A lasting settlement?

A lasting settlement? While George Bush talks up the prospects for peace, in reality he backs Israel's assault on Palestinians' legitimate national aspirations"

West Point was the first United States military post built after the Declaration of Independence. It had been designed and constructed by Tadeusz Kosciuszko, republican visionary, hero of the American Revolution and the 1794 Polish Uprising, and one of the greatest liberation figures in modern history. Kosciuszko believed and fought for a vision of an America emancipated from foreign rule, an America of both individual and collective liberty, a country that only waged wars of self-defence, and never wars of aggression and occupation. He was one of the founders of a great American tradition, the practice of hope and audacity in the struggle for freedom.

That practice was contesting a tradition of colonisation, slavery and empire - indeed, in appreciation of his contribution at West Point, Kosciuszko's commanding officer gave him the gift of a slave. Kosciuszclo immediately freed him, stating that all forms of slavery must be resisted, and that, in the contest for the soul of the republic, the side of liberation must always be chosen. To this very day, the American republic is constantly shaped by this ongoing battle between the tradition of cynicism and that of hope, one of conservative reaction versus progressive values and freedom. More