At least 17 Iraqis were killed, while three Iraqis were injured in a blast in the capital. Meanwhile, a government spokesman blamed technical difficulties for the absence of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi name from a presidential website and said the vice president’s presence will return in the coming days.
On May 21, 1975, Col. Paul Shaffer, a military attaché to the US mission in Iran, kissed his wife and two children goodbye, and entered a waiting car with his colleague, Lt. Col. Jack Turner, whose wife was getting their three children ready for school. It was the last time the families of these two …
Continue reading “Hillary’s Terrorists”
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is sending the wrong signal to the government of Bahrain in proceeding with a partial sale of new arms to Manama, according to human rights activists and some lawmakers. Their reaction followed Friday’s announcement by the State Department that it had cleared a number of items for transfer …
Continue reading “US Arms Sale Sends Wrong Signal to Bahrain, Groups Say”
Let’s start with this: according to the Pentagon, the production and acquisition costs of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet, the military’s most expensive weapons program, have risen yet again, this time by 4.3% since 2010 to $395.6 billion. If you’re talking about the total cost of the system, including maintenance and support for the nearly …
Continue reading “Hail to the Cheerleader in Chief!”
Will there be autocracy in Iraq or renewed civil war? The country seems headed for either one or the other, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki tightens the noose on Iraqi democracy and sectarian bombings resume. Mohammed Shayaa al-Sudani, Iraq’s human rights minister, recently declared that casualties in the roughly nine-year period since the American invasion …
Continue reading “The Already Forgotten Iraq War”
A terrorism trial against Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi opened today in Baghdad. He is accused of masterminding or financing about 150 terror attacks. Meanwhile, at least 20 Iraqis were killed and 58 more were wounded in new violence.
In meetings with Iranian officials in Vienna this week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) apparently intends to hold up agreement on a plan for Iran’s full cooperation in clarifying allegations of covert nuclear weapons work by insisting that it must first let the nuclear agency visit Parchin military base. That demand, coupled with the …
Continue reading “IAEA Parchin Demand Puts Iran Cooperation Pact at Risk”
When Washington needed women to carry out its two-front war of choice, they were there, lending more than 255,000 female volunteers to the mission. Today, women make up approximately 15 percent of the active duty force and 20 percent of the reserve components. Simply put, the military would not have been able to wage the …
Continue reading “The Rape of Our Military Women”
The popular uprising in Bahrain shows no signs of going away. The royal family tried crushing the revolt, importing shock troops from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. It tried jailing important figures in the opposition, such as human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who as of early May had been on hunger strike for 90 days. The …
Continue reading “Operation Lip Service”
Human Rights Minister Mohammed Shayaa al-Sudani said that the casualty toll, since 2003, has reached 70,000 killed and 250,000 wounded. A spokesman for the Iraqiya bloc said that the party would try to convince Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi to return to Baghdad to stand trial on terrorism charges. Meanwhile, at least 11 Iraqis were killed today and 22 more were wounded in a second day of attacks focusing on Anbar province.
