Jim Lobe

Steadily growing military aid to Latin America and Caribbean nations encourages armed forces in those countries to "blur the lines" between the roles of the civilian and military, according to a report released this week. U.S. military aid to the region has risen sharply since 2000, according to the report, which noted that even during … Continue reading “US Military Aid to Latin America Grows”

Is there anything at all left of the Bush administration’s case for going to war in Iraq or, for that matter, the way it has been fought? The answer seems increasingly doubtful given what appears to be an accelerating cascade of news, leaks and admissions by senior administration officials over the past several weeks. Consider … Continue reading “Bush’s Case for War Crumbles”

In the most important test of his presidential aspirations to date, Democratic candidate John Kerry clearly bested the incumbent, President George W. Bush, in Thursday night’s debate on foreign policy, according to pundits and public-opinion polls taken after the two men walked off the stage at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. But … Continue reading “Even Neocons Agree: Kerry Won Debate”

Insufficient security forces and a lack of election observers, combined with regional warlords backed by the United States, continue to threaten the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan, says a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). Local citizens feel the warlords pose a greater threat to their safety than forces of the former ruling Taliban, … Continue reading “US-Backed Warlords Threaten Afghan Elections”

Three years of the Bush administration’s "war on terrorism" appears to have reduced the appetite of the U.S. public and its leaders for unilateral military engagements, according to a major survey released Tuesday by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (CCFR). Indeed, the survey, the latest in a quadrennial series going back to 1974, found … Continue reading “Poll Finds a Nation Chastened by War”

The reason why Washington is having such a difficult time persuading others of its good faith and its good works in the “war on terror” was best illustrated Tuesday this week. While President George W. Bush told the UN General Assembly that the U.S. belief in “human dignity” – a phrase he used no less … Continue reading “Human Dignity, Crazy Mike, and Indian Country”

In his sharpest attack on U.S. policy on Iraq to date, Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry Monday accused President George W. Bush of having made “a series of catastrophic decisions” that has created a “crisis of historic proportions” both in Iraq and in the wider “war on terror.” Speaking at New York University, just blocks … Continue reading “Kerry Echoes GOP Senators on Iraq War”

A team of 20 independent democracy experts from 15 countries and five continents has arrived in the United States in order to observe this year’s presidential election campaign. The election monitors, who have been brought here by the San Francisco activist group Global Exchange, will be fanning out in the coming days initially to research … Continue reading “US to Get a Taste of Its Own Medicine in November Elections”

After weeks of hurricanes and controversies over swift boats in Vietnam and Texas and Alabama National Guard records, Iraq is beginning to creep back onto the front pages, and the news is uniformly bad. Consider some of the headlines in major newspapers that appeared on their front pages on Wednesday alone: Wall Street Journal: "Rebel … Continue reading “Growing Consensus That Iraq Is Hopeless”

Despite the worsening situation in Iraq and the continued impasse between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. President George W. Bush has cut Sen. John Kerry’s previously substantial lead among Arab-American voters in four key swing states, according to a new survey released here Wednesday. As recently as July, Kerry led Bush by better than a … Continue reading “Bush Gains on Kerry for Arab-American Vote”