Month: December 2005

It might not be a bad idea to step back from events for a moment or two. I’m fascinated at just how casually many Americans – I’ve even caught myself doing it – are able to say how proud of and pleased with the Iraqis they are for pulling off an election with a minimum … Continue reading “Time to Lower Expectations”

We all know the feeling. After your last minute holiday gift-giving near-disaster in 2004 (surprisingly similar to the one in 2003), you made that firm New Year’s resolution yet again – this time you were determined to buy those Christmas presents in July. The Monday after Thanksgiving at the absolute latest. They would all be … Continue reading “For the Jingo Who Has Everything”

Are U.S. tactical nuclear weapons deployed in the Persian Gulf, on hair-trigger alert, and ready to be launched against Iran at a moment’s notice? The answer is contained in presidential directive NSPD 35, “Nuclear Weapons Deployment Authorization,” issued May 2004, which is classified. Nevertheless, we can infer the answer from the fact that every other … Continue reading “Nuclear Deployment for an Attack on Iran”

With Scooter Libby slated to go to trial sometime next year, the Lewis Libby Defense Trust is gearing up for a big fundraising effort – and lookee lookee at all the luminaries who’ve signed on to help! Hey, how about a benefit concert? They could book Libby supporters Jack F. Kemp and Steve Forbes to … Continue reading “Scooter Libby, Neocon Martyr”

In the run-up to the Iraq war, FBI veterans say they were pressured by the Bush administration to come up with links, no matter how tenuous, between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda to help sell the planned military incursion. They came up empty, however, and were told to redouble their efforts, scraping the bottom of the … Continue reading “FBI Pressured to Gin Up Iraq-al-Qaeda Links”

Amid growing alarm over extreme views voiced by Iran’s new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a major U.S.-based international human rights group called Wednesday for the immediate dismissal of two of his top cabinet ministers for their involvement in past repression and atrocities. In a report titled "Ministers of Murder: Iran’s New Security Cabinet," Human Rights Watch … Continue reading “Ahmadinejad Pushes Iran Toward Internal Crisis”

ARBIL, Iraq – Tensions between ethnic and religious groups have been rising in Iraq ahead of the elections Thursday. The vote wile be the third in less than a year, and the last step in the current process of political transition to a democratic government. Unlike the Jan. 30 elections this year, Sunni Arabs are … Continue reading “Iraq Election Arrives Amid Tension and Hope”

As the battle between the White House and a leading Republican senator over U.S. policies on treating terrorist suspects appears headed toward a final showdown, polls suggest that the U.S. public is ambivalent on the issue of torture. Results of several recent surveys of adults nationwide show that a sizable majority thinks torture of alleged … Continue reading “Torture: Condoners vs. Condemners”

Despite their mutual enthusiasm for ousting Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Israel and the United States appear increasingly at odds over what to do about the larger Middle East region. While the administration of President George W. Bush favors, or is at least indifferent to, the collapse of the Ba’athist regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, … Continue reading “Israel Troubled by Bush’s Priorities”

Last Wednesday, Spanish police arrested Ante Gotovina, a former Croatian general accused of war crimes, at a hotel in the Canary Islands. He was soon remanded to the custody of the Hague Inquisition, where he pleaded not guilty on Monday. Official Zagreb welcomed the arrest, but the public opinion in Croatia remained sympathetic toward the … Continue reading “The Token Defendant”