“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” – Bertrand Russell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on the Sunday gab circuit that rooting al-Qaeda out from Afghanistan is our only goal in that country. That’s interesting, considering that …
Continue reading “Our National Cognitive Dissonance”
An Israeli judge made a historic ruling last week when he decided that an Arab teenager needed "protection" from the justice system and ordered that he not be convicted despite being found guilty of throwing stones at a police car during a protest against Israel’s attack last winter on Gaza. Prosecutors had demanded that the …
Continue reading “Judge Warns of Israel’s Two-Tier Legal System”
According to a soldiers’ advocacy group at Fort Hood, the U.S. base where an army psychiatrist has been charged with killing 13 people and wounding 30 in a Nov. 5 rampage, the official suicide figures provided by the Army are “definitely” too low. Chuck Luther served 12 years in the military and is a veteran …
Continue reading “Army Underreporting Suicides, Says GI Advocacy Group”
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published new evidence Monday that Iran had been building "contingency centers" in the event of a U.S. bombing attack as early as 2002, years before it began building the second enrichment facility at Qom. But the latest report on Iran’s nuclear program by the agency appeared to reject Iran’s …
Continue reading “Iran Began Preparing for US Bombing in 2002”
It’s now a commonplace of the Afghan War. Western leaders in London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Washington, as well as on flying visits to Kabul or even Kandahar, excoriate Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the “corruption” of his government. In return for their ongoing support, they repeatedly demand that he take significant action to “step up …
Continue reading “Afghanistan as a Patronage Machine”
We often hear the complaint that America doesn’t make anything anymore: that is, our economy seems driven not by producing actual things, but utterly intangible creations such as credit default swaps and securitized sub-prime mortgages. Our once-bustling factories are rusted relics. Entire industries have collapsed. Ghost towns have sprung up where cities once thrived, like …
Continue reading “Our Chief Industry: War”
Updated at 8:24 p.m. EST, Nov. 17, 2009
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 25 more were wounded in new attacks. Perhaps in hope of further reducing violence, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered security forces to allow citizens to keep one piece of light arms in their homes.
JERUSALEM – The Palestinian Authority has embarked on a new strategic drive to get renewed international recognition for the borders of the future Palestinian state. Last Thursday it gained backing for this approach from the Arab League. Going into a meeting with European representatives in Ramallah on the West Bank to explain the Palestinian strategy, …
Continue reading “No Unilateral Declaration of Palestinian State, Says Erekat”
Right-wing groups in Israel want to create a climate of fear among left-wing scholars at Israeli universities by emulating the "witch-hunt" tactics of the U.S. academic monitoring group Campus Watch, Israeli professors warn. The watchdog groups IsraCampus and Israel Academia Monitor are believed to be stepping up their campaigns after the recent publication in a …
Continue reading “Campus Watch Copycats Close in on Israeli Professors”
Kelley Vlahos on the Religious Right’s forgotten brethren
