Month: September 2006

Speeches given this week by Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld, Vice President Cheney and President Bush, invoking World War II, the Cold War, and Fascists, Nazis and Communists amount to a bit of nostalgia combined with a desperate, last-ditch attempt to convince the American people – and perhaps themselves – that the war they maneuvered … Continue reading “Invoking the Past”

Three years ago, in deciding to adhere to an Additional Protocol to their Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency in advance of its ratification, the Iranians voluntarily “declared” certain activities many months before they were obligated to do so under their existing Safeguards Agreement. And, on 27 April, 2006, the Iranians informed the … Continue reading “Whoops! Bolton’s Bad”

TEHRAN – One of Iran’s best-known intellectuals Ramin Jahanbegloo, who was released on bail this week after spending four months in prison on charges of compromising national security, has said it would be best for the United States and its institutions to avoid contacting prominent Iranians. Jahanbegloo told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) in … Continue reading “Jailed Iran Intellectual Asks US to Butt Out”

The aggressive new campaign by the administration of President George W. Bush to depict U.S. foes in the Middle East as “fascists” and its domestic critics as “appeasers” owes a great deal to steadily intensifying efforts by the right-wing press over the past several months to draw the same comparison. The Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox News … Continue reading “‘Fascism’ Frame Set Up by Neocon Press”

The Five Morons Revisited I must protest at Paul Craig Roberts’ article “The Five Morons” (revisited or otherwise). As a Briton, I feel strongly that my own prime minister, Tony “The Murderer” Blair, should be included as one of these dangerous handful of morons. If this means that there has to be six morons, then … Continue reading “Backtalk September 2, 2006”

On Thursday, 22-year-old Army Specialist Mark Wilkerson turned himself in to Fort Hood in Texas, after being AWOL (absent without leave) for more than 18 months. Wilkerson, who served in the 720th Military Police Battalion in Iraq from March 2003 to March 2004, made the decision to refuse redeployment on moral grounds, and went AWOL … Continue reading “An Army Minus One”

Lebanon is firmly en route to becoming the third nation in the Middle East after Iraq and the Palestinian territories to experience a devastating Washington-backed war and a massive influx of new illegitimate debt to cover reconstruction expenses, anti-debt activists say. A conference held Thursday in Stockholm for donors raised more than $940 million in … Continue reading “Critics Decry ‘Destroy and Lend’ Policy in Lebanon”

The viciousness of the Israeli assault on Lebanon is underscored by the IDF’s use of cluster bombs against civilian targets. As Jan Egeland, who heads up humanitarian operations for the United Nations, put it: “What’s shocking – and I would say to me completely immoral – is that 90% of the cluster bomb strikes occurred … Continue reading “Israel: Beyond Good and Evil?”

When Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, invited President Bush to engage in a "direct television debate" a few days ago, the White House predictably responded by calling the offer "a diversion." But even though this debate will never happen, it’s worth contemplating. Both presidents are propaganda junkies – or, more precisely, propaganda pushers – so any … Continue reading “Bush vs. Ahmadinejad: A Debate We’ll Never See”

The Middle East has always been a place where illusion paves the road to disaster. In 1095, Pope Urban’s religious mania launched the Crusades, the reverberations of which still echo through the region. In 1915, Winston Churchill’s arrogance led to the World War I bloodbath at Gallipoli. In 2003, George Bush’s hubris ignited a spiral … Continue reading “The Persistence of
Mideast Illusions”