Month: April 2004

Even though I still think it could be a turning point, and one that just might lead to a relatively large-scale rethinking of what we might term the imperial imperative, I’m reluctant to write about Fallujah just now because I really have little or no idea what’s going on there. It’s not that I haven’t … Continue reading “How Wars Subvert Freedom”

The Abu Ghraib prison was a symbol of Saddam’s horrific tyranny: electrodes hanging out of the walls, floors stained with the blood of god-knows-how-many victims, bodies dangling from meat-hooks, like in some cheap Grade-B horror flick. So when the Americans came and “liberated” the place, the long-suffering Iraqi people were supposed to be grateful. After … Continue reading “Depravity as ‘Liberation’”

One year after President George W Bush declared an end to “major hostilities” in Iraq, public opinion there and in the United States is beginning to converge, as people in both countries increasingly agree that the US invasion and occupation might not have been such a good idea after all. That is one conclusion of … Continue reading “US, Iraqi Views of Occupation Converging”

As violence continues to escalate in Iraq, killing dozens of soldiers and hundreds of civilians, the United Nations remains ambivalent about its own ability to help salvage a country on the brink of disaster. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been dragging his feet over the appointment of a new special representative for Iraq to succeed … Continue reading “Annan: Never a UN Force in Iraq”

From March 22 to April 2, 60 trained Iraqi pollsters interviewed 3,444 randomly selected Iraqis for USA Today. This is one of the first polls in Iraq that seems to me well weighted statistically, though to be sure we’d have to know more than USA Today told us. The numbers are negative for the US, … Continue reading “Iraqis Say: ‘US Out Now!’”

The 26 April explosions at a chemical warehouse being raided by the U.S. military constitute yet another example of heavy-handed tactics gone awry. US officials say they had reason to believe the facility was being used to manufacture chemical munitions. Rather than use other means to investigate, such as better human intelligence or a more … Continue reading “Heavy-Handed Baghdad Raid Backfires”

On his way to confirmation as U.S. ambassador to Iraq, the current U.N. envoy John Negroponte was busily twisting language like a pretzel at a Senate hearing the other day. The new Baghdad regime, to be installed on June 30, will have sovereignty. Well, sort of. Negroponte explained: “That is why I use the term … Continue reading “Staying the Media Course in Iraq”

Iraq Rationales Getting Weaker (If That Is Possible) No WMDs? Read two articles lately on Antiwar.com about the unloading of old materials in Iraq that could be used as "proof." ~ KR Alan Bock replies: The key issue is whether what Saddam had, if he had anything, constituted anything remotely resembling an imminent threat to … Continue reading “”

As violence rocked Iraq in Fallujah and Najaf, major international companies gathered in London this week to figure ways of doing business in Iraq without getting their hands burnt. The magic formula was offered at a three-day Iraqi procurement conference held at Hilton hotel in central London from Monday to Wednesday this week. "Across all … Continue reading “Foreign Firms Continue to Try to Do Business in Iraq”

In a day or two, the European Union is set to accept 10 new member countries, many of which were once dominated by another Union – Soviet. One of the ten is the former Yugoslav republic of Slovenia. On the occasion, the London-based supporter of Empire (and EU, unsurprisingly) IWPR published a series of articles … Continue reading “Balkans and the EU”