Month: July 2004

PARIS – Four French prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba who were transferred to France earlier this week are likely to be released because the police have no case against them. In this they will follow their British, Danish and Spanish counterparts who were all freed without charge after release from Guantanamo Bay earlier … Continue reading “French Have No Case Against Guantanamo Prisoners”

Do We Want a War Criminal as President? Being a left-wing reader of your site can be an interesting experience. I alternate between spasms of absolute joy and absolute outrage – I so passionately agree and disagree with you on a variety of issues, I never know what to expect. It’s never boring reading your … Continue reading “Backtalk July 30, 2004”

BOGOTA – Three senior paramilitary leaders wanted for mass killings of civilians and drug trafficking addressed a congressional hearing in Colombia Wednesday while protesters and supporters clashed outside. Although previous Colombian governments have stuck to the official position of considering members of the paramilitary militias criminals who should be brought to justice, right-wing President Alvaro … Continue reading “Colombia: Paramilitary Commanders Address Congress”

With foreign policy becoming the big issue of the 2004 U.S. elections, predictions that Democrats would invoke the “successes” of Clintonian interventions, particularly in the Balkans, seem to be coming true. But though Bosnia and Kosovo don’t seem to figure prominently in convention speeches just yet, with the assortment of Balkans veterans on John Kerry’s … Continue reading “The Choice: Bush’s Empire or Kerry’s”

When bureaucracies fail, one of their favorite ways to deflect demands for reform is to offer reorganization instead. That appears to be what has happened in the report of the 9/11 commission and Washington’s response to that report. Worse, the reorganization envisioned is to further centralize intelligence by establishing a national intelligence director and creating … Continue reading “The 9/11 Commission Report: Reorganization, Not Reform”

JERUSALEM – Going south deep into the heart of Israel’s Negev desert, small Bedouin villages sprout in the distance. They seem peaceful and majestic in the desert heat, cut into the landscape dotted with shacks for living quarters and tents constructed with burlap and wooden sticks not far from the 52 active military zones in … Continue reading “Israel’s Bedouin Losing Ground”

Reuters reports that Dick Cheney was doing some counter-programming to the Democratic National Convention by speaking on the West Coast at Camp Pendleton. He said, “Terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They are invited by the perception of weakness.” This statement is half right and half wrong. Some terrorist attacks are … Continue reading “How Strong Do We Look Now?”

DAMASCUS – After years of hostility and recent tension over foreign fighters sneaking into Iraq, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi ended a visit to Syria with a declaration that diplomatic relations between the two countries would be restored soon. Following what he described as “fruitful and constructive” talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Allawi … Continue reading “Iraq, Syria Try to Restore Ties”

UNITED NATIONS – The dramatic increase in kidnappings of foreign nationals in Iraq is threatening to undermine the creation of a new multinational security force aimed at protecting UN employees and humanitarian workers who are planning to return to the violence-ridden country. “We have had no concrete offers of troops from any country,” a UN … Continue reading “No Troops Yet Offered for UN Force in Iraq”

While the image of the United States has sunk to an all-time low in the Arab world, the Iraq war has also had a devastating impact on U.S. ties to another predominantly Muslim power and one of Washington’s closest and most strategically situated Cold War allies, Turkey, say experts just returned from the region. Ties … Continue reading “Iraq War Straining US-Turkey Ties”