Month: September 2006

As crazy as it sounds, President George Bush might be planning to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities. There are two currents of speculation flowing through Washington these days. One current says that the Bush administration is planning the bombing campaign, but only as a bluff to force the Iranians to negotiate. The other current says that … Continue reading “As Crazy as It Sounds”

This August, a site of shame, shared by Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush, was emptied. Abu Ghraib prison is the place where Saddam’s functionaries tortured (and sometimes killed) many enemies of his regime, and where Bush’s functionaries, as a series of notorious digital photos revealed, committed what the U.S. press still likes to refer … Continue reading “The Facts on the Ground”

GENEVA – A team of United Nations human rights experts set forth sharply worded arguments Thursday against the U.S. detention center at the naval base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba and announced that investigations into secret detention centers would continue in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. The five investigators urged the UN Human Rights Council … Continue reading “US Isolated on Guantánamo”

LONDON – The appearance of an English-language service from al-Jazeera television will mark more than expansion of a company; it will come as one of the biggest challenges yet to the dominance of Western news providers, academics say. "The forthcoming launch of al-Jazeera International, the English-language edition of the pan-Arabic news network, is likely to … Continue reading “Watch That Box for al-Jazeera, and More”

Once again, the UN is entertaining – and that’s not a good thing. Its ominous meaning is that the world crisis is deepening, but in the meantime we are in for quite a spectacle. Hugo Chávez stole the show the other day, with his remarks likening the president to the Devil, crossing himself and raising … Continue reading “World Politics and Show Biz”

After a tense week in which several U.S. allies broke ranks with the George W. Bush administration on Iran, an agreement has been reached to give diplomacy a bit more time. Realizing the futility in pushing for sanctions against Iran in the Security Council with Russia, China, and France objecting, Washington has made virtue out … Continue reading “Italy Boosts Talks on Iran, but Real Test Lies Ahead”

He finally did it. On Sept. 7, Tony Blair announced that he would step down as prime minister of Britain sometime within the next 12 months. Blair’s decision was spurred by a letter from a group of previously loyal MPs requesting that he leave office for the good of the Labor Party. Blair was careful … Continue reading “Tony Blair’s
Unfinished Business”

President Bush believes in the bogeyman – the bogeyman theory of history, that is. In order to frighten Americans, he paints the War on Terror as a rematch between the free world and the fascist monsters of the 1930s. But fascism wasn’t confined to a few errant nations, such as Germany and Italy. Propelled by … Continue reading “Bush Believes in the Bogeyman”

Two interesting reports explain in detail why America simply cannot win wars against guerrilla terrorism. A Washington Post report details the conflict between Special Forces and regular Army units in Iraq. The Special Forces officers and sergeants speak some Arabic, know the culture, have patience over endless cups of tea, look at the long view, … Continue reading “Why We Can’t Win Against Guerrillas”

Somalia: A Case Study in Interventionism “The Somalis were crushed by the formerly American-aided Ethiopian military, which was outfitted with the latest weaponry, and Barre’s Soviet sponsors abandoned him.” Crushed? Excuse me? FYI, Somalia lost to Ethiopia in 1977 because the commies switched sides in the middle of battle, not because American training was so … Continue reading “Backtalk, September 22, 2006”