Khody Akhavi

Nearly two weeks have passed since Israeli warplanes conducted a mysterious raid against an as yet unidentified target in northeast Syria. Details of the incident have been slow to come, as officials from both countries have remained tightlipped. In the absence of a clear picture of what happened in the early hours of Sept. 6, … Continue reading “Neocons Tie N. Korea to Israeli Strike on Syria”

Despite the addition of 30,000 US troops to enhance security in the country, the freedom of average Iraqis to practice their religions deteriorated sharply during the past year, according to a report released Friday by the US State Department. The ninth "Annual Report on International Religious Freedom,” which covers 198 countries, described continued violence targeting … Continue reading “Iraqi Religious Violence Spiking, State Dept Says”

On the same day Gen. David H. Petraeus delivered to Congress his much-anticipated progress report on the U.S. military’s "surge strategy" in Iraq, neoconservative ideologues associated with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) took aim at another one of the reputed foes of "freedom" – the Islamic Republic of Iran. During a panel discussion Monday aimed … Continue reading “American Enterprise Institute Hypes Iran ‘Threat’”

When John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt published their controversial essay "The Israel Lobby" in the London Review of Books in March 2006, their work elicited the kind of response of which most academics only dream. But it was also attacked and condemned by critics for its provocative and pointed argument that a wide-ranging … Continue reading “Outing the ‘Israel Lobby’”

Last December, when the U.S. Marine Corps charged four infantrymen for the murder of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, the counts represented the most serious case of alleged war crimes committed by Marines in Iraq or Afghanistan. An official account of the incident, released Nov. 20, said that … Continue reading “Haditha Probe Limps to a Close”

Political factions Fatah and Hamas must reconcile in order to pursue a sustainable peace in the Palestinian territories, and if and when a power-sharing agreement is brokered, the international community must be willing to accept it, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG). "As long as the Palestinian schism endures, progress … Continue reading “Bush Revs Up Lemon of a Peace Policy”

A shocking thing happens midway through Norman Solomon’s documentary film War Made Easy. While analysing the George W. Bush administration’s lead-up to the Iraq invasion, Solomon plays a news clip of Eason Jordan, a CNN News chief executive who, in an interview with CNN, boasts of the network’s cadre of professional "military experts." In fact, … Continue reading “A Blurry Line Between Propaganda and News”

Last Thursday afternoon, in a tightly packed press room of the U.S. Capitol building, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi stood at the podium and smiled heartily as she pointed to two columns of U.S. postal boxes stacked behind her. "Since Iran funds death," she told the crowd, her lobby group – the Israel Project (TIP) – was … Continue reading “Candidates Hop Aboard the Iran Sanctions Bus”

As the United States and its United Nations allies plan to push for stiffer economic sanctions on Iran over its refusal to halt its nuclear program, an Iran sanctions bill making its way through Congress includes several key measures that may threaten US diplomacy towards Tehran and split key allies on the issue, including Russia. … Continue reading “Congress Pushes Sanctions on Iran”

On June 18, seven children were killed during a U.S.-led air strike against a suspected al-Qaeda sanctuary in eastern Afghanistan. Three days later, at least 25 civilians died during a similar "incident" in Helmand province in the south of the country. The same day, a U.S. air strike aimed at a house in the Iraqi … Continue reading “Overlooking the Air War”