John McCain—who knows a thing or two about what it is like to be a prisoner of war—steps up to the plate. And it is revealed that even Pentagon legal staff had warned that the current policy would invite abuse and violate law. But Bush insists on complete unaccountability and impunity, and no fixed definition for the continuing legal fiction of "enemy combatant" designation. Marjorie Cohn writes for TruthOut, Aug. 1:

Is there a draft in your future? That is the obvious implication of this July 23 story from Economic & Political Weekly, tho the author does not mention it.

Unravelling of the US Military
Newspapers describe the US army as facing one of the greatest recruiting challenges in its history, despite the enormous incentives now being offered to join the military. A study commissioned by the army found that resistance to recruitment was due to popular objection to the war in Iraq, the casualties and media coverage of the torture at Abu Ghraib. Solutions include a bill that was introduced in the Senate but that has not yet been voted on: offering legal status and eligibility for citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants residing in the US. The nightmare of war is offered as the prelude to the 'American dream'.

Riots and gunfire are reported in Sudan's capital Khartoum following the death of the country's vice-president, former rebel leader John Garang, in a helicopter crash as he was returning from Uganda. Garang had signed a deal to end 21 years of civil war in January and was sworn in as vice-president three weeks ago. Roadblocks have been set up and access to the airport has been cut off; there is a heavy military presence on the streets, while burning cars are sending plumes of smoke over the city. There are also reports of unrest elsewhere in Sudan.

President Omar al-Bashir said, "We are confident that the peace agreement will proceed as it was planned and drawn up." But Garang supporters, mostly from Sudan's south, are protesting in the capital. Three days of national mourning have been declared.

Russia says it is outraged by an interview with Chechen guerilla leader Shamil Basayev broadcast by the ABC TV network, and the foreign ministry summoned a senior US diplomat in Moscow to express its "strong indignation" over the show. In the interview, the warlord—who claimed responsibility for the deadly raid on a school in Beslan, South Ossetia—admitted he was a terrorist but said the Russians were terrorists too.

More than 320 people—half of them children—were killed in the Beslan attack last September. Russia is offering a $10 million reward for the capture of the warlord.

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, July 31:

In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the Oral Criminal Court in the Chilean city of Temuco acquitted six Mapuche rights activists in a retrial on charges of "terrorist illicit association." The ruling was handed down at the close of the trial on July 22, and was officially announced at a brief hearing on July 27. The regional prosecutor's office had charged lonkos (community leaders) Pascual Pichun and Aniceto Norin, Mapuche activists Jose Llanca Ailla, Jorge Huaiquin Antinao and Marcelo Quintrileo Contreras, and non-Mapuche sympathizer Patricia Troncoso with forming an illegal association to plan and commit "terrorist" acts--including incendiary attacks, theft and other crimes--on behalf of the Arauco-Malleco Coordinating Committee (CAM), a Mapuche land rights group. Most of the alleged crimes were against property and none posed a direct threat to life. "The Chilean government should take careful note of today's verdict and stop using the country's antiterrorism law in cases for which it clearly is inapplicable," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for the US-based Human Rights Watch on July 22.

This report from the July 31 Weekly News Update on the Americas on changes in top State Department positions on Latin America indicates that the White House is preparing to escalate its regime change offensive against Cuba:

Osman Hussain, a Somali man believed to be one of the four suspects in the July 21 bombing attempts in London was arrested July 29 in Rome after police traced his cell phone calls across Europe after the attacks. The ANSA news agency said he was arrested at the apartment of his brother, who also was taken into custody. (AP, July 29) In custody, he allegedly told police that the second London bomb attack wasn't botched—it was merely "a demonstration" for a real attack to be carried out in another European capital. "We wanted to stage an attack, but only as a demonstration," several newspapers quoted Osman as telling interrogators. Il Messaggero newspaper quoted the police as saying that Osman could have been in Rome to set up a terrorist attack there. (Electric New Paper, Aug. 1) Six more people were arrested in two police raids south of London July 31. (SA News24, July 31)

As we recently noted, Paraguay is currently seeing an upsurge of peasant and popular unrest—just as the US has established a new military presence there (ostensibly aimed at chasing down Islamic militants who have supposedly established the country as a base of operations). This report from Weekly News Update on the Americas, July 24, gives a picture of what kinds of landed interests Paraguay's peasants are facing: