10 Killed in Iraq Attacks
On its website today, the Islamic State in Iraq took responsibility for 40 attacks in June. Meanwhile, at least 10 Iraqis were killed and 24 more were wounded today.
Month: July 2012
Why No One Notices Our MAD Planet
I can still remember sneaking with two friends into the balcony of some Broadway movie palace to see the world end. The year was 1959, the film was On the Beach, and I was 15. It was the movie version of Neville Shute’s still eerie 1957 novel about an Australia awaiting its death sentence from … Continue reading “Why No One Notices Our MAD Planet”
Poisoning Arafat
For me, there was no surprise. From the very first day, I was convinced that Yasser Arafat had been poisoned by Ariel Sharon. I even wrote about it several times. It was a simple logical conclusion. First, a thorough medical examination in the French military hospital where he died did not find any cause for … Continue reading “Poisoning Arafat”
Bo Xilai and Mao’s Ghost
As riots shake China’s Guangdong province, and the kudzu-like growth that has catapulted the country into modernity starts to sputter, the case of Bo Xilai, and his wife, Gu Kailai, combines virtually all of the elements that are pushing the country into a crisis: official corruption, the growing income disparity between the party elite and … Continue reading “Bo Xilai and Mao’s Ghost”
Four Iraqis Killed, 14 Wounded in Latest Violence; Kurds Defy Baghdad on Oil Exportation
At least four Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded in the latest violence.Meanwhile, the Kurds have begun to send small amounts of oil out of the country for refining, in direct defiance of Baghdad, and Turkish shelling has set 25 fires across the border region between the two countries.5
2 Killed, 11 Wounded in Northern Iraq Attacks
At least two Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in light violence.
Experts See New US-Pakistan Supply Accord as Tenuous
As NATO supply convoys began crossing from Pakistan into Afghanistan for the first time in more than seven months Thursday, analysts warned that the reopening of the key route does not necessarily signal a new dawn in the fraught relations between Washington and Islamabad. The agreement, which will save NATO countries, especially the U.S., hundreds … Continue reading “Experts See New US-Pakistan Supply Accord as Tenuous”
22 Iraqis Killed, 58 Wounded in Iraq Bloodshed
Millions of Shi’ite pilgrims are in Karbala today for observances commemorating the birth anniversary of the Twelfth Imam,. Meanwhile, at least 22 Iraqis were killed and 58 more were wounded, in mostly Sunni regions.
Why This Obsession With Iran?
“Iran is not seeking to have the atomic bomb, possession of which is pointless, dangerous, and is a great sin from an intellectual and a religious point of view.” Thus did supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declare in February that Iran’s possession of atomic weapons would be a mortal sin against Allah. It is also … Continue reading “Why This Obsession With Iran?”
Assange’s Last Stand?
If there was ever a clear cut case of good versus evil, then surely it is the contest between Julian Assange and most of the world’s governments. They hate him because he exposed their lies, their manipulations, and their routine violations of the most elementary rules of human decency. By publishing virtually the entire corpus … Continue reading “Assange’s Last Stand?”