Understanding the US Torture State
The United States and Torture: Interrogation, Incarceration, and Abuse edited by Marjorie Cohn (New York University Press: 2011), 342 pages. When I was a child in Reagan's America, a common theme in Cold War rhetoric was that the Soviets tortured people and detained...
Northern Province Declares Autonomy As Dozens are Killed, Wounded in Baghdad Attacks
Updated at 5:09 p.m. EDT, Oct. 28, 2010
As one northern province complained of Baghdad’s overeach by symbolically declaring its autonomy, insurgents used deadlier means to send a signal to the Iraqi government. At least 46 Iraqis were killed and 106 more were wounded in attacks that occurred mostly in the capital.
read moreMadison and Jefferson Were UnPATRIOTic
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.” - Thomas Jefferson As a history teacher, I spend a great deal of time with the Founding Fathers, and, as an American citizen, I was raised to see them, their ideas, and the...
Obama Declares Victory, but Will It Win Votes?
Over two years ago, President Barack Obama, who had campaigned declaring that Iraq was an unnecessary war, doubled down on the war that he declared to be a vital interest, Afghanistan. Today, the United States is departing Iraq and Obama is acting like it is his...
Iraq: Sistani Representative Attacked While Bombs Rattle Mosul
A triple bombing in Mosul may have left the most casualties today, but a bombing in Hilla is the most significant. The second attack targeted a man working for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top cleric and possibly the most powerful man in Iraq. Overall, at least 16 Iraqis were killed and 36 more were wounded across the country. Also, three Iranian pilgrims were wounded in an attack in Diyala province.
read moreUN Tally Excluded Most Afghan Civilian Deaths in Night Raids
WASHINGTON/KABUL — A July United Nations report asserting that only 30 civilians died in targeted raids in Afghanistan during the first six months of 2011 reflected only a very small fraction of night raids in which civilians were killed, according to officials of the...
American Arrogance Accidentally Leads to Good Outcome
The Iraqi government, sensitive to its public’s perception that occupying U.S. forces have run roughshod over the indigenous population, refused to give immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law for any future lawbreaking by the occupier’s soldiers. The United States...
Why Governments Make War
Why is the US involved in endless war around the world? Why, for that matter, do nations – or, rather, their governments – act the way they do? The number of answers is no doubt nearly equal to the number of questioners. It’s all about economics, say...
Attacks Against Iraqi Security Forces Continue
Updated at 9:44 p.m. EDT Oct. 25, 2011
Attacks targeting security personnel continued across Iraq today, where they left eight Iraqis dead and 27 more wounded. Also, one U.S. soldier died of non-hostile causes in Tallil, and another U.S. soldier supporting Operation New Dawn died of an illness in Texas. Meanwhile, about 500-1000 Turkish troops may have entered northern Iraq, chasing after Kurdish rebels. No casualties have been reported yet, but the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) says that some fighting already occurred. Turkey denied the incursion.
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