Washington’s New Sound and Fury Hide Fear and Worry

While the US’ new military aggressiveness against alleged enemy targets in Iraq provided good video to lead TV news broadcasts this week, its effectiveness, as well as the latest political strategy to win Iraqi "hearts and minds," remain very much in question. While the military put on a display of firepower in Baghdad and in … Continue reading “Washington’s New Sound and Fury Hide Fear and Worry”

Doubts Rise Over War Rationale, Bush Credibility

Popular doubts about President George W. Bush’s credibility and his justification for going to war in Iraq are on the rise, according to a new survey conducted by the University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). The survey of a random sample of more than 1,000 voters, which echoes the results of other … Continue reading “Doubts Rise Over War Rationale, Bush Credibility”

Jessica Lynch, Hot Property

So this is what happens when we send women to war. Larry Flynt, also-ran candidate for California’s Governorship and publisher of artsy photos, isn’t going to run nude photos of Private Lynch after all. Flynt claimed to have bought the photos last month from the men [note the plural here] who purportedly participated in the … Continue reading “Jessica Lynch, Hot Property”

Classic Raimondo: A Mandate for War?

Justin Raimondo is traveling. His column will return Monday. Here is a classic column from last year. November 8, 2002As George W. Bush gets ready to hightail it out of Iraq – or at least convince the American people that’s what he’s dong with is “Iraqification” policy – the neocons are up in arms and … Continue reading “Classic Raimondo: A Mandate for War?”

European Anti-Semitism and the Religious Right

New polling shows that most Europeans – 59% from 15 European Union countries – see Israel as "the greatest threat to world peace." (See Eldar article below) These views of course come from Israel’s expansion of settlements, the brutal occupation, vicious reprisals and consequent disruption in the whole Muslim world, contribution to terrorism and so … Continue reading “European Anti-Semitism and the Religious Right”

Brave Face Belies Administration’s Panic

While maintaining a brave face on the accelerating stream of bad news coming out of Baghdad, the administration of President George W. Bush appears increasingly at a loss, not to say panicked, about what to do. This week’s abrupt and unscheduled return here by L. Paul Bremer, Washington’s proconsul in Baghdad, for top-level White House … Continue reading “Brave Face Belies Administration’s Panic”

One Meal a Day for Most Palestinians

Most Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank are eating only one meal a day, leading to malnutrition at levels found in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new United Nations report. The area is "on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe," adds the document released Wednesday by the UN Human Rights … Continue reading “One Meal a Day for Most Palestinians”

Charity: Iraq War Killed 21,000 to 55,000 Iraqis

Between 21,000 and 55,000 people have died as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath, according to a new report that also warned of rapidly deteriorating health conditions for those who survived. London-based Medact, the British affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), concluded that the war’s … Continue reading “Charity: Iraq War Killed 21,000 to 55,000 Iraqis”

George Woodrow Carter

Reading President Bush’s address to the National Endowment for Democracy, one wonders: Have the neocons captured him totally? For, though he is being hailed as Reagan’s true heir, Bush has begun to sound like a clone of Woodrow Wilson or Jimmy Carter. Foreign policy is, in Walter Lippman’s phrase, the “Shield of the Republic.” Its … Continue reading “George Woodrow Carter”