A fresh series of bombs struck in Baghdad and nearby suburbs. At least 99 people were killed and another 266 were wounded. Several of the blasts occurred within minutes of each other suggesting coordination among the bombers. Even the Interior Minister admitted that hundreds were wounded, even if he was short on the number of fatalities. Meanwhile, the Iraqi government in on high alert over impending strikes by the West against Syria and has tightened security in border areas.
After initially insisting that Syria give United Nations investigators unimpeded access to the site of an alleged nerve gas attack, the administration of President Barack Obama reversed its position on Sunday and tried unsuccessfully to get the UN to call off its investigation. The administration’s reversal, which came within hours of the deal reached between …
Continue reading “In Rush to Strike Syria, U.S. Tried to Derail U.N. Probe”
Although the world is focused on the military coup in Egypt, the accompanying repression of the supporters of the duly elected democratic government, and the real possibility of massive societal strife, another authoritarian government is busily taking its country down a similar road to civil war. Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite who was originally …
Continue reading “Decentralization of Governance May Help Some Middle Eastern Countries in Turmoil”
A U.S. invasion of Syria could be the first war based on a YouTube video. After a video was released showing victims of an alleged chemical weapons attack, England immediately declared the Syrian government responsible, while Obama began drawing up military plans, saying there was “little doubt” the Syrian Government was at fault (zero evidence …
Continue reading “War With Syria and Its Repercussions”
The UN inspection team in Syria has been "delayed" due to a dispute among the rebels, who could not or would not guarantee the team’s safety. While the Assad government has granted them access, the suburb of Damascus where the alleged chemical attacks occurred is in rebel-controlled territory. Western news media aren’t reporting the reason …
Continue reading “Why the Rush to War?”
In an echo of the tactics they used to promote U.S. intervention in the Balkans, Iraq and Libya, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives published a letter Tuesday urging President Barack Obama to go far beyond limited military strikes against Syria in retaliation for its government’s alleged use last week of chemical weapons that reportedly killed …
Continue reading “Neocon Hawks Take Flight Over Syria”
Including nine suspects who died in security raids, at least 25 Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded. Also, a court threw out a law that would prevent divisive Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from running for a third term as premier.
James Bimen Associates of Virginia and Harris Corporation of Florida have contracts with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to hack into computers and phones of surveillance targets, according to Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project. “Bimen and Harris employees actively hack into target computers …
Continue reading “ACLU Reveals FBI Hacking Contractors”
Most of us cannot understand the pain associated with post-traumatic stress in any visceral way, as described by this recent veteran from the Iraq War: “My mind is a wasteland, filled with visions of incredible horror, unceasing depression, and crippling anxiety.” Now think of the veteran who wrote these words, 30-year-old Daniel Somers, being sent …
Continue reading “Sending Broken Men Back Into Afghanistan”
“Congress doesn’t have a whole lot of core responsibilities,” said Barack Obama last week in an astonishing remark. For in the Constitution, Congress appears as the first branch of government. And among its enumerated powers are the power to tax, coin money, create courts, provide for the common defense, raise and support an army, maintain …
Continue reading “Congress Should Veto Obama’s War” 
