The Syrian Arab News Agency charged that Western-backed terrorists launched a “rocket containing chemical materials on Khan al-Asal area in Aleppo Countryside,” on March 19. “The explosion of the rocket claimed the lives of 25 martyrs, while 110 citizens were injured, many of them in critical condition.”

As the Jan. 27 deadline approaches for a report from weapons inspectors in Iraq, people of conscience must recognize that inspections are worse than a sham, and more than a pretext for war. The inspections are a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. In building a strong anti-war movement, activists must stand up for Iraqi self-determination, and say no to these inspections.

The Bush administration is bringing the Korean peninsula to the brink of war. U.S. threats against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the DPRK, or North Korea) and Washington’s withdrawal from the 1994 nuclear accords have led to a dramatic escalation of tensions. A growing tide of demonstrations against the presence of U.S. troops has rocked South Korea.