A secret CIA report, brought to light last month by Wikileaks, reveals the cynical battle plans for the "war of perception" being waged over public opinion in Europe about NATO's war in Afghanistan. The four-page document is well worth reading, mainly to see exactly how cyncial the powers-that-be are when assessing the public.

I attended this year's Left Forum in New York, a gathering of thousands of progressive academics and activists held March 19-21. I spoke at a panel co-organized by the Canadian Peace Alliance and the Campaign for Peace and Democracy on the topic of the war in 'Af-Pak'.

The final plenary on March 21 featured a tribute to Howard Zinn, with actor-teacher-activist Brian Jones performing Zinn's Marx in Soho. With the Forum being held at PACE University in Lower Manhattan a stone's throw from Wall Street (and not far from Soho), the play was a joyful reminder that the ideas of both Zinn and Marx will resonate until the global dictatorship of Capital is brought to an end.

The 'Olympic Truce' continues to be nothing more than a sick joke for the people of Afghanistan, as at least 27 more civilians were killed in a NATO bombing in Uruzgan on Sunday.

There is one big Winter Olympic country, however, that has (by sheer coincidence) given a nod to the values represented by the idea of a Truce during the Games. The government of the Netherlands has collapsed over the issue of the war, which is very big news indeed. Dutch troops, who have been stationed in Uruzgan, will be on their way out in six months. The Guardian reports:

Last week, I wrote a piece in the Georgia Straight about the war in Afghanistan and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver: