Month: March 2004

Neocons’ Iraq Strategy Now Focused on Syria

Getting out of the political quicksand of Iraq, or at least burying the bloody occupation as an embarrassing daily news item, is mission number one for the Bush campaign. Extricating U.S. troops and political capital from the mess the Bush administration created in Iraq may be mission impossible. But the president’s political and ideological handlers … Continue reading “Neocons’ Iraq Strategy Now Focused on Syria”

Serbian Church Takes On a Sausage

Bishop Irinej from the north-eastern Serbian province of Backa has threatened to excommunicate all those who join a festival for making the world’s biggest sausage. In the southern province Mileseva, Bishop Filaret threatened to excommunicate anyone marrying or even attending a wedding these days. The bishops said festivities like these should not be held during … Continue reading “Serbian Church Takes On a Sausage”

US Sets ‘Terrible Example’ in Afghanistan

US forces in Afghanistan are arbitrarily detaining civilians, using excessive, sometimes lethal force in arresting them, mistreating detainees in ways that may meet international definitions of torture, and administering a system of arrest and detention that is outside the rule of law, according to a blistering new report released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). … Continue reading “US Sets ‘Terrible Example’ in Afghanistan”

Religious, Science Groups Urge US to End Nukes

An international group of religious and scientific leaders Monday appealed to the United States and all other nuclear states to pledge never to use nuclear weapons and to reaffirm their commitments to achieving total nuclear disarmament. The appeal, which was signed by the head of the U.S. National Council of Churches (NCC) and the president … Continue reading “Religious, Science Groups Urge US to End Nukes”

Prosecuting the Cabal

Is Team Bush about to implode? It sure doesn’t look that way from the outside. But beneath the calm unruffled exterior of an administration that never admits either error or doubt, there are some palpitating hearts that beat a little faster each time U.S. special counsel Patrick J. “Bulldog” Fitzgerald issues another subpoena in the … Continue reading “Prosecuting the Cabal”

Haiti: Barbara Lee Doesn’t Speak for Me

It wasn’t very long ago that Congresswoman Barbara Lee, of my district here in Berkeley, California, stood up and cast a single dissenting vote against authorizing the use of military force in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. She was praised by antiwar voices nationwide–mostly leftists–who commended her vote against the Afghanistan … Continue reading “Haiti: Barbara Lee Doesn’t Speak for Me”
National Endowment for Democracy: Paying to Make Enemies of America I appreciate BOTH Ron Paul AND his take on NED. Thanks. I wonder, though, if the ideology driving some of the redder NED outcomes has been actually so red as Ron Paul seems to suggest. The red outcomes so far in formerly Iron Curtain countries … Continue reading “”

US-Iran: Ad Hoc Détente to Continue Despite Conservative Sweep

Despite the sweeping victory of staunchly anti-U.S. conservatives in Iran’s elections last month, analysts here believe the tentative détente between the two countries that began late last year will continue at least through the November U.S. elections. Since January, a series of developments have suggested that neither country is seeking confrontation with the other, in … Continue reading “US-Iran: Ad Hoc Détente to Continue Despite Conservative Sweep”