Backtalk November 20, 2006

The Mugging of Murtha Damn bad news about your ailing fundraising! Real change in U.S./coalition policies seems as unlikely as ever. In my humble opinion, the only way change will happen is via the U.S. citizenry acting in enlightened self-interest and saving lots of...

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Milton Friedman: A Tribute

"In the course of his [General Westmoreland's] testimony, he made the statement that he did not want to command an army of mercenaries. I [Milton Friedman] stopped him and said, 'General, would you rather command an army of slaves?' He drew himself up and said, 'I...

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Iraqi Education Under Siege

with Ali Al-Fadhily BAGHDAD (IPS) – The recent kidnapping of scores of academics in Baghdad highlights the desperate situation of the educational system in occupied Iraq. Armed men wearing Iraqi police uniforms abducted as many as 150 academics from the Ministry...

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Military Plea Bargains Raise Questions of Justice

Four of the U.S. soldiers on trial for the murder of a disabled Iraqi man have reached plea bargains with military prosecutors, drastically minimizing the time they will spend in jail. In June, the Pentagon announced that a group of Marines went to the home of the...

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Hollow Visions of Palestine’s Future

David Grossman's widely publicized speech at the annual memorial rally for Yitzhak Rabin earlier this month has prompted some fine deconstruction of his "words of peace" from critics. Grossman, one of Israel's foremost writers and a figurehead for its main...

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Al-Jazeera and the Truth

Al-Jazeera, the Arab television network that the Bush administration hates so passionately, has launched its English-language service but is, of course, having trouble finding an American cable or satellite system willing to carry it. The British Broadcasting Corp....

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The Korea, Vietnam, Iraq Syndrome

"Two, Three, Many Vietnams!" was Che Guevara's famous call to arms. Today we remain in the throes of our third Vietnam, Iraq. This is the third time since World War II that hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops have been sent abroad in a neo-colonialist war...

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Is the Next Congress For Sale?

You may recall that shortly after taking office as Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert came to our nation’s capital to pay tribute to his presumptive protector, President George Bush, and to address a joint session of what some cynics have labeled "The Best...

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Locals Accuse US of Massacre in Ramadi

with Ali al-Fadhily RAMADI - U.S. military tank fire killed scores of civilians in Ramadi, capital of Al-Anbar province, late Monday night, according to witnesses and doctors. Anger and frustration were evident at the hospitals and during the funerals in the following...

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