Month: November 2006

(Full disclosure: Ray McGovern is indebted to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld for TV notoriety on May 4, when McGovern’s impromptu questioning after a Rumsfeld speech in Atlanta elicited denials later shown to be false after fact-checks by the TV networks. McGovern’s acquaintance with Robert Gates, whom the president has picked to succeed Rumsfeld, goes back 36 … Continue reading “The Cheney-Gates Cabal”

The wild, drunken neocon joyride is over. After running as the candidate of national restraint and humility, George W. Bush metamorphosed into a modern Alexander the Great, promising to bring civilization and democracy to both the known and unknown worlds. He mobilized popular support for war in Iraq by manipulating dubious intelligence and spinning idyllic … Continue reading “The Wreck of the War Party”

Updated at 12:30 p.m. EST, Nov. 10, 2006 A second day of increased violence follows the lifting of curfews designed to quell violence resulting from the death sentence imposed on former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Today, 104 Iraqis were killed and another 203 were injured. No foreign casualties were reported, but Dr. Abdul-Razzaq al-Obaid, director … Continue reading “Thursday: 104 Iraqis Killed, 203 Injured”

The wave – and make no mistake, it’s a global one – has just crashed on our shores, soaking our imperial masters. It’s a sight for sore eyes. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen an election like midterm 2006. After all, it’s a truism of our politics that Americans are almost never driven … Continue reading “Outlaw Empire Meets the Wave”

The Queen, a film directed by Stephen Frears with Helen Mirren in an Oscar-winning performance as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, is meant to be the cinematic account of the composed – well, chilly – response by the queen to the death of Princess Diana in a car crash in a Paris tunnel in 1997, which … Continue reading “Can Jim Baker Save the American Establishment?”

[Adapted from remarks given before the Njegos Endowment for Serbian Studies, Columbia University, New York, Nov. 3.] Not Decided Yet If one were to be informed strictly by the mainstream media in the English-speaking world, it would be very hard to harbor any doubts about the future status of Kosovo. The occupied Serbian province – … Continue reading “The Battle for Kosovo”

In the wake of U.S. elections and the lifting of curfews, the persistent violence in Iraq resumed at an accelerated pace. At least 199 Iraqis were killed or reported dead and 137 more were injured in various attacks around the country. Three foreigners either serving in the Coalition or working alongside it were also reported … Continue reading “Wednesday: 2 GIs, 199 Iraqis Killed or Reported Dead; 3 GIs, 137 Wounded”

In the end, it didn’t matter what John Kerry said or didn’t say: it didn’t matter that Saddam Hussein was condemned to death, and, most of all, it didn’t matter that the White House fell back on its post-9/11 strategy of implying that a vote for the Democrats is a vote for Osama bin Laden … Continue reading “The Antiwar Wave”

With Ali al-Fadhily BAGHDAD – The Facilities Protection Service (FPS) created after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 has become the principal set of death squads in Iraq, senior leaders say. "The first accomplishment of Paul Bremer [former U.S. administrator in Iraq] in Iraq was dissolving the Iraqi army and all security establishments," a consultant … Continue reading “Iraqi Militias Take Refuge in Facilities Protection Service”

Much to the chagrin of the Pentagon’s comptroller, Tina Jonas (who has a B.A. in political science from Arizona State University and an M.A. in liberal studies from Georgetown University – although you would think that the chief financial officer for a $500 billion-plus organization would have an accounting or business administration degree), word has … Continue reading “The Mother of All Defense Supplementals”