News underreported by the mass media: Iraq Freedom Congress; Somalia quagmire; Poppies for Heroin instead of painkillers; attempts to "build tlhe structure of the new society in the shell of the old"; Noam Chomsky; etc. by Dan Clore
(libertarian)
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Most Underreported News of 2008 (Up to Now)
by Dan Clore
This is a selection of underreported news taken from my Smygo list.
I encourage readers to suggest other underreported news stories. (Not necessarily from Smygo.)
The Iraq Freedom Congress is a libertarian, secular, non-violent, democratic, and progressive group that opposes Ba'athism, Islamism, and nationalism -- as well as the US invasion/occupation. The IFC has organized Safety Forces that patrol neighborhoods in Baghdad and other cities (population c. 5,000). They have reduced sectarian violence in these neighborhoods to zero. Far from supporting the IFC, the American occupiers have repeatedly raided their offices and have assassinated the head of their Safety Forces. Mainstream mass media have entirely failed to report on the existence of the IFC, and alternative media have been almost as bad.
When Ethiopia invaded Somalia as a US-proxy in December 2006, they intended to stay for three months. They're still stuck there with no end in sight. Up to 10,000 have been killed. Mainstream mass media keep ignoring and misreporting the story.
While poppy-growing soars, it goes to make black-market heroin that supports the Taliban or be destroyed by law-enforcement, and patients with chronic pain face a shortage of painkillers.
While some still claim that There Is No Alternative (TINA) to state-corporate capitalism (the "free market"), others attempt to "build the structure of the new society in the shell of the old." (I wish I had more in this section.)
The views expressed
in this article are those of Dan Clore only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
Dan Clore is solely responsible for the contents
of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated
with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
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