The Kings of Black Comedy

Thursday the news came in. The position of director of national intelligence (DNI), insisted upon by the 9/11 Commission, was finally filled. Shopped around for weeks unsuccessfully, it had already been rejected by former CIA Director Robert Gates, former Senator Sam...

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Targeting Nonexistent Nukes?

On March 19, 2003, Bush informed Congress that Saddam posed "a continuing threat to the national security of the United States" by "continuing to possess and develop a significant chemical and biological weapons capability, actively seeking a nuclear weapons...

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Outfoxed by bin Laden

President Bush's invasion has turned Iraq into a recruiting and training ground for anti-U.S. terrorists, according to CIA Director Porter Goss in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Feb. 16. Goss' report was supported by Vice Admiral...

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Baiting a Trap for Bush?

If Syria's Bashar Assad was behind the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri of Lebanon, he is, in the edited version of Gen. Tommy Franks' phrase, "the dumbest … man on the planet." The Beirut car bombing that killed Hariri smashed Assad's hope of any...

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Backtalk February 21, 2004

Soldier's Injury Leaves Void My daughter, Mariela, in the U.S. Army, was attacked, Dec. 18, in Kuwait. She was changing a tire on her truck with three other soldiers. A civilian vehicle from Kuwait ran over them on purpose and ran away. Two of the soldiers died; my...

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American Muslims Live in Fear of Govt

Harsh immigration and anti-terrorism laws have had a devastating effect on many Muslim communities in the U.S., leaving a legacy of fear and disillusionment, especially among young people, Asian activists said Thursday. In post-Sep. 11 America, immigrants from...

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Hail, Hail The Gang’s All Here

The nomination of John Negroponte to the new post of director of National Intelligence (DNI) caps a remarkable parade of Bush administration senior nominees. Among the most recent: Alberto Gonzales, confirmed as attorney general: the lawyer who advised the president...

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A Shi’ite Iraq Emerges

Muhammad Husain Adili, the Iranian ambassador to the United Kingdom, said Thursday that his government had lent substantial help to the United States in fostering a "calm atmosphere" for the holding of elections on Jan. 30 in Iraq. He revealed that Iran had contacted...

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All Not Quiet on the Northern Front

ISTANBUL – Turkey holds the option of unilateral intervention in northern Iraq if Kurds declare independence and claim the oil wealth of disputed Kirkuk, considered the main spoils in the uncertain Iraqi equation. In bellicose tones, Turkish officials have served...

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