Month: February 2007

The supreme irony of President George W. Bush’s campaign to blame Iran for the sectarian civil war in Iraq, as well as attacks on U.S. forces, is that the Shi’ite militias who started to drive the Sunnis out of the Baghdad area in 2004 and thus precipitated the present sectarian crisis did so with the … Continue reading “How Neocon Shi’ite Strategy Led to Sectarian War”

How big is President George W. Bush’s proposed 2008 Pentagon budget? At nearly $623 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, its size earned nothing but editorial superlatives and a scramble for historical precedents that could put the sum in perspective. "Bush’s Defense Budget Biggest Since Reagan Era," headlined the Washington Post, which … Continue reading “Proposed ’08 Pentagon Earns Superlatives All Around”

It isn’t very often that we come across news of a radioactive poisoning, let alone a state-sponsored one, but in the past few months we’ve had no less than two – and, more significantly, two completely different reactions from the "mainstream" media and Western governments (or do I repeat myself?). The first such alleged poisoning … Continue reading “Double Standard”

The people running the Iraq war are eager to make an example of Ehren Watada. They’ve convened a kangaroo court-martial. But the man on trial is setting a profound example of conscience – helping to undermine the war that the Pentagon’s top officials are so eager to protect. “The judge in the case against the … Continue reading “Making an Example of
Ehren Watada”

The murdered Israeli leader Gen. Yitzhak Rabin opposed the First Gulf War in 1990, warning that one never knows when starting a war where it will lead. As Bush and the neocons are reportedly planning to attack Iran, we should all think of the likely consequences. Most Americans already believe that George Bush is not … Continue reading “12 Consequences of
Attacking Iran”

Updated at 1:35 p.m. EST, Feb. 7, 2007 Violence has tapered off somewhat from the high of the weekend, but at least 64 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 55 were wounded. Also, officials reported that a GI was killed southwest of Baghdad and two Marines were killed in separate incidents in … Continue reading “Tuesday: 64 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 55 Iraqis Wounded”

Meet Richard Wade Vague. Tall, friendly, dressed in a dark, finely tailored suit, with a firm, confident handshake and a ready, if surprisingly modest, smile, he looks like the quintessential successful 51-year-old self-described "conservative" corporate executive that he is. Co-founder and CEO of First USA Bank, which, until he sold it, was the single largest … Continue reading “One CEO’s Dissent From the War on Terror”

TACOMA, Wash. – Supporters of the first commissioned U.S. officer to refuse to serve in Iraq plan to pack the courtroom at Fort Lewis, Wash., where 1st Lt. Ehren Watada will face a court-martial Monday. "If more officers like Lt. Watada come forward and said they wouldn’t order their troops into a war that’s morally … Continue reading “Officer Who Refused Iraq Tour Goes on Trial”

Each year, one of the most important events in the nation’s capital is the release of the federal budget. Yet the media provides insufficient coverage because the budget is technical, unglamorous, and requires hard work sifting through mounds of data to uncover the key truths. It is much sexier to cover whether Condi Rice’s star … Continue reading “Hundreds of Billions – for What?”

Afghanistan remains the forgotten war, yet, in an eerie lockstep with Iraq, it seems to be following a distinctly Bush administration-style path toward “the gates of hell.” While almost all attention in Washington and the U.S. media has been focused on the president’s new “surge” plan in Iraq – is it for 21,000 or 50,000 … Continue reading “Afghanistan: Just Another
Bush Success Story”