Month: December 2013

At least 33 people were killed and 62 more were wounded in fresh attacks, several of them against pilgrims who are walking to Karbala for Arbaeen observances.

It was two years ago that the name Julian Assange was skipping over holiday tables, provoking shouts of "traitor" or toasts of tribute in varying degree and vigor. The word "peace" never seemed so far away in 2010, but Assange, in shaking the very norms of government secrecy and duplicity, opened doors to a new, … Continue reading “‘Let it Snowden,’ the Chorus of 2013”

Attacks against Shi’ite pilgrims stole the headlines today in Baghdad and Mosul. Perhaps even more frightening, suicide bombers also attacked government buildings and took hostages north of the capital. Overall, at least 100 people were killed and 183 more were wounded.

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Another week, another revelation about spying by the National Security Agency. This time, it was the NSA’s infiltration of online video games and virtual realms like World of Warcraft and Second Life. And it was hardly a shock. More than a decade ago, TomDispatch began reporting on the U.S. military’s collaborations … Continue reading “America’s Child Soldiers”

In March of 2007, former FBI agent and freelance investigator Robert Levinson traveled to the Iranian island of Kish, a resort hangout for smugglers and various dubious characters as well as tourists – and promptly vanished. For years, the US government stoutly maintained Levinson was on a private business trip, but now it turns out … Continue reading “Who Was Robert Levinson Working For?”

At least 37 people were killed and another 62 more were wounded in today’s violence. Another journalist was assassinated in northern Iraq, while a family of five was killed in Diyala province. A series of bombings took place across Baghdad as well.

At least 34 people were killed, including a group of Shi’ite pilgrims, and 43 more were wounded in attacks across Iraq.

A bold attack on Iranians working on a gas pipeline in Diyala province helped drive today’s casualty figures up to at least 46 dead and 56 wounded across Iraq.

“The U.S.-Japan Mutual Security Treaty of 1960 obligates the United States to treat any armed attack against any territories under the administration of Japan as dangerous to [America’s] own peace and safety. This would cover such islets as the Senkakus also claimed by Beijing.” So this author wrote 15 years ago in A Republic Not … Continue reading “Are the Senkakus Worth a War?”

Thanks to the Israel lobby’s slander campaign against Max Blumenthal and his new book, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, I not only learned things about the Jewish state that I never knew, I also made a wonderful discovery – but more about that later. I confess I probably wouldn’t have read Goliath if … Continue reading “Goliath: The Book That May Delegitimize Israel’s Apartheid State”