Month: April 2004

Although spying charges have been dropped against a Muslim army chaplain ministering to the 600 prisoners at Washington’s Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, the fate of two others facing similar accusations remains in doubt. The chaplain, Capt. James Yee, was exonerated and returned to his post last week after spending 76 days in solitary … Continue reading “Chaplain’s Release Deflates Guantanamo ‘Spy Ring’ Theory”

Until recently, it was easy to find Sheikh Salim Mejid Jumar, one of Muqtada Sadr’s top leaders in Baghdad. The cleric dressed in flowing white robes could be found most days in the municipal building of Baghdad’s poor and primarily Shia neighborhood Showle. He is a member of the municipal governing council and he came … Continue reading “US Fatwa Turns Sadr From Community Leader to Insurgent”

It was quite an experience to be on the same panel on Tuesday with Richard Perle and Toby Dodge, before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Perle wasn’t added until the last minute, and it is mysterious why he was there, since ours was supposed to be an “expert” panel. Dodge has an important … Continue reading “‘Iraq Expert’ Perle Shills for Chalabi at Senate Panel”

American soldiers in Iraq have trouble understanding the principles that we are told they are fighting for. That is why when Iraqis objected to the seizure of posters of Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the troops were left befuddled. Engineers from 1st Platoon, Company C “found these posters in apartments and some shop windows.” The lieutenant … Continue reading “US Soldiers Puzzled by Iraqi Resistance to Censorship”

What’s up with Israel’s preoccupation with wheelchair-bound paraplegics? First, they offed Sheikh Yassin, the blind paraplegic known as the spiritual mentor of Hamas, with a few well-aimed shots from an Israeli helicopter gunship. Now the news out of New Zealand is that Israeli spies used yet another wheelchair-bound paraplegic to illegally procure a passport in … Continue reading “Israel Targets … New Zealand?”

The American public has been deceived and locked on a course toward conscription and a wider war. On April 20 Republican Senator Chuck Hagel acknowledged the deceit when he urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to support the restoration of compulsory military service. The draft must be reinstated, the Republican Senator said, in order that … Continue reading “Locked on Course to Wider War”

Bob Woodward’s latest book, Plan of Attack, exposes the underbelly of the build-up to the US war with Iraq. In it Woodward reveals that the “CIA hired the leaders of a Muslim religious sect at odds with Saddam, but nonetheless with numerous members highly placed in Saddam’s security services. The CIA’s code name for them: … Continue reading “Once Again, the US Makes a Bad Deal with the Wrong Group”

Excerpts from the news conference with Mordechai Vanunu held upon his release from an Israeli prison after serving 18 years for disclosing Israel’s nuclear secrets. I have a statement to tell you. I’m speaking only in English. I’m not speaking in Hebrew. If Israel don’t let me to speak to foreigners, I’m not speaking in … Continue reading “‘I Am Happy and Proud to Do What I Did’”

Private First Class Matt Maupin assigned to the U.S. Army Reserve’s 724th Transportation Company based at Bartonville, Illinois, became the first prisoner taken by Iraqi insurgents since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military is currently holding more than 20,000 Iraqis behind bars – most of them taken during house to house searches by … Continue reading “One US Hostage – and 20,000 Iraqi Hostages”

One of the few consistencies of the war in Iraq is America’s ability to make the wrong choices. From starting the war in the first place through outlawing the Ba’ath and sending the Iraqi army home to assaulting Fallujah and declaring war on Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, we repeatedly get it wrong. Such consistency … Continue reading “Why We Get It Wrong”