When I heard that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to President Barack Obama, I was shocked. I know that most of my friends and family had voted for Obama in hope of a change from Bush. But what had President Obama done to deserve a peace prize? The United States is still occupying Iraq with more than one hundred thousand troops. Obama is increasing the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and his escalation of the war is taking a growing toll on the lives of the Afghan people and U.S. troops. In 2002 in awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, the committee noted the contrast with the Bush administration's war in Afghanistan and build-up to invade Iraq. So how can they now award the peace prize to a President who is fighting the same two wars?

In a day of action organized by Students for a Democratic Society, October 7 saw dozens of protests across the country against the Afghanistan war on the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion. Students marched, conducted die-ins and skits, and some were arrested as they demanded money be spent at home on education and healthcare, instead of two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Demonstrations mark 8th anniversary of Afghan War – demand immediate U.S./NATO withdrawal

On Oct. 7, students on 25 campuses across the United States will protest eight long years of war against the people of Afghanistan. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a national student organization committed to activism for peace, justice and equality, is organizing the protest.

In September, the U.S. government released its annual report on health insurance coverage, showing a continuing decline in private health insurance and the huge number of people who had no health insurance for all of 2008. That same month Democratic senators released their proposal for health insurance 'reform.' However, this proposal could end up as more of a bailout of the for-profit health insurance corporations than a solution to people's health care needs. The best solution for working people, a government run, single-payer health insurance program, was endorsed by the AFL-CIO national convention in September. But this single-payer health insurance plan has been largely excluded from the health care debate by the Obama administration and the corporate media.

Student anti-war activists across the country are preparing for the Oct. 7 national day of action against the war in Afghanistan.

St. Paul, MN – Even though the 2008 Republican National Convention (RNC) has been over for a year, eight Twin Cities activists are still caught up in its aftermath. The weekend before the RNC, local police led raids on the Convergence Space and the homes of members of a group calling itself the RNC Welcoming Committee. Eight Twin Cities activists (Monica Bicking , Robert Czernik, Garrett Fitzgerald, Luce Guillen-Givins, Erik Oseland, Nathanael Secor, Max Specktor and Eryn Trimmer) were arrested pre-emptively and held for the entirety of the convention. Despite these arrests and other acts of intimidation, thousands of people turned out to protest all four days of the convention and a groundswell of community support has grown surrounding the group now known as the RNC 8.

At the 2009 national convention of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), over 100 delegates from across the country unanimously endorsed a resolution calling for the immediate U.S. withdrawal and an unconditional end to the occupation of Afghanistan.

Los miembros del gremio del sindicato Local 743 de los Teamsters se están preparando para unirse a la marcha masiva del 1o de septiembre en Saint Paul, Minnesota para protestar en la Convención nacional republicana. Ellos ven esta marcha como parte del esfuerzo de derrotar a los republicanos este otoño. Esta marcha será la primera movilización nacional en 45 anos en la cual se une el Local 743.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call from the Colombia Action Network to cut off all aid to Colombia’s death squad government.

Fight Back News Service urges all our readers to join the June 18 protest to demand freedom for Ricardo Palmera. We are circulating the following statement from his defense committee. Also, click here to see the Colombia Action Network statement endorsing the June 18 protest and freedom for Ricardo Palmera.