Month: December 2007

The title of the agreement, signed by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki in a “video conference” last week, and carefully labeled as a “non-binding” set of principles for further negotiations, was a mouthful: a “Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship Between the Republic of Iraq and the United … Continue reading “Iraq as a Pentagon
Construction Site”

Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion David Gelernter Doubleday, 2007 240 pp. David Gelernter, the Yale University computer science professor known for surviving a bomb attack by the Unabomber, has written a fascinating book, Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion. I should warn the readers of Antiwar.com that I started off with a bias in … Continue reading “The Religion Called Americanism”

Updated at 11:00 p.m. EST, Dec. 2, 2007At least 53 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 33 were wounded in the lastest round of violence. A mass grave was found in Fallujah and over a dozen people were wounded during a car bombing in Baquba. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, conflicting reports … Continue reading “Sunday: 53 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded”

The Czech government has begun an 890,000-dollar information campaign supporting the U.S. plan to set up a radar station in the Czech Republic. Opponents of the plan – led by the Social Democrats – want some of that money to fund alternative information campaigns so as to create an actual debate on the issue and … Continue reading “Czech Republic: US Radar Provokes PR War”

Updated at 12:27 a.m. EST, Dec. 2, 2007At least 40 Iraqis were killed and 46 more wounded during the latest violence. One U.S. soldier was also killed. Meanwhile, Sunni lawmakers walked out of parliament to protest the house arrest of their leader, while the Interior Ministry reported that 20,000 employees were dismissed. Also, Turkey claimed … Continue reading “Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 40 Iraqis Killed; 46 Iraqis Wounded; 41 Iraqis Kidnapped”

Years ago Stratfor.com, the private intelligence service and Web site, maintained that the real purpose of the Iraq war was to establish permanent U.S . bases in Iraq, to serve as forward staging areas for future forays in the world wide “war on terror,” in someplace other than Saudi Arabia, home to the most universally … Continue reading “In For the Long Haul”

US war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have announced they’re planning to descend on Washington, DC this March to testify about war crimes they committed or personally witnessed in Iraq. "The war in Iraq is not covered to its potential because of how dangerous it is for reporters to cover it," said Liam Madden, a … Continue reading “US War Vets to Speak Publicly About War Crimes”

It was initially billed as a "peace conference" to decisively address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But as President George W. Bush’s ambitious Annapolis gathering approached – his most intensive effort to restart peace talks in seven years – any prospect of a comprehensive breakthrough appeared as distant as ever, as Israeli and Palestinian leaders struggled to … Continue reading “Why Annapolis Is About Iran”

Don’t bet on peace coming out of President Bush’s much-belated efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For one thing, the people whom the Palestinians elected to represent them are excluded. President Bush, hypocrite that he is, blathered about democracy, then changed his tune when Hamas won the last election. He cut off all aid to … Continue reading “Don’t Expect Peace”

Ho-Ho-Ho. Halloween has now ushered in the year-end shopping season (formerly known as Christmas). We’re supposed to deck the malls with boughs of holly. So it’s a bit surprising that ABC News has picked-up (uncritically) a Associated Press "report" that Slovakian First Police Vice President Michal Kopcik has thwarted the black-market sale of what Kopcik … Continue reading “Deck the Malls With Dirty Nukes”