On Friday, Feb. 14, 92 prisoners escaped from their prison in the Libyan town of Zliten. 19 of them were eventually recaptured, two of whom were wounded in clashes with the guards. It was just another daily episode highlighting the utter chaos which has engulfed Libya since the overthrow of Muammar Ghaddafi in 2011. Much …
Continue reading “The Libyan Bedlam: General Hifter, the CIA and the Unfinished Coup”
“And believe it or not, so far, so good. Most news reaching the United States about Afghanistan is troubling, but the election campaign is going reasonably well” – Michael O’Hanlon, Foreign Policy magazine – 1/14/14 A few weeks after the never-prescient O’Hanlon (whose crystal ball might as well be a bowling ball when it comes …
Continue reading “Afghanistan: It’s the Election, Stupid!”
The violence was spread far and wide today. Bombings took place in several cities. Security operations against militants also too place throughout the country. At least 87 people were killed and 121 more were wounded.
In a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama declared that promoting freedom of religious faith around the world was a central goal of U.S. foreign policy, because "freedom of religion matters to our national security." Hardly. Obama’s remarks hearkened back to memories of Al Gore saying that climate change was a national security …
Continue reading “Religious Freedom – Lead by Example”
Originally posted at TomDispatch. Call me human. It turns out that I’m no better at predicting the future than the rest of humanity. If as a species we were any good at it, right now I would undoubtedly be zipping through the gloriously spired skies over my hometown, New York City, my jet pack strapped …
Continue reading “The Pentagon Makes History the First Casualty”
As the masterful drip-drip-drip strategy employed by Edward Snowden drops bomb after bomb on the National Security Agency’s formerly secret Panopticon, we are getting closer to the central purpose of what the world’s most famous whistleblower dubbed "the architecture of oppression." The latest revelations, reported by Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher, show that "the governments …
Continue reading “Homing in on the Surveillance State”
Bombers again struck Baghdad, but they also hit south of the capital in the Hilla area. Meanwhile fighting continued in Anbar and Salah ad Din provinces. In political news, Moqtada al-Sadr came out of retirement, and a U.S. soldier convicted of heinous acts in Iraq was found dead in prison. Overall, at least 142 people were killed and 163 more were wounded.
Why is the United States so reluctant to negotiate with other countries and so prone to leap immediately to the option of using force or chicanery in lieu of a more deliberative foreign policy? It might partly be because we Americans are not very good at the subtlety and give-and-take that diplomacy requires, but it …
Continue reading “Diplomacy Is a Four Letter Word”
A bombing spree took place across Baghdad today, leaving dozens dead or injured. Also, a northern city was retaken from the control of militants. At least 76 were killed and 116 were wounded.
The media is our window on the world – but what if that window is dirtied and blurred? How can we really know what’s happening in, say, Venezuela, where an increasingly authoritarian government with Marxist inclinations is up against a rebellion by middle-and-working class folks – and the US government is further muddying the picture …
Continue reading “Was Twitter Censored by the Venezuelan Government?” 
