Month: March 2007

Updated at 12:10 a.m. EST, March 2, 2007 In Iraq today, at least 151 people were reported killed or found dead, including several foreign militia members. Fifty-nine Iraqis were wounded as well. Also, two Marines and a British soldier were killed in separate incidents, and two GIs and a British soldier were wounded. According to … Continue reading “Thursday: 151 Iraqis, 2 Marines, 1 British Soldier Killed”

An Iraqi World Bank staffer has been wounded in Baghdad, according to an inside source in the Bank and an email message from a source on the ground in Iraq, the first casualty for an international organization since a bombing that targeted the Baghdad U.N. headquarters in 2003. The Bank, whose President Paul Wolfowitz is … Continue reading “World Bank Mum Over Report of Staff Injury”

Iran: how far from the bomb? That was one of the key questions asked of newly confirmed Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell yesterday at a Senate Armed Forces Committee hearing. McConnell had avoided this front-burner issue in his prepared remarks. But when asked, he repeated the hazy forecast given by his predecessor, John Negroponte … Continue reading “Iran’s Very Bad N-Word”

The Bush-Cheney regime is America’s first neoconservative regime. In a few short years, the regime has destroyed the Bill of Rights, the separation of powers, the Geneva Conventions, and the remains of America’s moral reputation along with the infrastructures of two Muslim countries and countless thousands of Islamic civilians. Plans have been prepared, and forces … Continue reading “Americans Have Lost Their Country”

The Selective Service System last year studied whether it should revert to a Cold War-era plan of being able to draft people within 13 days of a crisis, compared to its current goal of carrying it out within six months. But the agency ultimately decided not to make such a major change because of opposition … Continue reading “Selective Service Studied Rapid-Fire Draft Plan”

Two weeks after making major concessions for a nuclear accord with North Korea, the administration of President George W. Bush said Tuesday it was prepared to sit down with Iran and Syria as part of a regional conference to stabilize Iraq. In testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, widely considered … Continue reading “Bush Backing Into Baker-Hamilton After All?”

In stark contrast to last week’s U.S. court decision upholding the Military Commissions Act, Canada’s court has unanimously struck down a law that would allow the Canadian government to use secret evidence to detain foreign-born terror suspects indefinitely without charges or open court hearings. “The overarching principle of fundamental justice that applies here is this: … Continue reading “US, Canada Diverge on Terror War Tactics”

Two weeks ago, Pentagon officials discussed a strategy to escalate U.S. pressure on Iran with the intention of creating the impression that the U.S. is ready to go to war, according to an account by one of the participants. A meeting at the Pentagon in mid-February was said by the participant to have revolved around … Continue reading “Pentagon Meet Discussed Escalating Pressure on Iran”

President Bush last week continued his rather pathetic tour of former presidents, stopping at Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s home on the Potomac, to deliver a speech that tried, with all the subtlety of a jackhammer, to compare the current occupant of the Oval Office with the Father of His Country. This is not a new … Continue reading “Breaking the Presidential Pattern”