Jim Lobe

Wednesday’s appointment by U.S. President George W. Bush of his longtime friend, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, as the next attorney general puts Democrats and civil-rights activists in something of a quandary. Gonzales, who, if confirmed, will replace John Ashcroft, widely considered to have been one of the most right-wing members of Bush’s cabinet, is … Continue reading “Bush Pick for Attorney General Bedevils Foes”

The biggest source of speculation about President George W. Bush’s foreign policy in a second term is if it will continue on the same aggressive trajectory that marked the first, or whether, chastened by Iraq, it will be more restrained over the next four years. Much will, of course, depend on who will get which … Continue reading “Springtime for Spooks?”

Four months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prisoners held at a special jail at Guantanamo Bay in the U.S. "war on terrorism" have the right to challenge their detention to an independent forum, the legal process appears far from fair, according to human rights groups. New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) last week … Continue reading “Legal Know-How Absent at Gitmo?”

With Monday’s launch of "Operation Phantom Fury" to regain control of the key insurgent-dominated Sunni city of Fallujah, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush appears to be moving toward another "phantom victory" in its broader quest to achieve a stable, pro-Western Iraq. While experts here are united in the conviction that the 10,000-15,000 … Continue reading “Phantom Fury, Phantom Victory”

An influential foreign-policy neoconservative with long-standing ties to top hawks in the administration of President George W. Bush has laid out what he calls "a checklist of the work the world will demand of this president and his subordinates in a second term." The list, which begins with the destruction of Fallujah in Iraq and … Continue reading “Neocon Agenda: Iran, China, Russia, Latin America…”

UN agencies and humanitarian groups are warning that the security situation in the conflict-ridden Darfur region of Sudan is deteriorating amid reports that government forces may be forcing displaced people (DP) to return to their homes. The new alarm was triggered by the government’s closure to relief groups Tuesday of several camps in western and … Continue reading “Security in Darfur Deteriorating”

Crucial evidence of alleged human rights abuses that could be used in upcoming trials of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his top aides has apparently been lost or damaged due to U.S. neglect, says a report released Thursday. While charges continue to fly that U.S.-led coalition forces failed to secure stockpiles of arms and … Continue reading “US Lost Evidence of Saddam’s Abuses”

More evidence of a major failure by the Bush administration to adequately prepare for the possibility of insurgency in postwar Iraq has surfaced amid claims by some rebels that they have acquired chemical weapons and are preparing to use them against U.S. forces in the besieged Sunni stronghold of Fallujah. The claims, which come on … Continue reading “Rising Concerns About Insurgents’ Weaponry”

U.S. President George W. Bush is fortunate indeed that so much of the electorate has already made up its mind on its vote next Tuesday, because this week’s news from the "war on terrorism" has been unrelentingly bad. While the apparent looting – apparently right after last year’s U.S.-led invasion – of nearly 400 tons … Continue reading “Halloween Tidings From the ‘War on Terror’”

WASHINGTON – The United States has failed to meaningfully change its policies on the treatment of prisoners, opening the door to repeats of abuses like those at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and making an independent probe into torture by the U.S. military essential, says a leading human rights group. In a 200-page report released Wednesday, … Continue reading “Amnesty: No Change in US Torture Policy”