Month: April 2006

with Arkan Hamed BAGHDAD – As sectarian killings continue to rise in Iraq, the central morgue in Baghdad is unable to keep up with the daily influx of bodies. The morgue is receiving a minimum of 60 bodies a day and sometimes more than 100, a morgue employee told IPS on condition of anonymity. "The … Continue reading “Baghdad Morgue Overflowing Daily”

If you haven’t already read Seymour Hersh’s stunning article, “The Iran Plans,” in the New Yorker magazine about President Bush’s plans to preemptively “take out” what the Israelis claim is an Iranian secret nuke-oriented uranium-enrichment program, you’d better do it soon, because Hersh claims the plans are already in the early stages of implementation. There … Continue reading “Neo-Crazy Plans for Iran”

with Isam Rashid BAGHDAD – The execution of 13 suspected insurgents in March marked a revival of the death penalty in Iraq – and sparked a debate among Iraqis about whether capital punishment should be written into the laws of a modern society. The death penalty was suspended by the US when it took control … Continue reading “Capital Punishment in Iraq Seen Simply As Death, Not Justice”

Led by a familiar clutch of neoconservative hawks, major right-wing publications are calling on the administration of President George W. Bush to urgently plan for military strikes – and possibly a wider war – against Iran in the wake of its announcement this week that it has successfully enriched uranium to a purity necessary to … Continue reading “Neocons Turn Up Heat for Iran Attack”

With Jeff Pflueger “I would say 30,000, more or less, have died as a result of the initial incursion and the ongoing violence against Iraqis.” – George W. Bush, Dec. 12, 2005, Philadelphia, Penn. Does it count? How many Iraqis have died as the result of the Anglo-American invasion and occupation of their country remains … Continue reading “Learning to Count:
The Dead in Iraq”

Editor’s note: The following is the text of a speech delivered to the Yale Political Union on April 13. On this occasion, the Union debated the topic: “Resolved: America should not use force to export democracy.” I have to say, it’s rather odd to be debating this point at such a late date. With Iraq … Continue reading “Exporting ‘Democracy’ – Importing Trouble”

Three years after the fall of Baghdad and the city’s disastrous plunge into chaos, U.S. military brass appear engaged in a new campaign: getting rid of Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld. While the offensive has so far been limited to generals who have recently retired from the service, they claim strong support for their views on … Continue reading “New Military Offensive Against Rumsfeld”

With Isam Rashid BAGHDAD – Tens of thousands have fled their homes or the country since the bombing of the Shia shrine in Samarra Feb. 23. At least 30,000 Iraqis have been displaced from their homes since then, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says. The IOM, a leading international organization that works on migration … Continue reading “Violence Driving Iraqis From Homes, Country”

In a column on March 23 (“A Vision, Bruised and Dented“), David Brooks of the New York Times wrote about “the rise of what Richard Lowry of the National Review calls the ‘To Hell With Them’ Hawks.” In part, Brooks characterized these hawks as being conservatives who “look at car bombs and cartoon riots and … Continue reading “The Poor Man’s Air Force”

For about two decades after World War II, a powerful coalition of U.S. congressmen, publishers, businessmen, and military generals operating close to the highest levels of government in Washington tried to ensure that the United States would not recognize “Red China” and would continue backing Taiwan (the Republic of China) in its goal of ousting … Continue reading “From the China Lobby to the Israel Lobby”