Month: December 2004

It was very obviously a well-planned operation, executed with military precision: the FBI moved in on a nondescript office building near the Capitol, Wednesday morning, arriving at 10, and staying until past 4 p.m. According to one source, "this was a massive raid – the FBI surrounded" the place and carted away a load of … Continue reading “Jail the War Party”

The Pentagon’s announcement this week that it is adding 12,000 more troops to the approximately 138,000 soldiers it already has in Iraq has put an abrupt end to the fleeting sense of triumph that followed November’s "victory" by U.S. Marines who regained control of Fallujah, the main Sunni rebel stronghold. While the administration sought to … Continue reading “More Troops Mean More Trouble”

I can’t claim to have much insight beyond that of a reasonably well-informed outside observer about what’s going on in Ukraine. For all I know, by the time this sees cyberspace it could have blown up into a prelude to full-scale civil war, although it does seem most parties in Ukraine really want to avoid … Continue reading “Rethinking Secession”

MONTREAL – Canadian leaders, not the country’s refugee system, should decide the fate of soldiers who have deserted the U.S. military to apply for asylum in their northern neighbor, according to a support group. One of those soldiers, Jeremy Hinzman, will go before Canada’s refugee board Monday for a hearing on whether he qualifies for … Continue reading “US Soldiers Seek Asylum in Canada”

Sometimes it helps just to open an atlas and stare for a few moments. I did so this morning, checking out the Southwestern Asia map (#98) of the National Geographic Atlas of the World (a handsome volume, by the way). And what you see on the page is something simple indeed, and yet I could … Continue reading “Iran: Even Paranoids Have Enemies”

Another year, another revolution – this time in Ukraine. First there was Albania (1996), then Serbia (00), followed in 2003 by Georgia’s "rose revolution." As though conceived by the same scriptwriter, they all fit the same fairy-tale pattern whereby a dictatorial regime tries to steal an election from the reforming, Western-orientated opposition. Western election observers … Continue reading “Ukraine: Diary of a Dissident Observer”

It’s a late morning start today. As I’m waiting for Abu Talat, who calls to tell me he is snarled in traffic and will be late once again, huge explosions shake my hotel. Shortly thereafter, mortars are exploding in the "Green Zone" as the loud warning sirens there begin to blare across Baghdad. Automatic weapon … Continue reading “The Quiet of Destruction and Death”

In the film Schindler’s List, there’s a scene where Nazi soldiers are coming to take the Jews out of the ghetto in which they’ve been forced to live as refugees in their own country. The soldiers look anxious and extremely "pumped up," as would be necessary for any human being ordered to carry out such … Continue reading “Palestinian Girl, Interrupted”

TORONTO – How to shed light on one Canadian’s nightmare experience in a jail in Syria and the secretive U.S.-inspired, extralegal global system of interrogation and torture that put him there are challenges facing one judge here, who must also confront "national security" barriers put up by Ottawa. The circumstances surrounding the treatment of Maher … Continue reading “Canada May Seal Details of Arar Torture”

Newtopia: Give us a little background on yourself. Where did you grow up, go to school? Where have you lived? What’s been your professional background? What were your main social, political, and cultural influences?   Dahr Jamail’s article archive on Antiwar.com     Dahr Jamail: I was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and attended … Continue reading “Unembedded: An Interview With Dahr Jamail”