Month: February 2005

Even as the United States leans on North Korea and Iran to renounce any nuclear objectives, peace activists say it has stepped up spending on its own arsenal, including investments in a new generation of longer lasting and sturdier “bunker buster” weapons. The “quiet effort," first reported by the New York Times last week, involves … Continue reading “The Nuclear Domino Effect”

Much of the media coverage of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent trip to Europe seemed to be preoccupied with the new American chief diplomat’s winning style. Apparently “Chere Condi” has succeeded in charming even those “old” Europeans, including French pundits. But while there is no doubt that Ms. Rice, the first African-American woman … Continue reading “US vs EU”

Well, that tears it. First we had Dick Cheney – the most powerful Vice-President we’ve ever had – nonchalantly tell a radio talk-show host just hours before the Bush-Cheney second inaugural: "Well, one of the concerns people have is that Israel might do it [that is, attack and destroy Iran’s IAEA-safeguarded facilities] without being asked; … Continue reading “Blindly Backing Israel Against Iran”

In choosing Ambassador John Negroponte as the country’s first national director of intelligence (NDI), U.S. President George W. Bush has opted for a hawkish, tough, ruthless realist who could very well clash with more ideological forces in the administration. Currently Bush’s envoy in Baghdad, Negroponte had never been mentioned as a candidate over weeks of … Continue reading “Negroponte Pick as Intel Chief a Win for Realists”

A gay prostitute, a phony media organization that managed to sneak its “reporter” into White House press briefings, and the lies that were fed to the media and the American people in the run-up to war with Iraq – what possible connection could these items have to one another? The answer: a man called “Jeff … Continue reading “Sex, Lies, and Jeff Gannon”

The assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri gave the United States an opportunity to demonstrate maturity and respect for the ability of people in the Middle East to handle their own affairs even (or especially) when those affairs have a tragic tinge. Naturally, the U.S. blew it and came off as something of … Continue reading “Levantine Complications”

The war in Iraq has not gone well for neoconservatives. In the recent elections, Iraqis defied a “secular” candidate backed by tens of thousands of U.S. government troops and hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars, electing instead an anti-American Shi’ite coalition. The Bush administration was dead set against that outcome, but then, supporters of … Continue reading “Remember Pearl Harbor”

ZAKHO, Iraq – One of the best ways to understand the political dynamics at play in northern Iraq is to hop into a taxi and travel north toward the Turkish border. Once you reach the multi-ethnic oil-rich city Kirkuk, every checkpoint is manned by peshmerga guerilla fighters loyal to one of the two Kurdish political … Continue reading “A Glimpse at the Coming Kurdistan”

In September 2003, artist and social activist Adrian Lee unveiled his protest against everything wrong with society as he sees it. His statement was made in the form of 50 sizable painted panels combined to form a mural that covered the walls of an entire gallery. Now, for those of us who missed the limited … Continue reading “Action/Reaction Paints Grim Picture”

In October 2003, the TV series Frontline did a show from Iraq, “Truth, War, and Consequences,” that featured a remarkable scene shot the previous April, not long after American troops arrived in Baghdad. A group of GIs have captured some Iraqis whom they accuse of stealing wood. As an instant punishment in the “Wild West” … Continue reading “Driving a Flattened Iraq”