Elaine Brown, former head of the Black Panther Party, on Guerrilla Radio

Yesterday's Guerrilla Radio featured an interview with the only woman to head the BPP, author, and long time political activist Elaine Brown. Brown will be in Cleveland on April 7, 11:30am at CSU's University Center Room 1, as part of a panel titled, "Why is standing up for your rights a capital crime in Ohio? The Case of the Lucasville 5." Brown spoke about prisons, political imprisonment, political prisoners, and the need for the American left to start winning tangible victories through the ballot. Click here to listen to what she had to say.

Seymour Hersh, the Islamist Right, Iran, and the American Empire

Check out this long but very important piece by independent journalist and writer Tom Englehardt on the "Bush" administration's long term plans for the Middle East. Englehardt brings up excellent points regarding past support for rightist Islamist forces by sections of the U.S. ruling elite, the use of these forces in foreign policy gambles for the purposes of imperial expansion, and the connections all this has to the historical and present relationship between the U.S. and Iran.

Protests Abound in Begining of 5th Year

As the U.S. invasion of Iraq entered its fifth year, protesters around the world demanded it come to an end today. In the U.S. the largest demonstration took place in Washington, D.C. where a conflict erupted with a much smaller "pro-war" crowd. Click here to listen to yesterday's Guerrilla Radio as Zirca interviewed a representative from the D.C. protests as they prepared for today's rally and march, along with other anti-war news and interviews. This past week also saw an eight day long vigil at Public Square in downtown Cleveland.

Friday's Guerrilla Radio

Click here to listen to last Friday's edition of Guerrilla Radio. We spoke with Josh in Pittsburgh where several people were arrested for blockading a robotics center in protest of the center's role in making war machines. We also spoke with Raed Jarrar, Iraqi and author of the blog Raed in the Middle, about the pending oil and natural gas law in Iraq.

My Name is Rachel Corrie to Premiere in Cleveland

The play My Name is Rachel Corrie will premiere in Cleveland next weekend at Cleveland Public Theater as part of their Big Box series. We spoke with director Trad A. Burns and actress Elizabeth Wood on yesterday's Guerrilla Radio about what inspired them to bring this play to Cleveland and how it changed them in the process. The play starts February 16th and runs through the 18th. Rachel was killed in 2004 while standing in the way of an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip as part of the International Solidarity Movement. You can check out Rachel's memorial website here.

Black Hawk Down

Anti-occupation forces in Iraq are improving their ability to combat U.S. forces by using new anti-aircraft weapons in anticipation of Bush's "surge." The increased use of helicopters in Iraq is likely a result of the insurgents' success with IEDs and small arms urban guerrilla warfare. Meanwhile, Democrats in the Senate continue to debate over a resolution that will likely have little affect on the actual deployment of the troops absent the use of Congress' power of the purse. Nonetheless, it seems even this "toothless symbolic gesture" is drawing heavy criticism from the staunchest supporters of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

The Urge to Surge and the Spoils of Iraqi Oil

Is President Bush's plans for a surge of 20,000 more U.S. troops in Iraq related to legislation pending before Iraq's parliament which would grant oil corporations historic access to Iraqi oil? Chris Floyd thinks so. He argues that Bush and company have already "won" in Iraq with the passing of this law, expected to be approved some day this week.

The Pot of Black Gold at the end of the Rainbow in Iraq

The Iraqi parliament will be considering the passage of a law this week which will likely set the stage for massive privatization of the country's oil. This privatization will allow for the flow of profits from the oil supply to benefit outside investors much more than the people who live on the land above it. The weakness of the Iraqi government in relation to its neo-colonial masters in Washington makes it very difficult for a different deal to be struck than the one being proposed.