Workers Solidarity Movement

James McBarron was a long time activist in Sinn Fein before becoming an anarchist in the aftermath of the Good Friday agreement. In this opinion piece he wrote for publication on republican discussion forums he argues that although it is "completely understandable that most thinking republican activists are angry and enraged at how they were duped and used by the former IRA and current Sinn Fein leadership … this does not excuse people from properly examining their own roles and politics and the politics and conditions that have lead to the current situation." He then points to four areas which he thinks represent fatal weaknesses of 'dissident' Irish republicanism in general.

Ireland has an indigenous revolutionary tradition that successfully mobilized tens if not hundreds of thousands in the struggle for more freedom over the 200 years since 1798. Irish republicanism has always included a radical democratic and leveling element and which continues to provide part of the culture of resistance of the most down trodden sections of the working class. Many believe this makes it the best base to build from, Andrew Flood asks if they are right?

An IPSC meeting on Saturday saw some of the Irish participants on the Freedom Flotilla talk of their experiences, and discuss what practical steps Irish people can help take to bring about the end of the siege of Gaza and Israeli apartheid as a whole and secure self determination for the people of Palestine. This is the audio from the meeting.

The current violence errupting in the southern region of Kyrgyzstan is deeply troubling.

If we are to go by the news reports given by the BBC, the violence is the culmination of long standing ethnic tensions.  If we are to believe the Economist's recent article "Stalin's Harvest" we are seeing the inevitable fruits of Stalin's labour. 

According to The Economist the ethnic violence is to be attributed to Stalin based on his inefficiency in drawing borders.  Any ethno-geographer of the region would acknowledge that drawing effective borders, even if based on language groupings -  is effectively impossible for Central Asia as populations are organised as consistently by elevation as by region.  Uzbeks typically being in more sedentary populations at lower elevations, while the Kyrgyz historically lived in pastoral highlands.  When ethnicity is brought into the equation things become even more complex.  The result is a maze of populations where borders are abitrary by necessity.

A recently leaked report, which appears to have been produced by the CIA's Red Cell, aims to shore up support for the war in Afghanistan by manipulating public opinion in Western Europe.  The report targets France and Germany as regions which need specially designed messages to stem an eroding popularity for the war.

The BBC has reported that at least 23 people have been killed and 300 injured in violence which has erupted in the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan. It is not yet clear what forces are responsible for the violence.

Until recently Kyrgyzstan's head of government was President Kurmanbek Bakiyev who was forced to flee the country after riots erupted in April 2010.  Bakiyev's power base is largely in the southern area of Kyrgyzstan including Osh.

Pentagon investigators "are desperately searching" for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, to try and prevent the publication of over 260,000 diplomatic cables that were allegedly leaked by intelligence analyst Bradley Manning.

Despite the efforts of the Israeli military and propaganda machine which stole all the footage they could find on board the Freedom Flotilla some footage activists succesfully snuck past the jailers has started to emerge.  The Isreali propaganda team has already released out of context fragments obviously taken from stolen equipment to try and bolster its case, the fact that only a few seconds (that show a firework being thrown) could be found speaks volumes.

On January 12 2009 9 women entered Raytheon in Derry with the intention of bringing down the mainframe (and halting production in Britain and Ireland) as a direct response to the Israeli bombing of Gaza. The 9 women didn't make it to the mainframe but did chain themselves to the inside doors and were charged with "Burglary, Criminal Damage and Assault." Days after the Israeli military assault on the Freedom Flotilla which left at least 9 activsts dead the 9 women have been found not guilty by the Belfast High Court.