As America ramps up its surge in Afghanistan, both Afghans and outsiders wonder at the consequences of the planned drawdown afterwards. When the time comes, will we abandon this country once again, knowing that the Taliban and its international backers may use the opportunity to once more plunge the nation into hell? Can't we prevent this?

Looking back in history, we see a parallel theme from this last letter of Comrade Szmul Zygielbojm, of the Socialist Bund, written May 11, 1943. He committed suicide the following day:

To His Excellency

The President of the Republic of Poland, Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz; Prime
Minister General Wladyslaw Sikorski

Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister:

I am taking the liberty of addressing to you, Sirs, these my last
words, and through you to the Polish Government and the people of
Poland, and to the governments and people of the Allies, and to the
conscience of the whole world: The latest news that has reached us
from Poland makes it clear beyond any doubt that the Germans are now
murdering the last remnants of the Jews in Poland with unbridled
cruelty. Behind the walls of the ghetto the last act of this tragedy
is now being played out.

The Power of Unreason is a new report from the UK-based political think tank, Demos, that examines the role of conspiracy theories in the motivation of extremist groups. It seems to confirm the virulent (and viral) nature of conspiracy theories and their use to recruit and strengthen extremist groups. Interesting reading. Some highlights:

Much Weirdness In Common

Our analysis shows that conspiracy theories are widely prevalent across this extremist spectrum, despite the vast differences in the extremist ideologies themselves.

North Korea's Kim Jong Il tries online dating. Hilarity ensues. Then, tragedy.

The USA once more brokers peace talks in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinians. After decades of negotiations, everyone knows the issues. The bargaining chips -- recognition of the Jewish state, right of return, prisoners, compensation, territory, settlements, demilitarization -- even for those of us half a world away from the action, are all plain to see on this high-stakes poker table.

When I traveled to Israel and through the West Bank this year, I got first-hand confirmation from both Jewish Israelis and Palestinians that the polls I keep hearing about are accurate: people from both sides want the peace and security that could come with a two-state solution. They want a chance for a life where conflict is not always the ugly elephant in the room. Read more »

Four civilians, including a pregnant woman, killed in the West Bank as a new round of US-sponsored Mideast peace talks is set to begin. The poor victims never had a chance. Yet another example of "heroism" from the "Palestinian resistance". It makes me want to throw up.

The murder is bad enough. But it's the picture of hundreds of Palestinians dancing in the streets, celebrating the villainous murder of innocent civilians (see the article with photograph in the link) that turns one’s stomach. Read more »

US President Barack Obama has declared the end of combat operations in Iraq.

This is an open thread. Leave a comment.

The Propagandist's own contributing writer Lauryn Oates will be joining Tarek Fatah, Aruna Papp, Morton Weinfeld, Alia Hogben and others October 1-2 in Calgary for the The Marsha Hanen Symposium on Ethical Leadership and Gender Equality, organized by by the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership. The symposium's topic is Gender, Culture and Religion: Tackling Some Difficult Questions. From the Foundation's website:

The Sheldon Chumir Foundation is concerned with how we organize ourselves so as to live ethically well together – peacefully, with dignity for all and in mutual respect. Equality issues are central to our mandate. This Symposium will provide an opportunity for thoughtful engagement with one set of equality issues – those presented by the tension between gender equality and Canada’s cultural and religious diversity.

Registration details here. Read more »

As The Propagandist magazine's readership has grown, so has the discussion in the Comments section at the end of each article. We love engaging wth our readers and hosting conversations about our articles.

(See that "Add new comment" link? Go ahead and click it. Add a comment. You know you want to).

Unfortunately, along with the responsible commenters, we're seeing more than our fair share of abusive and defamatory comments by Trolls (Well, mostly one persistent and obsessive Troll, actually). These sorts of comments get deleted. We're publicizing The Propagandist Magazine's Comment Policy to cut down a bit on our own administration time and deter more Trolls from taking up residence here. Read more »

A year ago a blog named CiF Watch was launched, its mission being to monitor and expose anti-Semitism on the Guardian newspaper’s ‘Comment is Free’ website.  It was born out of the frustration of ordinary people who were tired of writing unanswered letters of complaint and dissatisfied that their attempts to counter above and below the line bias and anti-Semitism were often deleted by the site’s moderators.

This unaffiliated, unfunded, diverse group of people was motivated to join forces and move from the defensive to the pro-active not only by the fact that a respectable mainstream media outlet was providing a platform where anti-Semitic hate speech thrived and multiplied to the point that the public vilification of Jews and Israel had become acceptable, but also out of an understanding that a society which allows hate speech against Jews will sooner or later turn on other minority groups as well. Read more »

The collapse of the Soviet Union was hailed as the triumph of liberal democracy. It was the final defeat of 20th century totalitarianism. Here was The End of History.

And yet, at the very moment that this victory was being trumpeted, totalitarianism was still gaining momentum in the Muslim world, both in its Baathist and Islamist forms. From Algeria to Iran to Indonesia, the death toll since the 1960s from these movements has been astonishing. Yet almost nobody in Europe and North America acknowledged this was happening. In Terror and Liberalism (2003), Paul Berman asks the trenchant question: why? Read more »