Month: September 2008

Updated at 7:03 p.m. EDT, Sept. 28, 2008A significant number of small attacks left at least 51 Iraqis dead and another 138 wounded. The violence was spread out fairly evenly across northern and central Iraq. Tensions continue in Kurdish Diyala where the mayor of Saadiya escaped an assassination attempt. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, … Continue reading “Sunday: 51 Iraqis Killed, 138 Wounded”

Updated at 9:15 p.m. EDT, Sept. 27, 2008At least 13 Iraqis were killed and another 29 were wounded in the latest round of violence. One incident involved clashes between Peshmerga and Iraqi army troops in a continuing dispute in Diyala province. One American soldier was killed in an vehicle accident.Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Iraqi police … Continue reading “Saturday: 1 U.S. Soldier, 13 Iraqis Killed; 29 Iraqis Wounded”

Well, President George W. Bush has just provided a farewell indoctrination to the General Assembly of the United Nations, an organization for which he previously showed contempt by – among other things – appointing Bonkers Bolton to be our Ambassador three years ago while another organization for which he frequently showed contempt – the United … Continue reading “Bush’s Farewell Indoctrination”

In a significant and highly unusual defeat for the so-called "Israel Lobby," the Democratic leadership of the House of Representatives has decided to shelve a long-pending, albeit nonbinding, resolution that called for President George W. Bush to launch what critics called a blockade against Iran. House Congressional Resolution (HR) 362, whose passage the powerful American … Continue reading “Iran Resolution Shelved in Rare Defeat for AIPAC”

In the topsy turvy world of Washington, to combat what is being called the "most momentous financial crisis since the Great Depression," the Republicans have gone socialist and the Democrats are advocating the corporatism of Italian rightist dictator Benito Mussolini. Fairly unique in U.S. history, the Bush administration has nationalized companies – insurance and mortgage … Continue reading “Republicans on the Left and Democrats on the Right”

From just outside Jerusalem’s Old City walls, the simple stone and cinderblock homes of Silwan cascade southwards into a valley, known as the Holy Basin. The Palestinian residents are used to living in the shadow of history and religion, given dramatic physical form as the great silver dome of the al-Aqsa mosque and the looming … Continue reading “King David Recruited to Expel Palestinians”

Update at 8:05 p.m. EDT, Sept. 26, 2008At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded in the latest attacks. A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier in Iskandariya. Also, followers of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr peacefully continued their weekly protests against a proposed U.S-Iraqi security deal. Turkey staged an air attack on … Continue reading “Friday: 1 US Soldier,11 Iraqis Killed;13 Iraqis Wounded”

with Arkan Hamed BAGHDAD – Not even the elevators work now at Baghdad Medical City, built once as the center for some of the best medical care. One of the ten elevators still does, and the priority for this is patients who have lost their legs – and there are many of them. The rest, … Continue reading “In Baghdad, Even the Hospitals Are Sick”

PESHAWAR – The world knows the Taliban as armed fighters who have unleashed a wave of violence in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan including devastating suicide bomb attacks, the most recent on the luxurious Marriot Hotel in high-security Islamabad last week. But not all Taliban wield guns. In seminaries scattered over the restive, northern parts of … Continue reading “‘Militants Are Not Taliban, We Are’”

Of course Katharine Gun was free to have a conscience, as long as it didn’t interfere with her work at a British intelligence agency. To the authorities, practically speaking, a conscience was apt to be less tangible than a pixel on a computer screen. But suddenly – one routine morning, while she was scrolling through … Continue reading “Finally, the Story of the Whistleblower Who Tried to Prevent the Iraq War”