Jim Lobe

Despite strong opposition from the Pentagon and the White House, the Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate is coming under growing pressure to set specific standards for the “humane” treatment of detainees taken in Iraq and elsewhere in the George W. Bush administration’s “war on terror.” That pressure is being focused on proposed amendments, first … Continue reading “White House Losing Ground on Prisoner Treatment”

The U.S. public is deeply skeptical about the priority President George W. Bush has put on promoting democracy abroad, and its experience in Iraq has made it more so, according to a detailed new survey [.pdf] released Thursday by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CCFR) and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) of … Continue reading “Public Skeptical About Bush’s Democracy Crusade”

The decision Tuesday by a U.S. immigration judge in Texas to deny Venezuela’s request to extradite Luis Posada Carriles, whom Caracas has dubbed “the Osama bin Laden of Latin America,” was greeted with surprise and disappointment by Latin America activists and even some former U.S. officials. Venezuela wants Posada to stand trial for the October … Continue reading “Cuban Terror Case Erodes US Credibility, Critics Say”

The growing specter of a full-scale civil war in Iraq – and the likelihood that such a conflict will draw in neighboring states – has intensified a summer-long debate here over whether and how to withdraw U.S. troops. Some analysts believe that an immediate U.S. withdrawal would make an all-out conflict less likely, while others … Continue reading “Iraq Withdrawal Debate Gathers Momentum”

As a military jury in Texas considers the fate of Lynndie England, the low-ranking reservist pictured in the notorious photos of the abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, two sergeants and a captain in one of the U.S. Army’s most decorated combat units have come forward with accounts of routine, … Continue reading “Whistleblowers Describe Routine, Severe Abuse”

This week’s six-party agreement on the principles for denuclearizing the Korean peninsula is being greeted somewhat warily here, with most experts stressing that the accord marks only the beginning of what is likely to be a protracted negotiating process that could take years, rather than months, to achieve. The deal reached by the two Koreas, … Continue reading “Promise and Peril in North Korea Deal”

The government of Uzbekistan has been engaged in unprecedented efforts, including massive detentions, torture, and forced confessions, to persuade its people and the outside world that Islamist extremists were responsible for a bloody massacre in Andijan last May, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW). The two groups, which released separate reports Tuesday … Continue reading “Uzbekistan Killings Set Off Massive Crackdown”

It was four years ago that a little-known group called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) published an open letter to President George W. Bush advising him on how precisely he should carry out his brand-new “war on terrorism.” In addition to ousting Afghanistan’s Taliban, the letter’s mostly neoconservative signatories called for implementing … Continue reading “Uncertain Anniversary for Iraq War Champions”

While Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections Sunday are expected to go relatively smoothly, the freedom with which they are being carried out is being questioned by many observers. The presence on the ballot of a number of notorious warlords and their close associates, as well as the continuing threat posed by the Taliban insurgency, which has become … Continue reading “Afghan Elections May Be Less Than Free”

Ahead of a crucial International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting, next week, a group of some 50 prominent experts and former foreign-policy officials from the United States and Europe have mooted a deal with Iran on its controversial nuclear program. If Iran agrees to a permanent and verifiable end to its efforts to enrich uranium … Continue reading “Transatlantic Group Calls for Nuclear Deal With Iran”