Updated at 6:40 p.m. EST, Nov. 29, 2006 Today, at least 83 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 61 were wounded in separate incidents across Iraq. Also, U.S. military sources reported on the death of an American soldier from "enemy action" in Anbar province....
Who Makes the Middle East?
A revealing book I have recently read about the present Middle East is Joris Luyendijk's Almost Human. Luyendijk was a Dutch journalist who spent several years (1998-2003) in Arab countries as well as in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, working for two...
Bringing Bush to Court
Keep in mind, I've run TomDispatch.com for only a few years, but I've been a book editor in mainstream publishing for over 30 years. Sometime last spring, I was on the phone with former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega talking about books she might someday...
Congress to Ponder Conscription?
Once again the possibility of reinstating a military draft is being discussed in Washington, and while the idea seems remote, it is not unthinkable. Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel of New York, soon to be a powerful committee chair, has openly called for...
Sanctions: Useless, or Worse Than Useless?
Many foreign policy experts advocate using economic sanctions to motivate foreign governments to change policy. And, while it may be true that many of these governments could improve their countries with policy reforms, history shows that economic coercion doesn't...
‘Kill Them! Kill Everyone!
All of Them!’
During the first Lebanon war, I visited Jounieh, a town some 20 km north of Beirut. At the time, it served as a port for the Christian forces. It was an exciting evening. In spite of the war raging in nearby Beirut, Jounieh was full of life. The Christian elite spent...
Is Putin Being Set Up?
PARIS Whoever poisoned Alexander Litvinenko had two goals: a long and lingering death for the KGB defector and pointing a finger of accusation for his killing right in the face of Vladimir Putin. Which leads me to believe Putin had nothing to do with it. In an...
Tuesday: 76 Iraqis, 1 Marine Killed; 100 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 12:59 a.m. EST, Nov. 29, 2006 As media outlets in the United States debated today over which terms to use to describe the violent situation in Iraq, 76 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 100 wounded. Also, a U.S. Marine was reported killed and the...
Backtalk November 27, 2006
Who Is 'We'? Valid and valued argument in general, but I'm afraid that it becomes slightly irrelevant, considering that 50 percent-plus (of voting American individuals) returned Mr. Bush to the White House barely two years ago are they "innocent victims"? ~...
The Nuking of Alexander Litvinenko
Four major political assassinations with international implications in the past year, three in the last month or so: Rafik Hariri and Pierre Gemayel in Lebanon, and two Russians, Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist, and former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. Is it just...


