Jim Lobe

This time a year ago, U.S. forces had just pulled former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from his “spider hole” near the Euphrates River, and top military commanders were trumpeting the crippling of the unanticipated deadly insurgency that bedeviled the U.S. occupation for months. The administration of President George W. Bush was also jubilant, stressing, somewhat … Continue reading “Bye, Bye Unipolar World”

Parents of three U.S. soldiers killed in the war in Iraq are on their way to that country as part of a humanitarian mission aimed at showing a different face of the United States to Iraqis displaced by fierce fighting in Fallujah. Along with representatives of several antiwar groups, including San Francisco-based Global Exchange, CodePink, … Continue reading “Bereaved Parents Lead Humanitarian Trip to Iraq”

One of the oldest U.S. overseas relief organizations has called for the United States to immediately withdraw from Iraq in light of the continuing carnage and Washington’s failure to restore basic services or revive the country’s economy. The statement by the Philadelphia-based American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) came a day after U.S. forces suffered their … Continue reading “US Relief Group Calls for Iraq Withdrawal”

While President George W. Bush’s November reelection topped the Associated Press‘ (AP) annual listing of the top 10 news stories for 2004, the other leading choices suggested that the news media might have helped him in his quest. The list, which reflected the votes of 234 national and local editors, news directors, and similar "gatekeepers," … Continue reading “Terrorism Shaped 2004 News Agenda”

A heavyweight group of mostly neoconservative hawks has published a new proposal for Iran policy that relies heavily on “peaceful” strategies to achieve regime change, such as those used by Washington since the 1980s in Central and Eastern Europe, most recently in Serbia and Ukraine. The group, the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD), targets … Continue reading “Hawks Plan ‘Peaceful’ Regime Change in Iran”

Iran’s judiciary has threatened Internet journalists with torture and prison if they do not renounce accusations that authorities abused members of the electronic media and dissidents who were rounded up months ago. According to New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), the chief prosecutor of Tehran, Judge Saeed Mortazavi, threatened three recently released detainees with severe … Continue reading “Iran Tries to Quell Internet Media Wave”

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) e-mails released Monday by a civil liberties group provide new details of abuses committed by U.S. military personnel in Iraq and at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, including one note that alluded, possibly incorrectly, to a White House order permitting a number of contentious techniques. The e-mails make … Continue reading “FBI E-Mails Reveal More Abuses in Iraq, Cuba”

U.S. President George W. Bush is not known for his love either of books or of history. Nonetheless, he has frequently been compared to two former presidents who were both avid readers and even writers of history – Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Both former leaders also figure large in the historical imagination of some … Continue reading “History Debunks Bush Myth”

Just when it appeared that Syria was complying in earnest with U.S. demands to secure its border with Iraq and even making unprecedented peace overtures to Israel, key neoconservative opinion-shapers are calling on President George W. Bush to take stronger measures against Damascus, possibly including military action. The media campaign was launched last week, when … Continue reading “Are They Serious About Syria?”

Abuses and even torture of Iraqi detainees by U.S. Marines have been widespread, according to U.S. Navy documents released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Among the worst was a June 2003 case in which four Iraqi juveniles were forced to kneel while a pistol was “discharged to conduct a mock execution,” according … Continue reading “New Revelations Indicate Abuse Was Systemic”