In the face of an outraged Arab world, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton backed off on her congratulation of Israel for merely pledging to limit settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Previously, President Barack Obama, originally appearing to be much more friendly to the Palestinian and Arab causes than George W. Bush, told Israel, …
Continue reading “Knocking Our Heads Against a Wall in Palestine”
The long road to the proverbial day in court just got longer for five men who claim they were "disappeared" and tortured by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The men, who say they were victims of the extraordinary rendition program conducted during the administration of president George W. Bush, have been trying since 2007 to …
Continue reading “Govt Lawyers Seek to Quash Rendition Lawsuit”
Who’s the bigger fraud: Hamid Karzai, or the phalanx of Western toads who are hailing him as the "legitimate" president of Afghanistan? To review the bidding: Karzai appointed a gang of crooks as election officials who threw the original election to his corner. UN election monitors tossed out a million or so votes, so Karzai …
Continue reading “‘Twas Brillig in Bananastan”
Our new counterinsurgency doctrine [.pdf] is obsolete before it has even been tried. If you have a high tolerance for asininity, go directly to the Web site of "President" Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and feast your eyes on the litany of congratulations emanating from world leaders upon his election "victory." From an official statement by …
Continue reading “Tossing the COIN in Afghanistan”
A federal appeals court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit brought against a former U.S. attorney general by a Canadian citizen who sought damages for being unlawfully detained by U.S. authorities in New York and then secretly shipped to Syria, where he was imprisoned for a year and claims he was tortured. The court concluded that …
Continue reading “Another Legal Setback for Arar Torture Case”
Updated at 11:41 p.m. EST, Nov. 3, 2009
At least five Iraqis were killed and 18 others were wounded in light violence across northern and central Iraq. Meanwhile, a Christian MP asked the speaker to request an international inquiry into anti-Christian violence within Iraq. Also, the International Organization for Migration noted that about 350,000 displaced Iraqis have returned to their homes, but many now suffer from a serious lack of jobs and resources.
When America is about to throw an ally to the wolves, we follow an established ritual. We discover that the man we supported was never really morally fit to be a friend or partner of the United States. When Chiang Kai-shek, who fought the Japanese for four years before Pearl Harbor, began losing to Mao’s …
Continue reading “The American Way of Abandonment”
Iran’s formal response to a preliminary nuclear agreement whereby 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) would be shipped to Russia and then France for enrichment from 3.8 to 19.75 percent and conversion to fuel rods has angered the European Union (EU). The compromise had been agreed upon between Iran’s delegation to the International Atomic …
Continue reading “Can Iran Trust Russia and France With Its Uranium?”
The state board responsible for licensing – and disciplining – psychologists in Louisiana is accused of turning a blind eye to serious allegations of abuse against one of its members, including complicity in beatings, religious and sexual humiliation, rape threats, and painful body positions during his service as a senior adviser on interrogations for the …
Continue reading “Lawsuit Probes Role of Psychologists in Terror War”
Polling results have tracked so closely with the politicization of the Afghan war that it’s difficult to discern the public’s actual views in such a polarized environment. The polls tell us less about what the public is really feeling than about how well the two parties – in concert with the military – are spinning …
Continue reading “Polls Give False Impressions About War” 
