Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani continues to be concerned as to whether elections will be held in January in Iraq, and whether the outcome will reflect the Shi'ite majority in Iraq. He is worried that the system adopted, of nationwide party lists, favors a small set of...
Chinese Change of Guard Just Political Window Dressing?
BEIJING - The resignation of ex-president Jiang Zemin from his powerful post as commander-in-chief of the Chinese military heralds his impending political demise. However, his handover of authority to the younger President Hu Jintao signifies little imminent change in...
Torture and Rape Rampant in Iraq Prisons
HUNTINGTON WOODS, MICH. - American legal investigators have discovered evidence of abuse, torture and rape throughout the U.S.-run prison system in Iraq. A Michigan legal team meeting with former detainees in Baghdad during an August fact-finding mission gathered...
A Debate at Last?
It would be difficult to exaggerate my profound lack of confidence, let alone faith, in the political system of this or any other country to make your life or mine better. I'm with Thomas Jefferson, who once put it something like this: If I have no choice but to be in...
Turkey: One Step Forward, Two Back
BRUSSELS - Turkey took a step closer to the European Union Thursday after EU enlargement commissioner Guenter Verheugen said he was "satisfied" that a row over Turkey's penal code had been resolved. Verheugen told media representatives after a meeting with...
PATRIOT Act II: Back From the Dead
Civil liberties advocates are once again raising concern over legislation moving through Congress meant to enhance the controversial USA PATRIOT Act rushed into law in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Last Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a...
Allawi, the Cheerleader
Was Iyad Allawi, America's Iraqi sock-puppet and the country's unelected "prime minister," lying when he told the U.S. Congress: "In Samarra, the Iraqi government has tackled the insurgents who once controlled the city. Following weeks of discussions between...
Neoconservatism: An Alien Ideology
Scott Horton interviews Lt. Col. (ret.) Karen Kwiatkowski about the lies that justified the Iraq war, the liars who told them, why they wanted to invade Iraq, the failures of the 9/11 Commission Report, and the election. Check out Scott's other interviews with...
Imperial Balkans
With the U.S. elections for emperor – uh, president – just six weeks off, people in the Democratic camp are apparently thinking that Americans are nostalgic for Bill Clinton's imperialist policies, rather than his charm or (supposed) social or economic...
The Free Market vs. the Draft
Coerced military conscription – also known as the draft – is perhaps the single most anti-freedom action governments regularly take against their own citizens. The draft represses indiscriminately by directly stealing not only the "treasure" of our...