Month: September 2006

The Sept. 25 edition of Time magazine illustrates how the U.S. news media are gearing up for a military attack on Iran. The headline over the cover-story interview with Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is “A Date With a Dangerous Mind.” The big-type subhead calls him “the man whose swagger is stirring fears of war with … Continue reading “Media Tall Tales
for the Next War”

The trajectory of a long-running campaign that gave birth this month to the preposterous all-party British parliamentary report into anti-Semitism in the UK can be traced back to intensive lobbying by the Israeli government that began more than four years ago, in early 2002. At that time, as Ariel Sharon was shredding the tattered remains … Continue reading “The ‘New Anti-Semitism’ and Nuclear War”

It is, of course, purely coincidental that news of the alleged death of Osama bin Laden – or, at least, his imminent demise – has been “leaked” by the Saudis via a French intelligence document just as the American election season hits its stride. This time, he’s supposedly dead or dying of typhoid, although the … Continue reading “Osama bin Laden, R.I.P.?”

A number of experts have concluded that despite the Bush administration’s desire to attack Iran, the aggression would be too rash and the consequences too dire even for the irrational Bush administration. Military experts point out that at a time when generals are calling for more troops for Afghanistan and Iraq, it would be ill-advised … Continue reading “Crisis Is Upon Us”

In a recent article, "Sustaining Our Resolve" (Policy Review, August/September 2006), George Shultz, former secretary of state under Ronald Reagan and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, argues for keeping up the war on terror. He also argues that if we are to counter some of the "delusional" conspiracy talk that goes on in … Continue reading “George Shultz’s Unconvincing Case for the War on Terror”

A nationwide civil disobedience campaign aiming to force the administration of President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress to end the military occupation of Iraq is now in full swing. More than 500 peace groups and justice organizations from all over the United States have joined the "Declaration of Peace," a week-long comprehensive campaign … Continue reading “Nationwide Actions ‘Declare Peace,’ Raise Pressure on Congress”

Human and civil rights groups have broadly denounced a compromise deal on the application of the Geneva Conventions to detainees in the “global war on terror” worked out between the White House and a group of rebellious Republican senators whose efforts have been backed until now by their Democratic colleagues. While the deal, the product … Continue reading “Groups Denounce Deal on Detainee Rights”

The great American essayist Albert J. Nock once devoted a long piece to the question of how one knows whether or not one is living in a Dark Age. From inside such an era, of course, the question is not so simple. Historians and propagandists name ages years or even centuries after the fact, but … Continue reading “Torture Chic: Sign of Decadence”

Would US President George W Bush and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad run into each other by chance during their opening session of the United Nations General Assembly this week? That seemed to be the major concern occupying US officials. It seems White House aides were doing their best to avoid a run-in between Mr. Bush … Continue reading “US-Iran Shootout Is Inevitable”

Is it true that President Bush’s recent speech to the UN General Assembly means he no longer intends to use Iran’s “defiance” of a resolution by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a resolution by the UN Security Council – which violate the IAEA Statute, the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of … Continue reading “More Bush Diplomacy”