Month: May 2004

“To ultimately be the victor in the war against terrorism, we need all Americans to be engaged.” – DHS Secretary, Tom Ridge Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge found this exhortation so fine, he used it in two of the radio and television ads that American broadcasters donated in 2003 to DHS for its … Continue reading “$226 Million in Govt Ads Helped Pave the Way for War”

Seventeen year-old Amir is crying during much of the interview. “We were coming home from work, and were shot so many times,” he says with deep anguish and frustration. “Walid told me to leave the car because he was hurt and needed help.” The man he speaks of, Walid Mohammed Abrahim, was a carpenter. Amir … Continue reading “‘There Are So Many People the Americans Have Shot’”

Less than two weeks after Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez abruptly removed Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski from her command of Abu Ghraib prison, Maj. Gen. Walter Wojdakowski, Sanchez’s chief deputy, convened a meeting at which certain legal issues emerging at the prison were discussed. It was late in November of 2003, and Karpinski was still … Continue reading “Karpinski Was ‘Set Up,’ but Sanchez Takes the Fall”

JERUSALEM, (IPS) – The Israeli attack on Rafah in the Gaza Strip did not come in a political and military vacuum. The Israeli army’s “operation rainbow” is now only “paused” and all indications are that the struggle that has continued between Israel and the Palestinians along the Egyptian border for more than three years now … Continue reading “Only a Lull Before Another Storm”

The dire consequences of the U.S. invasion of Iraq go beyond a failed occupation and attendant war crimes. By making excuses for torture in public hearings, the U.S. Senate has besmirched itself. In Senate hearings on May 19, Republican senators enabled three commanding generals of our Iraqi occupation force to explain away war crimes as procedures … Continue reading “Patriotism: The New Third Rail”

Now that The New York Times has issued a halfhearted apology for its coverage of WMD issues last year, we thought it might be interesting to look back at what one critic wrote at the time. The following examination of NYT reporter Judith Miller’s questionable ethics first ran on May 7, 2003. You know it’s … Continue reading “Pulitzer Prize-Winning Reporter Crosses The NY Times‘ Line of ‘Strict Neutrality’”

London, (IPS) – The abuses committed by U.S. agents in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad are not isolated cases, Amnesty International says in its annual report published Wednesday. Amnesty had handed in a report documenting abuses by the U.S. government long before the photographs of abuse surfaced, prompting Amnesty Secretary-General Irene Khan to remark that … Continue reading “Amnesty: Abu Ghraib Cases Not Isolated”

Leading human rights group Amnesty International Wednesday said efforts by several governments – including many in Asia – to fight terrorism through stringent domestic measures in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the U.S. are curtailing human rights across the world. The group’s Report 2004 stresses that many countries in the Asia-Pacific used … Continue reading “Amnesty: War on Terror Used to Justify Abuses”

When tens of thousands of Albanians rampaged through Kosovo in mid-March, it was the most obvious sign so far that the entire five-year NATO/UN occupation was crumbling. The southern Serbian province was finally recognized as Empire’s failed Potemkin village – or so it seemed. But after a trickle of honesty prompted by the initial shock, … Continue reading “Getting Kosovo Wrong”

The Arab world is in a dilemma. Never before have internal dissension and the ills facing it been so numerous, mirrored in the just-concluded Arab summit in Tunis. Arab unity has never been legendary. Contradictions and discord have plagued the Arab League, older than the United Nations, almost since its inception in 1944. With vague … Continue reading “Arab League Turns On Itself”