The Anatomy of a Lie

It was a shock to see the headline: "Belgrade helped in planning of Baghdad bombing." The story in the London Independent by Kim Sengupta claimed that the government of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica "provided vital information on Saddam's upgraded air...

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Revolution as Tourist Attraction?

The Zapatista Liberation Front from the Mexican province of Chiapas, along with various hangers-on, is marching from its stronghold in the south to Mexico City to confer with Mexican president Vicente Fox, who has just assumed power and has made resolution of the...

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Saddam Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

I have before written about the myth of the "Saddam Bomb" – the perfervid and recurring group fantasy that has the Iraqi ruler on the verge of developing an atomic bomb – but after playing that one over and over again since 1991, the War Party must has...

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The Sailors Who Fell From Grace with the Sea

For months, Japanese officials have been denying it: but now, the signs are all too apparent. Mt. Fuji, the sacred symbol of Japan – which some still worship as a god – is on the verge of erupting. The long dormant volcano is awakening, say scientists –...

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Is There Something in the Water?

It must be something in the water: or, perhaps, "Mad Cow" disease is spreading much faster than anyone realizes. I had to read the headline on this news story from the London Independent at least three times, early this [Tuesday] morning, just to make sure I wasn't...

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Bombing for . . . What?

Was I the only one who sensed a sort of plaintiveness in the president’s assertion? "The no-fly zones are enforced on a daily basis," said George W. as he touched lightly on the decision of British and American warplanes to dump bombs on targets outside...

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Bombs Over Baghdad: The Blair Factor

As bonnie Prince Charles arrived in Saudi Arabia on a private visit, US and British warplanes launched their first major attack on the outskirts of Baghdad, signaling a new and more aggressive Anglo-American stance in the Middle East – with the emphasis on the...

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Prelude to War

It was just another "routine mission" in Iraq, said President Bush, as 24 US and British aircraft bombed the outskirts of Baghdad for the first time since 1998. But is it just another day in the neighborhood, as Mr. Rogers would have it, or is it the first phase of...

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