In terms of losses in human lives, 2014 has been a horrific year for Palestinians, surpassing the horrors of both 2008 and 2009, when an Israeli war against the Gaza Strip killed and wounded thousands. While some aspects of the conflict are stagnating between a...
The Senate Select Intelligence Committee report on torture has revived debate worldwide about the United States’ use of torture in the aftermath of 9/11. Some have applauded the report – including organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the Center for...
On December 10 – International Human Rights Day – Takeshi Onaga began his term as the new governor of Okinawa. Last month, the citizens of Okinawa delivered a landslide victory to Onaga, who ran on a platform opposing the construction of a new US Marine...
On the news talk shows, everyone is talking about torture – mostly defending the Bush’s administration’s hysterical actions after the 9/11 attacks. Granted, 9/11 was a searing experience for the general public, which wanted action in retaliation. However, it is the...
Originally posted at TomDispatch. So many years and wars later, it’s easy to forget what a total television hit the first Gulf War of 1991 was. Just in case you no longer remember – and why should you? – that was the war that was to bury America’s defeat in Vietnam...
President Obama has taken a bold and surprising step toward ending the futile 50 year US embargo of Cuba. The president announced he would begin normalizing relations, including upgrading the diplomatic mission in Havana to embassy status. The president also said he...
I trust I was not alone in seeing irony in President Barack Obama’s public chiding of Sony on Friday for caving in to hacker demands to cancel distribution of its comedy “The Interview” – about a fictional CIA plot to assassinate North Korea’s real-life leader Kim...
