Jim Lobe

Was Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet really the last person in Washington to find out that both the president and vice president were being fed phony or “sexed up” intelligence about prewar Iraq by a Pentagon office staffed by ideologically driven neoconservatives? It is highly doubtful, but in his desperate attempt to walk … Continue reading “CIA Chief Clueless on Neocon Intelligence Channel”

US forces in Afghanistan are arbitrarily detaining civilians, using excessive, sometimes lethal force in arresting them, mistreating detainees in ways that may meet international definitions of torture, and administering a system of arrest and detention that is outside the rule of law, according to a blistering new report released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). … Continue reading “US Sets ‘Terrible Example’ in Afghanistan”

An international group of religious and scientific leaders Monday appealed to the United States and all other nuclear states to pledge never to use nuclear weapons and to reaffirm their commitments to achieving total nuclear disarmament. The appeal, which was signed by the head of the U.S. National Council of Churches (NCC) and the president … Continue reading “Religious, Science Groups Urge US to End Nukes”

Despite the sweeping victory of staunchly anti-U.S. conservatives in Iran’s elections last month, analysts here believe the tentative détente between the two countries that began late last year will continue at least through the November U.S. elections. Since January, a series of developments have suggested that neither country is seeking confrontation with the other, in … Continue reading “US-Iran: Ad Hoc Détente to Continue Despite Conservative Sweep”

The Bush administration’s role in facilitating the ouster of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide came under sharp and sustained attack by Democrats in Congress Wednesday, while leaders of the of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) called for an independent investigation into the circumstances that led to his exile aboard a U.S.-chartered jet Sunday. In an unusually rancorous … Continue reading “Democrats Slam Bush Administration over Aristide Ouster”

Amid growing controversy over Washington’s role in persuading Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide to go into exile, human rights groups are strongly criticizing the Bush administration for returning hundreds of fleeing Haitians back to the capital over the weekend. Rights groups are also warning the administration against any move to empower armed rebels whose three-week-old … Continue reading “Rights Groups Slam US Over Haiti”

Aerial spraying of Colombia’s coca crops should be halted because of its harmful impact on local farmers and the environment, and because it is not heaving any impact on the availability of cocaine in the United States, three NGOs argue on the eve of the State Department’s release of its annual report of countries cooperating … Continue reading “US-Colombia Coca Eradication Called Destructive, Futile”

Three days before the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) is due to ratify a Fundamental Law to guide the country’s transition until a permanent constitution can be drafted, 16 Democratic members of Congress have asked President Bush to urgently clarify its strategy for guaranteeing the rights of Iraqi women. While commending Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) chief … Continue reading “US Lawmakers Express Concern Over Threats to Women’s Rights in Iraq”

If Walter Lippman, perhaps the most influential U.S. press critic and foreign-policy columnist of the 20th century, were alive today, chances are he would shake his head knowingly and mutter something like, “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.” (“The more things change, the more they remain the same.”) After all, it was in … Continue reading “‘Plus Ça Change’ – NY Times Hit for WMD Gullibility”

Releasing its annual “Country Reports” on human rights practices around the world Wednesday, the U.S. State Department claimed Afghanistan and Iraq as two major breakthroughs in an otherwise bleak human rights picture. In an introductory overview, the report singled out several countries for poorer performances during 2003, including China, North Korea, Burma, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Belarus … Continue reading “State Department Reports Paint Dismal Human Rights Picture”