Month: October 2003

A major Pentagon hawk has abruptly resigned his post in a move that, in the context of other recent developments, is likely to fuel speculation that the White House might be trying to soften the harder edges of its controversial policies. The Pentagon announced Wednesday evening that Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, … Continue reading “Pentagon Hawk Released; Straws in the Wind?”

Happy Halloween. I type this knowing that I don’t have a costume for tonight. But that doesn’t matter so much. After all, in the United States every day is an occasion for costuming and obscuring the truth behind the public fictions. Costuming of a sort allowed Washington to frame its invasion of Iraq as “liberation” … Continue reading “Everyday Is Halloween”

On the surface, the Vietnam war and the attack on Iraq by U.S. forces don’t have much in common. In the 1960s, when the Vietnam conflict was at its height, the United States was in a global face-off with a rival of comparable size and power, the Soviet Union. Our involvement in Vietnam increased only … Continue reading “IRAQ AND VIETNAM”

U.S. military training to the Indonesian Armed Forces will be banned until its officials cooperate with investigators probing the ambush and killing of staff from an international school in West Papua province last year, according to amendments passed by the Senate. The change to the 2004 foreign-aid bill that will ban training for Indonesian army … Continue reading “Senate Blocks Military Aid to Indonesia”

U.S. President George W. Bush’s latest gesture to persuade Muslims both here and abroad that the United States is not seeking a "clash of civilisations" has not gone over well with its intended audience. The White House was clearly hoping its Iftaar dinner Tuesday evening, to which ambassadors from predominantly Muslim nations and individual U.S. … Continue reading “Bush’s Muslim Troubles”

Last Wednesday, former KLA commander Agim Ceku was arrested in Slovenia on an Interpol warrant forwarded by Serbia. The following morning, after the intervention of Kosovo’s UN viceroy Harri Holkeri, fierce protests in Pristina, and even (reportedly) threats of terrorism against Slovenia, he was released. According to agency reports cited by Reality Macedonia, Holkeri told … Continue reading “The Untouchables”

When deceit catches up with a government, officials take refuge in propaganda. Thus, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told the Washington Times (Oct. 24) that he wants a "21st century information agency in the government" to help fight a "war of ideas" and educate Americans and foreigners that Big Brother is right. Last year Rumsfeld was forced … Continue reading “Rumsfeld Wants a Ministry of Truth”

If U.S. President George W. Bush was surprised on his recent trip to Indonesia by the negative image the country’s Muslim leaders had of his administration, he is unlikely to be reassured by two new surveys from Latin America and Europe. Nearly 90 percent of more than 500 elite figures in six Latin American countries … Continue reading “Bush Falls From Favor Abroad, Too”

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Paul Wolfowitz’s second visit to Iraq was supposed to underscore the “good news” about the U.S. occupation – how the Americans are building schools, roads, and credibility with the Iraqi people. Instead, it turned into an object lesson in how the country is on the verge of careening out of control. It happened at a … Continue reading “CHICKENHAWK SEES COMBAT”