Month: February 2004

Pakistan’s government clearly seems to be moving toward putting on trial some of the individuals allegedly involved in clandestine transfer of nuclear weapons technology and components from Pakistan to North Korea, Iran and Libya. This is the signal that Islamabad is sending after the latest official disclosures about the detailed ‘confession’ signed by the ‘Father … Continue reading “New Moves Underway in Nuclear Poker”

New York, the city most affected by the 9/11 attacks almost two and a half years ago, has become the latest U.S. municipality to formally urge major reforms to the USA PATRIOT Act to eliminate threats to basic civil rights and due-process protections. The New York City Council voted Wednesday to urge local agencies not … Continue reading “New York City Wants Easing of Patriot Act”

Over a decade after the United Nations claimed as a success story the restoration of democracy in war-ravaged Cambodia, the Southeast Asian country is exposing this achievement to be much less than what it has been vaunted to be. Democratic processes like elections are meant to create societies that work for a country’s citizens. But … Continue reading “Cambodia’s Crisis Puts UN ‘Success’ Into Question”

Since taking office three years ago, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has made a series of bold political pronouncements, especially for a right-wing prime minister. But questions have arisen over what he meant before, and what he means this time. Sharon has said in the past that he is willing to make "painful compromises" for peace. … Continue reading “Israel Out of Gaza? Not so Fast”

Ninety-five days before the invasion of Iraq began, I sat in the ornate Baghdad office of the deputy prime minister as he talked about the U.N. weapons inspectors in his country. "They are doing their jobs freely, without any interruption," Tariq Aziz said. "And still the warmongering language in Washington is keeping on." The White … Continue reading “The Deadly Lies of Reliable Sources”

Cui Bono was the Latin legal term in old Rome for investigating a crime.  Who benefited from 9/11 is the question? No one would accuse Bush of the strategy used by Roosevelt at Pearl Harbor to get America into the Second World War.  But for others in Washington the question of Who Benefited may be … Continue reading “Cui Bono on 9/11?”

Cui Bono was the Latin legal term in old Rome for investigating a crime.  Who benefited from 9/11 is the question? No one would accuse Bush of the strategy used by Roosevelt at Pearl Harbor to get America into the Second World War.  But for others in Washington the question of Who Benefited may be … Continue reading “Cui Bono on 9/11?”

After spending some time virtually unnoticed, the Balkans is creeping back into the limelight. Events in the peninsula continue to develop along the policy lines drawn with blood and iron over the past decade, demonstrating that the forces intent on establishing an American Empire are active on more fronts than just the Middle Eastern quagmire. … Continue reading “In the Balkans, Same Old Evil”

While critics and supporters of the Bush administration’s preemption doctrine have described it as unprecedented in U.S. diplomacy, the release of a 34-year-old memo advocating “regime change” in Chile shows the policy has been around for quite some time. The eight-page document by then-national security adviser Henry Kissinger to former president Richard Nixon also suggests … Continue reading “US Policy of Preemption is Nothing New”

A pair of suicide bombings in the Kurdish area of Iraq and repeated demonstrations by supporters of a revered Shiite leader throughout the country has raised two nagging questions in the minds of many in the war-torn nation. Is the threat of terrorism beyond control in Iraq, and have recent religious outpourings spelled the death … Continue reading “Increasing Violence Threatens Iraqi Secularism”