Young Democratic Socialists, DSA's youth section, has set February 16-18 in New York City as the date of its annual winter conference. Featured speakers include DSA Honorary Co-Chair Barbara Ehrenreich and noted linguist and political commentator Noam Chomsky. On-line registration is now up and running. Click here for the registation page. Links to conference details are available on the DSA and YDS Web sites.

The latest scheme advocated by President Bush and defenders  of the Administration's Iraq policy such as John McCain and Rudy Guilliani is a "temporary" increase in troop levels in order to pacify Baghdad. Bush has overridden the judgment of senior military leaders including General John Abizaid, senior U.S. commander in the Middle East, to implement a policy that puts 21,000 more Americans in harm's way and that will escalate sectarian violence rather than reduce it, putting thousands more civilians at risk. And, he threatened to expand the violence to Iran and Syria. We must all act now to voice as large a protest as possible against these escalations.