When Hassan Rouhani recently announced at his first press conference as the new President of Iran that he is ready to enter "serious and substantive" negotiations with the United States "if the United States shows goodwill and mutual respect", the...
Random Attacks Leave 14 Dead Across Iraq
In Mosul, gunmen killed five people in two separate locations. A sixth victim was shot dead elsewhere. A bomb in Kanaan killed a woman and a child; another woman was wounded. One person was killed and three more were wounded during shelling in Mahaweel. A bomb planted...
Transparent Hoax Could Lead to War
Those rollicking jihadists, the Syrian rebels, love a joke: although they can be deadly serious – such as when they’re eating the internal organs of their enemies – what they enjoy more than anything is a really good prank. There was the time they claimed the Assad...
Iraq Bombings, Shootings Leave 76 Dead and 227 Wounded
Eavesdropping on the Whole World
How do U.S. intelligence agencies eavesdrop on the whole world? The ideal place to tap trans-border telecommunications is undersea cables that carry an estimated 90 percent of international voice traffic. These cables date back in history to 1858 when they were first...
Fresh Attacks Leave 29 Dead, 76 Wounded in Iraq
US Selling Cluster Bombs Worth $641 million to Saudi Arabia
Arms control advocates are decrying a new U.S. Department of Defense announcement that it will be building and selling 1,300 cluster bombs to Saudi Arabia, worth some 641 million dollars. The munitions at the heart of the sale are technically legal under recently...
45 Killed, Including Children in Baghdad Park Massacre
Insurgents turned their attention back on Baghdad where several bombings took place. The worst attack targeted children and woman at a neighborhood park. Overall, at least 45 people were killed and 75 were wounded across the country. In Baghdad, a suicide bomber...
Washington’s Worries Grow Over Saudi Ties
As the administration of President Barack Obama continues wrestling with how to react to the military coup in Egypt and its bloody aftermath, officials and independent analysts are increasingly worried about the crisis’s effect on U.S. ties with Saudi Arabia. The...
Yes, Black Is the New ‘Transparency’
The recently released secret FISA court opinion is supposed to promote the idea that the administration elected on a promise of "transparency" is now making good on that pledge. There’s just one problem: a good 20 percent of the 83-page document is redacted,...