Month: March 2005

State Department Report Assails Usual Suspects

Releasing the latest edition of its annual human rights Country Reports, the U.S. State Department Monday hailed the progress it said had been achieved over the past year in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine. However, it also assailed North Korea, Belarus, China, Syria, Iran, and Venezuela, among others, for authoritarian rule or backsliding during 2004. In … Continue reading “State Department Report Assails Usual Suspects”

Recovering From Kerry

The Iraq war is an illusion. It is just a segment on the nightly news. The death and destruction doesn’t concern us. Or so alleged all those who buried their antiwar convictions and signed on to support John Kerry in 2004. Since their pragmatic flop, the war has raged on. Thousands more have perished. Billions … Continue reading “Recovering From Kerry”

The Emperor’s Potemkin Visits

“The great motorcade,” wrote Canadian correspondent Don Murray, “swept through the streets of the city… The crowds … but there were no crowds. George W. Bush’s imperial procession through Europe took place in a hermetically sealed environment. In Brussels it was, at times, eerie. The procession containing the great, armor-plated limousine (flown in from Washington) … Continue reading “The Emperor’s Potemkin Visits”

Skepticism Over Renewed Military Ties With Indonesia

The State Department’s decision to renew military training for Indonesia – a major step toward full normalization of military ties between the United States and the giant archipelago – has been greeted with skepticism by human rights groups and some lawmakers critical of Jakarta’s record. "The secretary’s determination is premature and unfortunate," noted Sen. Patrick … Continue reading “Skepticism Over Renewed Military Ties With Indonesia”

Italian Media Shaken by Iraq

ROME – It was the last dispatch sent by Italian reporter Renato Caprile before he left Baghdad last week. "Don’t believe those who say the situation in Iraq can be covered from abroad," he wrote in La Republica before leaving with all other Italian journalists. "Far from staying confined in hotels, we maintained contact with … Continue reading “Italian Media Shaken by Iraq”

Shia Party Rises From the Ashes

ARBIL – In the early days of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, when the international media was discovering mass graves throughout the country, journalists of all types were documenting the full scope of the old regime’s brutality. Having just arrived myself, I paid a visit to the Free Prisoners Committee. The U.S. military had given … Continue reading “Shia Party Rises From the Ashes”

Tel Aviv Blast Spreads New Unease

JERUSALEM – For now it is just the recriminations that have resumed flying back and forth between Israelis and Palestinians, not yet the bombs, missiles, and bullets in the same numbers as during the height of the Intifada. But the fatal Palestinian suicide bombing of a Tel Aviv disco last Friday night has shattered more … Continue reading “Tel Aviv Blast Spreads New Unease”