Month: April 2006

Editor’s note: Justin Raimondo is traveling. His column will return Friday. Israel’s once-powerful lobby in the U.S. is running scared. The American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is facing a burgeoning scandal with the upcoming trial of Steve Rosen their longtime chief lobbyist, and Iran policy expert Keith Weissman, who are accused of spying on … Continue reading “Smear and Fear”

Words fail. As last week ended, the vice president, we learned (in papers filed in federal court by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald in the Plame-Niger-uranium, sixteen-fateful-words, disagree-with-us-and-we’ll-whack-you case), told his chief of staff, “Scooter” Libby, that the president “specifically had authorized defendant to disclose certain information in the NIE” – in other words that George … Continue reading “The President’s ‘Final Jeopardy!‘ Question”

One week after the Palestinian Authority (PA) swore in its new Hamas-led government, the United States Friday announced that it will suspend all direct aid to the PA while sharply increasing humanitarian assistance to the people under its control. The move, which followed a similar announcement by the European Commission (EC) Thursday, comes as the … Continue reading “Washington Cuts All Aid to Palestinian Authority”

Bonkers Bolton told State Department reporters in Washington this week that if Iran’s government doesn’t halt enrichment work and somehow prove its nuclear effort is peaceful, the "likely next step" would be a "Chapter VII resolution under the UN Charter." Article 39 of Chapter VII says – "The Security Council shall determine the existence of … Continue reading “Why We’re at War”

Covert action is much talked about and little understood. At its most basic level, covert action is a set of intelligence operations undertaken by a specific state’s intelligence agencies to advance its national interests. They are executed in a manner that limits the visibility of that state’s hand in whatever is done. Ideally, covert actions … Continue reading “Does Israel Conduct Covert Action in America?”

NEW DELHI – As the United States Senate foreign relations committee (SFRC) began hearing on Washington’s controversial nuclear technology and supplies agreement with India, starting with the testimony of secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, the deal appeared to be in deep trouble. A special legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress to implement the deal by … Continue reading “Indo-US Nuclear Deal Takes Flak, No Eject Option”

Efforts by the United States to split the Shi’ite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) and deny interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari his claim to head the next government could well prove counter-productive to long-term U.S. objectives in both Iraq and the larger region, according to some specialists here. Not only has heavy-handed U.S. intervention in negotiations … Continue reading “US Efforts to Oust Jaafari May Backfire”

With the Gallup Poll showing 51 percent of Americans want all U.S. troops out of Iraq by year’s end, John Kerry has made his move. The 2004 Democratic nominee is calling for complete withdrawal of U.S. forces, if Iraqis do not agree on a unity government by May 15. Even if the Iraqis pull a … Continue reading “Kerry, the Antiwar Candidate?”

After 50 years of international cooperation and peace in space, the U.S. military insists that it has no plans to usher in an age of space-based warfare. The Pentagon’s space-related research is not offensive, officials have told arms control experts and the news media, noting that the name of the branch that conducts much of … Continue reading “Pentagon Eyes the Ultimate High Ground”

It’s been three years since the U.S. launched its war against Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction. Of course, now almost everybody knows there were no WMD and Saddam Hussein posed no threat to the United States. Though some of our soldiers serving in Iraq still believe they are there because Saddam Hussein … Continue reading “Iran: The Next Neocon Target”