Month: November 2007

More than two months after Israeli warplanes conducted a mysterious raid in northeast Syria, there is a growing consensus among U.S. government and independent analysts that the suspicious target was a nuclear facility. But the evidence they are relying upon – a series of satellite photos showing a building and an adjacent pumping station near … Continue reading “Israel’s Strike on Syria Still Raising Questions”

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday declared emergency rule, fired the country’s chief justice, and suspended the constitution, effectively giving him absolute power in a country many U.S. experts warn is spinning out of control. Despite its unhappiness with the recent developments, it appears the George W. Bush administration, which once lauded the Pakistani leader … Continue reading “Bush Bets the Farm on Musharraf”

BAQUBA – At least 5 million Iraqis have fled their homes due to the violence under the U.S.-led occupation, but half of them are unable to leave the country, according to well-informed estimates. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are more than 4.4 million displaced Iraqis, an estimate that many … Continue reading “Iraq: Millions Trapped in Their Own Country”

Torture is defined in many ways. To the Bush administration, nothing that it ever does is torture. In keeping with the notorious “Torture Memo” of August 2002, drafted primarily by Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief counsel, David Addington, “enhanced interrogation techniques” – as the administration euphemizes its forays into torture – only become unacceptable if … Continue reading “The Last ‘Enemy Combatant’ on the US Mainland”

Neoconservative godfather Norman Podhoretz has written that "as an American and as a Jew" he prays that President George W. Bush will attack Iran. He rests his case on his belief that 2007 is really 1938, that Iran is Nazi Germany, and that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is Hitler. His most recent book, World War IV: The … Continue reading “Joe Lieberman’s War”

Updated at 12:20 a.m. EST, Nov. 6, 2007At least 34 Iraqis were killed and 12 more were wounded during light violence that followed an active Sunday. No Coalition troops were reported killed. Also, the Red Crescent organization issued a new report describing the urgent situation of the 2.3 million internally displaced Iraqis. The Multi-National Force … Continue reading “Monday: 34 Iraqis Killed, 12 Wounded”

CBS broke the story three years ago: a high-ranking Pentagon analyst had been caught handing over highly classified information to a foreign government – sensitive intelligence about al-Qaeda, U.S. policy deliberations regarding Iran, and other top-secret information of particular interest to his two American handlers. The spy’s native-born confederates, top officials of one of Washington’s … Continue reading “AIPAC, Espionage, and Legal Sabotage”

Advice to a Young Builder in Tough Times I know. Times are tough. Here, in the United States, the bottom’s threatening to blow out of the housing market. Here, construction companies are laying off employees, and builders are wondering where their next jobs are likely to come from. But there’s still hope that can be … Continue reading “Baseless Considerations”

America’s use of corporate mercenaries in Iraq is under renewed scrutiny in the wake of the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad on Sept. 16. Employees of Blackwater USA stand accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians. There is reason to believe that commercial and bureaucratic rivalries played a part in bringing the episode to public attention, … Continue reading “Blackwater’s Loss May Be Other Mercs’ Gain”

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In … Continue reading “Veterans Day: In Memoriam”