Month: February 2006

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to the leaders of Hamas to come to Moscow killed two birds with one stone: it elevated his international stature to statesmanlike proportions, and it showed up American policymakers as a bunch of petulant ideologues. Putin not only invited Hamas for talks, but explicitly rejected the U.S.-Israeli position that Hamas … Continue reading “Putin the Peacemaker”

If one watches corporate media or listens to Cheney administration propaganda, one is either not getting information about Iraq at all, or hearing that things are looking up as the U.S. approaches another "phase" in the occupation. Just taking a brief look at the "security incidents" reported by Reuters for Feb. 12 gives a little … Continue reading “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”

The Adulation of IgnorancePlease bear with me because this might sound a bit strange. I was at a loss to understand the Bush administration’s policies until I recently watched the movie Goldfinger. In the movie, James Bond discovered that Goldfinger’s target was the gold depository at Fort Knox. But what puzzled 007 was that, although … Continue reading “Backtalk, February 13, 2006”

NEW DELHI – The chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has sent shock waves through the Indian establishment by accusing the United States of “changing the goal post” while finalizing a far-reaching, one-of-its-kind nuclear cooperation deal with India, initialed last July. This appears certain to create major complications for the passage of the agreement … Continue reading “Snags Surface in India-US Nuclear Deal”

The U.S. intelligence community’s top Middle East analyst from 2000 to 2005 has accused the George W. Bush administration of distorting and politicizing intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war. In an article published Friday in Foreign Affairs magazine, analyst Paul Pillar, who resigned from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) last year, also charges … Continue reading “Top Mideast Analyst Accuses Bush of Politicizing Iraq Intel”

Dear Mr. Goss, the timing of your recent op-ed in the New York Times interestingly coincides with the upcoming congressional hearing by the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats & International Relations on National Security Whistleblowers. Your comments are predictably consistent with the pattern of "preemptive strikes" you and the administration have been keen … Continue reading “Whistleblowers Are Not Protected, Mr. Goss”

Since February, 2003, Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei and his inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency have been conducting intrusive investigations into Iran’s Safeguarded nuclear programs. Since December, 2003, Iran has been voluntarily adhering to an (as yet) unratified Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement. Furthermore, Iran has searched for and provided ElBaradei documentation of its … Continue reading “Smoking Laptop”

It was appropriate that the issue of government domestic spying was raised at the recent funeral of Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Martin Luther King Jr. and his family were victims of a vicious domestic spying program instigated by the federal government. The parallels with today’s domestic spy program are almost exact. It was done in … Continue reading “Hey Bush: Obey the Law”

Zhuang Jian is at once typical and atypical of his generation. He was born in the midst of the Cultural Revolution and was but a small boy when it ended. For him, being "Sent Down to the Countryside" was one of the best times of his life, running wild in the fields, chasing swine and … Continue reading “Rebirth”

What is still fascinating and, as far as I know, almost unknown regarding the cartoon controversy, is why this brand of outrage over this particular provocation, and why now. We know certain things. Apparently some imams from Denmark traveled to the Middle East to arouse outrage. It may or may not be true that they … Continue reading “Another Stellar Week in the War on Terror”