Emad Mekay

Lebanon is firmly en route to becoming the third nation in the Middle East after Iraq and the Palestinian territories to experience a devastating Washington-backed war and a massive influx of new illegitimate debt to cover reconstruction expenses, anti-debt activists say. A conference held Thursday in Stockholm for donors raised more than $940 million in … Continue reading “Critics Decry ‘Destroy and Lend’ Policy in Lebanon”

The United States is using authoritarian Arab leaders, who fear that Iran could export its revolutionary political model to their disgruntled populations and are concerned about Washington’s reprisal against them à la Saddam Hussein in Iraq, as a buffer between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, Washington’s protégé in the Middle East, analysts here say. "Saudi … Continue reading “US Turns to Arab Dictators to Contain Hezbollah”

Washington’s self-styled “Global War On Terrorism” has cost the country at least 430 billion dollars over the past five years in military and diplomatic efforts, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the watchdog arm of the U.S. Congress. The GAO warns that future costs may be difficult to estimate because of irregularities in how … Continue reading “Cost of Terror War Hits $430 Billion”

Numerous U.S. groups, intellectuals, politicians and media outlets are mobilizing in the United States to back Israel in its ongoing assault on neighboring Lebanon with one main idea to promote – that Israel is always the victim. On Sunday morning, millions of U.S. citizens watched as the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt … Continue reading “In US, Not All Casualties Are Equal”

The parents of a U.S. peace activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer built by the global machinery giant Caterpillar confronted the company Wednesday for the first time and urged shareholders at its annual meeting to end sales of "weaponized bulldozers to Israel." Cindy and Craig Corrie, parents of the late Rachel … Continue reading “Caterpillar Pressured Over ‘Weaponized Bulldozers’”

The George W. Bush administration has called on the U.S. Congress to keep annual aid to Egypt of nearly $2 billion intact for the next fiscal year, despite a massive crackdown on pro-democracy activists and suppression of political dissent in the country. On May 19 – the day after hundreds of protesters in Cairo and … Continue reading “US Shuts Eyes to Abuses of Key Ally Egypt”

U.S. lawmakers who killed a deal that would have transferred management of terminals in six U.S. ports to an Arab company say they will forge ahead with legislation targeting foreign ownership of critical U.S sectors. The plans sent shockwaves through U.S. business groups, who are worried that such a move could discourage international investment in … Continue reading “US Firms Fear Blowback on Ports Debacle”

International donors whose funds sustained the Palestinian Authority for much of its life, and who are now alarmed at the win of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, could cut off their aid, effectively threatening to bankrupt the future Hamas-led authority. The European Union and the United States have reacted nervously … Continue reading “Donors Threaten Aid Cut After Hamas Win”

The reconstruction of Iraq is failing rapidly despite repeated claims of progress by the George W. Bush administration, according to a number of U.S. officials and reports released here this week. Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman issued a report that found reconstruction efforts in the occupied Arab country have consistently fallen short of the objectives set … Continue reading “Two Years Later, U.S. Still Can’t Keep the Lights On”

An unsolicited bid by the Chinese National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) to buy Unocal, a major U.S. oil company, has put Washington’s free-market rhetoric to the test, with disappointing results, some analysts say. The global economic rules set by the victors of World War II have generally encouraged investors, typically from rich nations, to bid … Continue reading “China Oil Bid Tests US Free-Market Rhetoric”