Month: June 2005

I can certainly sympathize with Michigan Democrat Rep. John Conyers and various of his sympathizers, who sponsored a forum last week in the House to discuss the notorious Downing Street memo and to promote the idea that Congress should conduct an official inquiry into whether President Bush intentionally misled the nation into the Iraq war. … Continue reading “Smoking Gun Misfiring?”

At long last, the culminating session of the World Tribunal on Iraq is upon us. As a witness providing testimony, I’m being interviewed by many outlets. Today, one of them was by reporters for one of the larger newspapers in Turkey, Yeni Safak. I’ll leave the reporters nameless, for reasons you’ll soon see. The newspaper … Continue reading “Censoring the Carnage”

After last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the legal status of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the chair of the Committee, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.), says he plans to bring new legislation that would create a detention commission to allow detainees to get a hearing on their imprisonment at Guantanamo Bay. The proposal would mark … Continue reading “Behind the Congressional Gitmo Debate”

Forget it! That seems to be an unstated motto for American media coverage of the Iranian presidential election. The axiom comes down to: "Don’t let history get in the way of spin." Evasion smooths the way to the next war. For maximum propaganda effect, the agenda-setting must be decoupled as much as possible from clear … Continue reading “Voluntary Amnesia in the Service of War”

With last week’s hearings on the Downing Street memos concluded, much work lies ahead. Now, the information in the Downing Street memos needs to be collated carefully with evidence from the mainstream media, on the Internet, and from other sources regarding what was going on in top policymaking circles in Washington in the preparations for … Continue reading “Fixed Is Fixed”

Congressional Democrats are demanding more oversight over U.S. prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. In a letter released Thursday, Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi joined 170 other members of Congress, introduced legislation to establish an independent commission to investigate abuses of detainees caught during the “global war on terror.” In the minds of the … Continue reading “No New Abu Ghraibs”

Sam Gardiner has taught strategy and military operations at the National War College, Air War College, and Naval War College. He was recently a visiting scholar at the Swedish Defense College. During Gulf War II, he was a regular on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, BBC radio and television, and National Public Radio. He authored … Continue reading “The War Before the War”

Israeli soldiers have killed an average of more than one Palestinian civilian per day since the current Intifada uprising began in 2000, but only a handful of cases have even been investigated, according to a new Human Rights Watch (HRW) report. Between Sept. 29, 2000, and Nov. 30, 2004, more than 1,600 Palestinians not involved … Continue reading “Report: Israeli Soldiers ‘Getting Away With Murder’”

Imagine that the United States had a parliamentary system like that of Canada or Britain in which prime ministers are under constant threat that declining public support could make it difficult for them to maintain the cohesion of their ruling coalition and could end up bringing down their governments and leading to new elections. It … Continue reading “Bush Becoming a Casualty of His Own War”

Walter Jones, Patriot for Peace Justin Raimondo asked in his recent column “Walter Jones, Patriot for Peace,” whether the left and right antiwar forces in Congress and across the nation can join together to oppose the war in Iraq. I believe they can. If someone like Rep. Walter Jones Jr. (R-N.C.), the man who gave … Continue reading “Backtalk June 23, 2005”