Month: May 2006

As if rallying fading public support for keeping more than 100,000 U.S. troops in a disintegrating Iraq and preparing the ground for a possible military attack on Iran were not enough, some influential hawks are now promoting a more confrontational stance against Russia and China, as well. Their eagerness to take on new and bigger … Continue reading “Hawks Looking for New and Bigger Enemies?”

Pursuant to a Safeguards Agreement [.pdf] concluded in 1974 with the International Atomic Energy Agency – as required by the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – Iran has been allowing IAEA inspectors to verify that no “source or special nuclear materials” are being used in furtherance of a nuclear weapons program. Then, in 2003, … Continue reading “Building Confidence”

The United States has backed away from high-level peace negotiations with Sunni insurgent groups after meeting with them regularly over several weeks in January and February, according to an insurgent leader. Evidence of wavering by the George W. Bush administration over the negotiations came from the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, which reported Tuesday that Sunni … Continue reading “Bush’s Wavering Halts Insurgent Peace Talks”

TEHRAN – With Russia and China signaling opposition, the draft resolution circulated in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) by Britain, France, and Germany, asking Iran to halt uranium enrichment, is unlikely to enjoy smooth passage. The resolution demands that Iran stop its nuclear research and development activities, as well as the construction of a … Continue reading “Iran Won’t Be Bullied”

U.S. President George W. Bush’s "global war on terror" has produced the unintended consequence of bringing the United States ever closer to some of the world’s most repressive regimes. Egypt provides a classic example. Last week, over the objections of the country’s human rights advocates, Egypt extended the 20-year-old "emergency" law that gives the government … Continue reading “Terror War Begets Devil’s Bargains”

“We must perhaps reluctantly accept that we have to help this region become a normal region, the way we helped Europe and Asia in another era. Now it’s this area from Pakistan to Morocco that we should focus on. … The world has gotten smaller and is getting smaller and smaller all the time. … … Continue reading “Fantasies of American Preponderance”

The decision by the jury in the six-week trial of Zacarias Moussaoui – portrayed by the prosecution as the “Twentieth Hijacker” – not to invoke the death penalty is a blow for the U.S. Justice Department and shows that the Virginia jury was not persuaded by the widespread campaign to portray the French national of … Continue reading “Moussaoui Trial Leaves Questions Unanswered”

Busy. Busy. Busy. When it comes to conjuring new enemies, this administration never sleeps. If you thought taking on the non-Israeli portion of the Middle East is a lot to put on our plate, then you haven’t got a clue as to the appetites of the Bush regime. Not only do they want to start … Continue reading “Comrade Cheney
vs. President Putin”

“What is lacking today is a permanent, populist, broad-based political force to challenge the worldview of the serial globalizers and the advocates of endless war. The Peace Party can be that force. The global crisis we face today makes the old Left-Right arguments over public ownership and tax rates irrelevant. Let’s have those debates later, … Continue reading “Grand Coalition”

With Congress on the verge of approving yet another record Pentagon budget, a task force of nearly two dozen progressive policy analysts is calling for major changes in the way the United States allocates money for its common defense. Noting that Washington currently spends six dollars on its military for every one dollar it spends … Continue reading “Groups Urge Overhaul of Pentagon Budget”