What "freedom" looks like in Iraq in 2006

Like a born-again Churchill, President Bush continues to declare that "Iraq is free". He touts the new Iraqi constitution and newly elected government as primary signs of progress, while at the same time dismissing critics of the ongoing occupation and unabated war as "defeatists".

Meanwhile, Iraqis remain far from free as we head into another July 4.

The Iraqis I have met work hard to instill in their children basic values that should sound familiar to most Texans: freedom, opportunity, security, and responsibility.

Since war apologists urge "stay the course" it is useful to look at the situation overseas and see what freedom looks like for Iraqis today.

What is freedom?

Freedom, to most Americans, is summed up in the words that President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke before Congress in 1941:

"We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms," said Roosevelt.

"The first is freedom of speech and expression - everywhere in the world. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his (or her) own way - everywhere in the world. The third is freedom from want - which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants - everywhere in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear - which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor - anywhere in the world. That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb."

At the time this was written, the U.S. had not yet entered WWII, the Declaration of Independence was only 165 years old, and most members the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) were not yet born.

Americans and Iraqis recognize, and agree with, the freedoms listed above. But the reality of Iraq is such that it is a country far away from achieved what is so ardently desired......MORE Page 2>

Pastors for Peace tour Texas on way to Cuba

The Pastors for Peace caravans are touring Texas, coming from all parts of the U.S. on their way to Cuba via Mexico.

The Caravan focuses on delivering medicines, educational supplies, sports equipment and tools to Cuba while challenging the 40-year embargo by the U.S. as an immoral policy that uses hunger and disease as political weapons.

Bill would force local police to enforce Federal immigration laws

The U.S. House of Representatives, continuing their anti-immigration tirade, have passed legislation that would require city and county police forces to act as an arm of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch of the federal government.

The legislation would cut off federal crime-fighting funds for any city with sanctuary policies that do prevent law enforcement officers from inquiring about immigration status.

Texas musicians use talents for peace

More and more Texas musicians are using their talents to promote peace and oppose the war in Iraq.

Groups like Musicians for Peace and individuals like Todd Snider, Johnny Case, and Bill Oliver are joining the likes of the Dixie Chicks and Willie Nelson in musical tributes. Singers are joining too, and there are reports that peace music sales are on the rise.

Texas receives grant to address hurricane jobless

Texas will get a $13.4 million emergency grant for residents left jobless by last year's hurricanes, officials from the Labor Department announced.

Grants will go to the Texas Workforce Commission to provide vocational training and temporary jobs on cleanup and restoration crews. The Labor Department previously awarded a $75 million National Emergency Grant to Texas after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck last year.

TX oil and gas deals grow

Anadarko, an oil and gas company based in the Woodlands, plans a $23.3 billion purchase of two competitors, Kerr-McGee and Western Gas Resources.

The deal allows Anadarko to expand into deepwater in the Gulf of Mexico and the Rockies.

In December, ConocoPhillips Co., the nation's third biggest energy company, acquired oil and gas producer Burlington Resources Inc. for $35.6 billion.

"This industry will continue to cannibalize itself because of limited access to new resources," Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit said.

In other oil news Robert Malone, a 54-year-old Texas native will become chairman of BP America, overseeing its 7,000 employees working in refining, pipelines and oil and natural gas exploration and production in the United States.

Israel bombs Islamic University in Gaza: witnesses

A Governing Philosophy Rebuffed

Stealing Mexico

The Gaza Beach Party Massacre

Pentagon Spying on Gay, Antiwar Groups More Widespread

Buried, but not nameless, in Iraq's desert

Iran rejects G8 deadline for nuke talks in July

Pentagon Fireworks

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