Iran or a local Taliban-type regime.

Iraqi oil industry in crisis

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has responded the latest ant-Israel tirade by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad y saying that Israel must prepare solutions "other than diplomatic" in the face of Tehran's nuclear program. "The right move would be to let a diplomatic approach guide us, but we must also prepare other solutions," Mofaz said on a campaign tour for the Likud leadership primaries in Tel Aviv. Mofaz referred to Ahmadinejad as an "Israel hater," adding "the combination of extreme hatred and nuclear capabilities certainly threatens the State of Israel and Western countries." (Xinhua, Dec. 9) Israel, while denying plans to attack Iran, is expanding its military arsenal in preparation for such an attack. It has recently acquired dozens of warplanes with long-range fuel tanks to allow them to reach Iran, and it also signed a deal with Germany for two submarines reportedly capable of firing long-range missiles. (AP, Dec. 9) Iran, in turn, is turning to Russia to develop an anti-missile defense system. "Is this a problem? Do we need permission?" said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in response to reports that Tehran has bought 29 mobile air defense systems from Moscow in a $700 million contract. (Iran Mania, Dec. 9)

A voice of unassailable moral credibility—we hope—is added to chorus demanding release of the four hostages from the Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq.

LONDON (Reuters) - A former Guantanamo Bay detainee has pleaded for the release of peace worker Norman Kember and three other hostages held in Iraq.