Month: April 2007

DAMASCUS – Refugees from Iraq scattered around Damascus describe hellish conditions in the country they managed to leave behind. "I used to work with the Americans near Kut (in the south)," Sa’ad Hussein, a 34-year-old electrical engineer told IPS. "I worked for Kellogg, Brown & Root in construction of an Iraqi base there, until I … Continue reading “Refugees Speak of Escape from Hell”

The War on Terror is a marketing campaign for security industries and terrorism experts. The latter are pulling in the consulting fees, and the former are rapidly inventing new products that enable "our" government to watch our every move and to know our location at every moment. Although it should be working on its corporate … Continue reading “Creating a Market for Security”

Updated at 12:50 p.m. EDT, April 11, 2007Today was significantly calmer in Iraq with only 39 reported Iraqi deaths and 17 injured across the country. A U.S. soldier was killed today by a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad. A second soldier was reported killed; the death occurred yesterday when the soldier’s unit was attacked in … Continue reading “Wednesday: 2 GIs, 39 Iraqis Killed; 17 Iraqis Wounded”

Name, rank, serial number, and sign on the dotted line. No sooner had Britain’s 15 "kidnapped" sailors and marines returned from their harrowing "hostage" experience at the hands of Iran than some were lining up to sell their stories to the British press. And no sooner had they been accused of "acting like reality TV … Continue reading “Heroes or Cowards? Neocons Weigh In on UK Sailors”

Pope Benedict XVI, in his annual "Urbi et Orbi" declamation, has drawn a picture of the global landscape that bodes ill for the cause of peace, exclaiming: "How many wounds, how much suffering there is in the world!" From the Solomon Islands to Somalia, from Latin America to the volatile Middle East, it’s bad news … Continue reading “Benedict vs. the War Party”

Interview conducted April 4, 2007. Listen to the interview. All right, our very special guest today on Antiwar Radio is Dr. Ron Paul, congressman representing District 14 in south Texas and new presidential candidate. That’s all I can say about that, because Antiwar.com is a nonprofit and the government has rules about such things, but … Continue reading “The Antiwar Republican”

This week marked the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein and the liberation of Iraq. On Monday, tens of thousands of Iraqis turned out to celebrate – which, according to one U.S. official, was proof that "Iraq, four years on, is now a place where people can freely gather and express their opinions." … Continue reading “Yankee, Go Home”

Updated at 12:40 a.m EDT, April 11, 2007Yesterday’s reprieve from violence has definitively ended. At least 74 Iraqis were killed or found dead, and another 115 Iraqis were wounded, mostly today . Also, four U.S. soldiers were killed in separate incidents yesterday. Meanwhile 16 GIs were wounded and two U.S. helicopters were hit by gunfire … Continue reading “Tuesday: 4 GIs, 74 Iraqis Killed; 16 GIs, 115 Iraqis Wounded”

It has an all-too-familiar ring to it. A crisis area – in this case, the Middle East – finds itself in desperate need of a peace process capable of tamping down the forces of violence and destabilization which the United States itself has played a central role in unleashing. Regional efforts at diplomacy – in … Continue reading “Syria, Elliot Abrams, and the Contras All Over Again”

DAMASCUS – Salim Hamad, 33, glances at the sprawling buildings of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus and sees business. He has set up a small tea shop at the camp. "I left everything behind," he told IPS. "I have no idea what became of my house." Salim, a railways worker in Baghdad, sold his … Continue reading “Iraqi Refugees Languish in Neighboring Countries”