Month: May 2006

Are U.S. and Iranian officials holding secret talks to try prevent the diplomatic tensions between them from deteriorating into a military confrontation? That’s the question being asked now by diplomats and news organizations as they search through the current heavy “diplomatic fog” for some signs of what’s really happening out there, as opposed to what … Continue reading “US-Iran Ties: Is the Pen Mightier Than the Sword?”

Let’s take George W. Bush at his word. Last week, Bush said of the National Security Agency’s telephone data mining program: “Our efforts are focused on links to al-Qaeda and their known affiliates.” But USA Today and other news sources had just revealed that the NSA is looking through the phone call logs of as … Continue reading “Rise Up, Fellow
Enemies of the State”

Recently, a number – one billion – in the New York Times stopped me in my tracks. According to a report commissioned by the foundation charged with building Reflecting Absence, the memorial to the dead in the attack on the World Trade Center, its projected cost is now estimated at about a billion dollars and … Continue reading “Reflecting Hubris”

The nomination of Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) former director, to replace the disastrously incompetent Porter Goss as director of the CIA, should be rejected on the grounds that Hayden subverted the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the public debate about the efficacy of the recent intelligence reorganization should lead to the … Continue reading “Abolish Both the Hayden Nomination and NSA”

The U.S. government has again invoked the "state secrets" privilege, arguing that a public trial of a lawsuit against a former head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for abducting and imprisoning a German citizen would lead to disclosure of information harmful to U.S. national security. Once rarely used, the "state secrets" privilege has over … Continue reading “US Fights Redress for CIA Kidnapping ‘Mistake’”

The neoconservative Bush regime has adroitly used 9/11 to create a fear of terrorism among Americans that blinds Americans to the Bush regime’s assault on our constitutional system. Americans have meekly acquiesced to the Bush regime’s brutal assaults on civil liberties, human rights, the separation of powers, and statutory law, because Americans have been brainwashed … Continue reading “The Real Assault on America”

The lies keep coming. During the run-up to war with Iraq, we were told this administration knew for sure that Saddam had “weapons of mass destruction,” and not only that, but knew exactly where they were. When no WMD turned up after the invasion, the Bushies came up with a bushel of excuses and denied … Continue reading “Fascism: Are We There Yet?”

One of the main ways modern political dialogue has gone wrong is in various people’s use of the word “lying” to describe what those they disagree with are doing. If you’ve followed any political dialogue at all over the last 10 years, you’ll know what I’m talking about. So, for example, person A makes claim … Continue reading “Did Rumsfeld Lie – and When?”

with Salam TalibThe US government has lost track of over 200,000 machine guns that were supposed to be used by the Iraqi police. The 99-ton cache of AK47s was to have been secretly flown out from a US base in Bosnia. But the four planeloads of arms have vanished. This, along with the escape of … Continue reading “America Loses Guns, Prisoners”

If you haven’t read the letter Mahmoud Ahmdinejad, president of Iran, has just sent to President Bush, maybe it’s because the media elite have deliberately kept it from you. Why would they do that? Well, according to Condi Rice – a leading candidate for worst secretary of state, ever – the first direct communication from … Continue reading “Western-Style Democracy – No!”