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#The Independent (U.K.)

143 articles

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Human rights groups shocked by refusal to reverse Bush policy in Afghanistan

Obama, tell us the whole truth

23 February 2009

New questions are being raised about the Obama administration’s commitment to fully reverse Bush administration policies relating to the so-called war on terror. Less than a month after signing an executive order to end torture and shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, President Barack (…)

“The hawk who offered the best chance of making peace”

by Malcolm Rifkind

18 January 2006

Ten years ago, I went with John Major to Yitzhak Rabin’s funeral. His assassination had a great impact on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. There have been huge disconcerting similarities between what happened to Rabin and what has happened to Ariel Sharon. Both of them were hawks and when (…)

“No Wonder Al-Jazeera Was a Target”

by Robert Fisk

16 January 2006

On April 4, 2003, I was on the terrace roof of Al Jazeera‘s office in Baghdad. Blazing buildings and columns of black smoke delineated the horizon when I saw a cruise missile loomed up over the Tigris, whizzed by beneath one of the bridges and disappeared in the distance. I went downstairs (…)

“America must tell us the truth about its gulag”

by Chris Mullin

13 January 2006

In his book Descent Interval that revives the end of the war in Viet Nam, former CIA agent Franck Snepp described what happened to the communist high ranking officer Nguyen Van Tai. After being imprisoned for four years in a secret place, he was “disappeared” when he was thrown to the China Sea (…)

“The European Constitution will not go away; we will return to it”

by Josep Borrell

29 November 2005

The negative votes of France and Holland with regard to the referendum show that people don’t value the European Union. In France, it is considered to be too liberal and permeated by the “Anglo Saxon model”. What has had an impact in Holland has been the Turkey issue and the immigration, apart (…)

“The last thing Iraq needs now is the passing of its draft Constitution”

by Scott Ritter

14 November 2005

Whatever the result of the Iraqi vote is, on October 15, the constitutional project is a harmful text produced by an inappropriate process. At present, many observers believe that the American and British presence has a negative effect in the internal situation of Iraq. Thus, the sooner the (…)

“Blair must draw up a withdrawal strategy for our troops”

by Menzies Campbell

7 October 2005

Events in Basra are an illustration of the dangers faced by our troops. Six British soldiers and two security guards have given their lives in Iraq in the past eight weeks. In this regard, questions should not be asked to military commanders because they do what it is necessary based on the (…)

“Erasing poverty”

by Peter Mandelson

20 July 2005

This week at the G-8 in Edinburgh the European Commission will be arguing for a significant boost on development assistance for developing countries. This money is needed for Africa and this aid has to be accompanied by a debt relief and a policy that in the end would enable this continent to (…)

“Agricultural Subsidies Cost Lives As Well As Money”

by Don McKinnon

1 July 2005

If the European people were asked to remove trade subsidies, to cut down the cost of their weekly shopping, and to help poor countries, they all would agree. Let’s recall that it is not only money what agricultural subsidies cost. They also cost human lives. What can the Commonwealth do? We have (…)

“We Need to Start Talking to Europeans”

by Denis MacShane

24 June 2005

Quelle surprise! [1] the French want our money and we want their cows to stop chewing up so massively the European budget. Well, nothing new so far. For 30 years we have been longing for a reform of the Common Agrarian Policy (CAP). This is an offensively protectionist policy, not so aggressive, (…)

“Bury the Treaty and Create A New Vision For Europe”

by Charles Kennedy

24 June 2005

The rejection of the European Constitution Treaty (ECT) by the French and the Dutch has turned the Brussels summit into a turning point. Tony Blair is right when he asks for a break in order to think about it but this should not prevent us from giving strategic evidence. I consider that the (…)

“Our Enemies Aim At The Destruction Of The Arab Identity”

by Bashar al-Assad

15 June 2005

Since the last congress of the Baath Party, held in the year 2000, many important political developments have occurred in the world that have made the Arabs reflect about their ideas and convictions. This has plunged us into a state of uncertainty and confusion for it has taken place amidst a (…)

«The President Who Let Down His Nation»

by Denis MacShane

31 May 2005

When France will vote next Sunday, May 29, for its European future, the electors will declare themselves rather to be in favor of the actions taken by their President Jacques Chirac than in favor of the contents of the text. This man occupies the political scene of his country since much longer (…)

«Multilateral Dialogue is Frustrating, Slow and the Only Option»

by Mohamed Elbaradei

10 May 2005

The States with nuclear weapons continue to lean on them since they have not developed any other means of prevention. To expedite the removal of all nuclear weapons, an alternative collective security system must be created. An alternative must also be found for the States that have placed (…)

«This election is about more important issues than the war or me »

by Tony Blair

5 May 2005

This newspaper and many of its readers have had strong disagreements with me over Iraq. This controversy will probably have great influence upon the decision that some people will make when they cast their vote on Thursday. I realize that many people believe military action in Iraq was wrong. (…)