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The mother of a murdered Belfast teenager has met U.S. diplomats to express her concerns about a Pentagon security contract in Iraq. Jean McBride’s son Peter was shot dead in 1992 by two soldiers from the Scots Guards. Their commanding officer, Lt. Col. Tim Spicer, is now the head of Aegis Specialist Risk Management, one … Continue reading “US Ambassador Pledges Full Investigation of Mercenary Videos”

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could not have asked or hoped for much more – surprisingly enthusiastic, if still qualified, support from U.S. President George Bush for his West Bank withdrawal plan. His speech to both houses of Congress was interrupted no fewer than 38 times by rapturous applause. And he won a … Continue reading “Israel a Winner Again in US”

Many secular Iraqis have been expressing their displeasure with the new Iraqi government that was sworn-in Saturday and introduced with much fanfare by politicians in Washington, Baghdad, and London this week. "All Iraqis know this government is totally irrelevant to the realities that they’re facing," said Houzan Mahmoud, the international representative of the left-wing Iraqi … Continue reading “Secular Iraqis Unimpressed by New Government”

Ehud Olmert – who assumed the office of prime minister of Israel earlier this month – has already met with President Bush at the White House and addressed a joint session of Congress. Now, you may remember that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, newly elected president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, addressed the General Assembly of the … Continue reading “Kudos to Congress From Israel”

Peace is boring. How else to explain America’s seemingly incessant search for a new enemy? The Cold War might have been scary, but it provided an exciting challenge: contain the Evil Empire. Create an international coalition to defend the “free world.” Exciting, but we won. So the entire foreign policy establishment had to ask “now … Continue reading “Searching for the Next Enemy”

[This interview is the second of two installments. To read the first, click here.] TomDispatch: I’d like to turn to the issue of oil wars, energy wars. That seems to be what holds all this incoherent stuff together – minds focused on a world of energy flows. Recently, I reread [President Jimmy] Carter’s 1979 energy … Continue reading “Drifting Down the
Path to Perdition”

Perhaps Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) didn’t quite realize what she was getting into when she voted against the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, so-called, which would cut off all aid to the Palestinians, impose economic sanctions, and make it impossible for any entity, public or private, to operate in Palestine. Or maybe she’s just brave. … Continue reading “Enough Is Enough”

Anticipating that the U.S. federal government would invoke the so-called “state secrets” privilege to block any lawsuit calling for the disclosure of details about allegations that phone companies shared customer records with the government’s biggest spy agency, a major civil rights group has embarked on an alternate course. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has … Continue reading “Public Hearings Sought in Phone Record Scandal”

When there is no solution, there is no problem, observed James Burnham, the former Trotskyite turned Cold War geostrategist. Burnham’s insight came again to mind as President Bush ended his meeting with Ehud Olmert by announcing that the Israeli prime minister had brought with him some “bold ideas” for peace. And what bold ideas might … Continue reading “Steering Into a Third Intifada”

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is under increasing pressure – both here and abroad – to engage Iran in direct talks despite the continued opposition of pro-Israel neoconservatives and Vice President Dick Cheney. In recent weeks, a growing number of prominent Republicans, as well as Democrats, have been urging Bush to pursue … Continue reading “Pressure Grows on Bush to Engage Iran Directly”