Month: January 2009

Updated at 10:08 p.m. EST, Jan. 31, 2009Due to the Iraqi elections, very little news of violence came out of the country. No major attacks were reported thanks to a security clampdown. In some cities, citizens are banned from being on the streets unless they are traveling to a polling station. These conditions also make … Continue reading “Saturday: 5 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded”

FALLUJAH – The threat of violence hangs over Fallujah again as leaders of the Awakening Council fight for political power through the elections Jan. 31. The Awakening Councils were set up and backed by the U.S. military to curb spiraling violence. According to the U.S. military, most of the members recruited were former resistance fighters. … Continue reading “Threat of Violence Looms Again Over Fallujah”

When you stop to think about it, people measure how well their lives are going not by their absolute state of being but by their situation relative to their expectations.  For example, a poor person in a developing country may be ecstatic about getting a pair of shoes for the first time; in contrast, a … Continue reading “Guns and Butter (Again)”

Way back in August of 2007, Barack Obama having declared he was a candidate for the Presidency of the United States, some “reporter” asked him whether he would be willing to use nuclear weapons, either in the War on Terror or to prevent "nuclear proliferation" by those dirty Mullahs. To the absolute delight of (a) … Continue reading “Take Nukes Off the Table”

Updated at 8:30 p.m. EST, Jan. 30, 2009Severe security measures are being imposed across Iraq ahead of tomorrow’s elections. Despite the increase in security, at least five Iraqis were killed and 20 wounded when police failed to detonate a bomb safely. One U.S. soldier was killed. Meanwhile, Iraq’s foreign minister said the country is encouraged … Continue reading “Friday: 1 US Soldier, 5 Iraqis Killed, 20 Wounded”

While applauding President Barack Obama’s recent executive orders banning torture and other harsh interrogation practices, medical authorities are calling attention to a little-reported section of the Army’s Field Manual on Interrogation that they say still allows the use of tactics that can constitute torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment under U.S. and international law. … Continue reading “Close Torture Loopholes, Physicians’ Group Urges”

Thirty years have now passed since the stern, bearded visage of Ayatollah Khomeini graced our television screens decrying the many "ills" of the West and its allies. It was a revolution few, if any, at the time had anticipated, one participants and observers alike still endeavor to properly understand. Khomeini’s image, which has since become … Continue reading “The Iranian Revolution,
Thirty Years On”

The talk is all of stimuli and other matters economic – how do we re-inflate the balloon of American prosperity? Reality has taken a hat-pin to it, and trillions have gone up in the smoke of foreclosed mortgages and credit-default swaps. Panaceas are not lacking. Paul Krugman says it doesn’t matter what we spend our … Continue reading “The Big Stimulus”

Those of us who prefer justice to arbitrary and unaccountable detention without charge or trial were delighted when, last week, Barack Obama fulfilled a long-stated promise and issued a presidential order stating that Guantánamo will be closed "as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order," and establishing … Continue reading “How Cooking For the Taliban Gets You Life in Guantánamo”

Much of the world has greeted the transfer of power from President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama with sighs of relief if not shouts of joy. Although President Bush won a few friends in a few countries – his administration aided India and Israel and kept good relations with China, for instance – … Continue reading “Diplomatic Means to Militaristic Ends”