Month: June 2006

UNITED NATIONS – The 191-member General Assembly is expected to elect Iraq as chair of a key UN committee dealing with human rights and social development. But the proposed election comes at a time when both the United Nations and several human rights organizations have accused successive U.S.-backed governments in Baghdad of either committing or … Continue reading “Iraq’s Chairing of UN Rights Committee Faulted”

The investigations of Marines for possible murders of Iraqi civilians in Haditha last November and, more recently, in Hamdaniyah, seem set to follow the usual course. If anyone is found guilty, it will be privates and sergeants. The press will reassure us that the problem was just a few "bad apples," that higher-ups had no … Continue reading “The Power of Weakness, Again”

In the span of less than a week the first group of U.S. National Guardsmen were dispatched to help patrol the Mexican border, and Canadian authorities arrested 17 Muslim men accused of plotting bombings in major Canadian cities and training militants. Both are reminders that a high priority for U.S. homeland security must be to … Continue reading “On the Border”

The takeover of Mogadishu this week by Islamic militias marks a major defeat for the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, which had secretly backed a coalition of warlords that has reportedly been routed from the Somali capital. While the victors, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), sought to assure the international community that … Continue reading “Somalia: Bush Hawks Down”

Balkans Drama Enters Final Act Although supporters of separatist Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic celebrated victory on the evening of May 21, it took another 10 days and EU envoy Frantisek Lipka’s tiebreaker vote to validate the results of the Montenegrin independence referendum. On May 31, Montenegro became a de facto independent state, although its formal … Continue reading “Serbia’s Turn”

With Alaa Hassan BAGHDAD – An Iraqi doctor who was in Haditha during a deadly U.S. raid last year says there are many more stories like that in Haditha that are yet untold. The Pentagon admitted last week that U.S. Marines killed 24 civilians – including a 66-year-old woman and a 4-year-old boy – in … Continue reading “‘US Military Hides Many More Hadithas’”

LONDON – The Taliban are beginning to regain influence in the south of Afghanistan, according to an independent group actively engaged in local work in the region. They are also increasingly confronting government and coalition troops inside Afghanistan, says the report by The Senlis Council, which is working closely with people, particularly farmers, across the … Continue reading “Taliban Regaining Influence, Report Warns”

There are plenty of reasons the Democrats continue to support the ongoing occupation of Iraq. Not only did they authorize the invasion, they continue to sit on their hands while our armed forces commit murder in the name of democracy in Haditha. Perhaps the worst of the Democrats still embracing the illegal war is Sen. … Continue reading “Holding the War Parties Accountable”

First news stories about the My Lai massacre (picked up from an Army publicity release), March 1968: The New York Times labeled the operation a significant success: “American troops caught a North Vietnamese force in a pincer movement on the central coastal plain yesterday, killing 128 enemy soldiers in day-long fighting.” United Press International called … Continue reading “The ‘Incident’ at Haditha”

Desperate to retain whatever remaining support the occupation of Iraq still commands – now hovering at around 35 percent – the War Party is facing the problem of how to explain the Haditha massacre, and the results are the only aspect of this horrific episode that could possibly be described as comical. You have to … Continue reading “Rationalizing Haditha”