Originally posted at TomDispatch. Imagine this: a president and his top officials as self-professed assassins – and proud of it, even attempting to gain political capital from it. It’s not that American presidents have never been associated with assassination attempts before. At a National Security Council meeting, Dwight D. Eisenhower personally ordered the CIA to …
Continue reading “Drone Killing the Fifth Amendment”
At least 58 people were killed in fresh violence, and 42 more were wounded. Clashes continued in Ramadi and Falluja. The third city under militant control, Suleiman Bek, also saw clashes. Also, Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he would retire from politics just two months before national elections.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki traveled to Anbar Province to meet with tribal and military leaders. Meanwhile, at least 49 people were killed, and another 36 were wounded in new attacks.
At least 70 people were killed, mostly militants, and 24 more were wounded in security operations and attacks.
The movement to end the Surveillance State is finally getting serious. With the failure by Congress to rein in the NSA – although the heroic Rep. Justin Amash nearly succeeded in doing so – activists on the state level are mounting a campaign that promises to hit Big Brother where it really hurts – by …
Continue reading “Utah – Achilles’ Heel of the Surveillance State”
It’s official – America has finally forgiven France. This is big news, particularly after such a messy breakup over America’s infatuation with remaking the Middle East. That fixation on Iraq turned into an international affair when France spurned America’s proposition and then-President Jacques Chirac refused to get sucked into a morally and legally sticky ménage …
Continue reading “America and France Rekindle Their Foreign Affair”
Senior Obama administration officials say our government is sharply scaling back its drone strikes in Pakistan. That’s a step in the right direction. It would be even better if the entire U.S. program of targeted killings in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia were scrapped. By embracing drones as a primary foreign policy tool, President Barack Obama …
Continue reading “The Dangerous Seduction of Drones”
The United States is the world’s leading arms trafficking nation, with $60 billion in arms transfer agreements last year alone. In 2011, U.S. companies and the US government controlled over three-quarters of the international weapons trade. The Obama administration regularly touts the role of US officials in promoting US arms sales. Acting Assistant Secretary of …
Continue reading “Obama’s Arms Sales Policy: Promotion or Restraint?”
Today’s attacks left 40 dead and 59 wounded, including several foreign medical workers. Also, ISIS/DAASH militants took over a northern Iraq town in Salah ad Din province. Militants have tried to take over the town as recently as last year, but considering the events in Anbar, this attempt could be more serious.
"When they first put the electricity on me, I gasped; my body went rigid and the bag came off my head," Israa Salah, a detained Iraqi woman told Human Rights Watch (HRW) in her heartrending testimony. Israa (not her real name) was arrested by US and Iraqi forces in 2010. She was tortured to the …
Continue reading “Preserving the Abu Ghraib Culture: The Harrowing Abuse of Iraqi Women” 
