Month: September 2004

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations is reluctant to impose punitive economic sanctions on Sudan – accused of genocide in the politically troubled province of Darfur – because embargoes have a relatively poor track record, according to senior UN officials and diplomats. "If the Security Council wants to punish Sudan," says one Third World diplomat, … Continue reading “UN Reluctant to Push Sanctions for Sudan”

CARACAS – Spain took a step aimed at smoothing relations between Bogota and Caracas by canceling the sale of 40 French-made AMX-30 tanks to the Colombian government. If the sale had gone through, the tanks’ guns would likely have pointed toward the Venezuelan border. This week, however, a new snag emerged in bilateral relations, with … Continue reading “Spanish Tank Sale Called Off, but Colombia-Venezuela Tension Remains”

After weeks of hurricanes and controversies over swift boats in Vietnam and Texas and Alabama National Guard records, Iraq is beginning to creep back onto the front pages, and the news is uniformly bad. Consider some of the headlines in major newspapers that appeared on their front pages on Wednesday alone: Wall Street Journal: "Rebel … Continue reading “Growing Consensus That Iraq Is Hopeless”

In Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky suggested that our leaders, facing the choice in the book’s title, might well opt for hegemony over survival. “There is ample historical precedent,” he wrote, “for the willingness of leaders to threaten or resort to violence in the face of significant risk of catastrophe. But the stakes are far … Continue reading “Hegemony or Survival?”

NABLUS – The narrow streets amid the breeze-block shacks of the Balata refugee camp on the edge of the large West Bank City of Nablus have been a focus of Palestinian militancy throughout the current Intifada (uprising) that was triggered four years ago. Balata is the birth place of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the … Continue reading “Hezbollah Active Among Palestinians”

BRUSSELS – The European Union and some of its largest member states have reaffirmed their support for Iraq this week under the gaze of Iraq’s interim President Ghazi al-Yawar and amid rising tensions in the country. Top European Union (EU) officials have offered their support – both financial and political – for Iraq during a … Continue reading “Iraqi President Finds Friends in Europe”

In a victory for human and civil rights groups, a federal judge has given the government 30 days to turn over or identify all documents relating to the treatment of detainees held by the United States at military bases and other detention facilities overseas, including at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and at … Continue reading “Judge Orders Govt to Hand Over Detainee Documents”

Despite the worsening situation in Iraq and the continued impasse between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. President George W. Bush has cut Sen. John Kerry’s previously substantial lead among Arab-American voters in four key swing states, according to a new survey released here Wednesday. As recently as July, Kerry led Bush by better than a … Continue reading “Bush Gains on Kerry for Arab-American Vote”

Increasingly desperate to find a winning formula in Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials are promoting Lebanon as a political model for Iraq. Agreed, the situation in Iraq is looking more and more like Lebanon – but not the "Lebanese model" Cheney talks about. The vice president appears to have in … Continue reading “Lebanon the Wrong Model for Iraq”

When Napoleon ordered the abduction and murder of a political opponent in 1804, his foreign minister, Count Talleyrand, commented: “That was worse than a crime; it was a mistake.” Apparently, the wisdom of Talleyrand was not limited to the time. The public opinion in the U.S. and its “willing allies” may have successfully ignored the … Continue reading “Withdraw From the Balkans!”