Month: May 2004

The allegations of prisoner torture by our troops in Iraq are disturbing, and clearly drastic action must be taken to ensure such conduct stops immediately. But why are we condemning a small group of low-level reservists when we do not yet know the full story? As revolting as the pictures are, we cannot know with … Continue reading “Passing the Buck in Iraq”

President Bush learned about the US torture of Iraqi detainees the same way you did – from TV news – compelling evidence that Bush has been manipulated by VP Cheney, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and the neocon warmongers. And you thought President Bush was in charge! President Bush is being manipulated to promote war against the … Continue reading “To Neocons, Reality Is ‘Treason’”

Amid growing evidence of systematic abuse of prisoners held by the U.S. military in Iraq and elsewhere, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) are calling on the Pentagon to open all U.S.-run detention facilities used in the Bush administration’s “war on terror” to monitoring by independent rights organizations. “Torture flourishes in the dark,” said … Continue reading “Rights Groups Demand That US Open All Detention Facilities”

On a barren hilltop in the Palestinian Jerusalem neighborhood Abu Dis, a gap of several hundred meters interrupts the wall Israel is building in the city. The grey concrete elements come to a stop just before a property with Israeli flags, armed guards and a watchtower. The wall only continues further along the hill. This … Continue reading “Some Settlers Only Settle In Some More”

The court martial of Army reservist Jeremy Sivits for his alleged role in the abuse of prisoners at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison is scheduled to start on May 19. The folks back home in Hyndman, Pennsylvania, however, are skeptical: “Despite the graphic photos of prisoners being mistreated, townsfolk refuse to believe Sivits, 24, was capable … Continue reading “Abu Ghraib Defendants: Pawns in a Game”

With 760 dead in Iraq and over 3,000 maimed for life, home folks continue to argue why we are in Iraq – and how to get out. Now everyone knows what was not the cause. Even President Bush acknowledges that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. Listing the 45 countries where al-Qaida was … Continue reading “Bush’s Failed Mideast Policy Is Creating More Terrorism”

Kingdoms have risen and fallen in China’s Xinjiang region for the past 2000 years. In the early 20th century, foreign archaeologists were surprised and delighted to find Muslim communities built upon Tang dynasty ruins built upon Tibetan villages built upon Han forts built upon Indian Buddhist monasteries – with Roman and Bactrian frescos thrown in … Continue reading “China and Islam in the Northwest Chinese Region”

Where I grew up, the code of the hills says (among many other things) to never talk a bigger game than you are prepared to play. The United States has done this twice in Iraq and now has egg on its face that no amount of Washington spin can clean off. Example No. 1 is … Continue reading “Big Talk”

To understand the impact in the United States of the photos of U.S. military personnel abusing Iraqi prisoners, it is necessary to recall what then-Secretary of State Elihu Root said in 1899, as the country first emerged as a global power in the Spanish-American War. The American soldier, he said, is “different from all other … Continue reading “Perhaps Not So Exceptional After All”

An older Iraqi man is wailing near the grave of a loved one in the dusty heat of a football stadium converted into a cemetery. Between wails he raises his fist and yells, "Allahu akbar!" (God is great). We wait outside until he slowly exits the new cemetery with his brothers holding him. The Martyrs’ … Continue reading “‘We Will Fight Them Again!’”