Month: April 2007

It’s been said often that while everyone is entitled to his own opinion, no one is entitled to his own facts. Today, we hear misstatements all the time. Some of them are deliberate lies. Some of them are just mistakes. A House committee has just exposed the terrible fact that Army officials fabricated a story … Continue reading “Officeholding Liars”

Ethanol: A Threat to National Security? I normally like the articles by James Gordon Prather, but the latest one is confusing, and I have a PhD in physics. What the heck does the C-13/C-12 ratio have to do with anything? What the heck does it matter whether the deep hydrocarbons were organically produced? What matters … Continue reading “Backtalk, April 26, 2007”

Updated at 11:59 p.m. EDT, April 27, 2007As usual, Fridays are quiet in Iraq, and this day was no exception. Only 47 Iraqis were reported killed or found dead and 37 Iraqis were wounded in attacks. Also, three Marines were killed in Anbar Province during combat operations.Friday is the weekly prayer day. In order to … Continue reading “Friday: 3 GIs, 47 Iraqis Killed; 37 Iraqis Wounded”

Although 57 percent of the U.S. public now believes that sending troops to Iraq was a mistake, the military budget request that President George W. Bush submitted to Congress is the largest since World War II – and little money is earmarked for domestic security. The budget requests 623 billion dollars for military spending for … Continue reading “Record Military Budget Ignores Security ‘Big Picture’”

I have to say that watching Bill Moyers’ “Buying the War” was quite an experience for me: a kind of vindication, yes, but also, ultimately, quite a depressing experience. As the editorial director of Antiwar.com, my job is to make sure that we cut through the government propaganda and get at the truth about what … Continue reading “Our Captive Media”

With Thursday’s vote by the U.S. Senate to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq in October, the stage has been set for a prolonged confrontation between the Democratic-led Congress and President George W. Bush over the future of the war. While Bush retains the loyalty of a sufficient number of Republican lawmakers to sustain his … Continue reading “Iraq Showdown Looms After Senate Vote”

AITA ECH CHAAB, Lebanon – People in this southern Lebanese village are rebuilding their destroyed houses with renewed vigor. And, with renewed loyalties to a combination of Hezbollah, Qatar and Iran. This village of about 3,000 less than a kilometer from the heavily guarded border with Israel was one of the first places bombed by … Continue reading “In Lebanon, Political Loyalties Being Rebuilt”

Back in September 2006, I wrote a post, “The Facts on the Ground, Mini-Gulags, Hired Guns, Lobbyists, and a Reality Built on Fear,” in which I wondered whether any new administration, any new president would ever be able to take real steps toward ridding our world of the realities created by the Bush administration – … Continue reading “Can Guantánamo Be Closed?”

As the conflict in Iraq has worsened, a majority of Americans has come to believe that the war was a mistake. There were no WMDs to seize. There was no operational relationship with al-Qaeda to disrupt. There was no cohesive, democratic Iraqi nation to reclaim. In short, the war was a terrible mistake. In desperation, … Continue reading “Fight Terrorism: Get Out of Iraq”

Updated at 12:25 a.m. EDT, April 27, 2007Today U.S. General David Petraus spoke on the situation in Iraq and called it "the most complex and challenging I have ever seen." Meanwhile at least 90 Iraqis were reported killed or found dead and another 158 Iraqis were wounded in violent attacks that including a triple bombing … Continue reading “Thursday: 90 Iraqis Killed, 158 Wounded”