Category: Uncategorized

UNITED NATIONS – A group of U.S.-based human rights and trade union activists is urging the United Nations to investigate the alleged killings of innocent civilians by its peacekeeping troops in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince last week. The activists, who were dispatched to Haiti by the San Francisco Labour Council early this month to … Continue reading “Group Charges Massacre in UN Raid”

I have to wonder what George Bush must be thinking as Iraq’s elected Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari readies for his trip next week to Iran. I wonder if he’s surprised that the two countries have recently inked a deal to have the Iranian government train the new Iraqi Army and to send grain to Iraq, … Continue reading “Iraq and Iran: Still the Axis of Evil?”

Back in the 1950’s comedienne Carol Burnett made her name as a nightclub performer with a song called “I Made a Fool of Myself Over John Foster Dulles.” Americans had a big laugh over the spectacle of a celebrated entertainer singing a love song about U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower’s Cold War secretary of state and … Continue reading “The Unbearable Lightness of Being ‘Condi’”

London Terror MysteryAwesome piece! I have one significant bone to pick; and that is the absence of analysis of the splits within Israel. These splits are as (in?)significant as those between neocons, paleocons and CIA/State Dept./Clinton/Scowcrofts. I believe that the appropriate way to look at this entire crisis is as a significant realignment of a … Continue reading “Backtalk, July 15, 2005”

I don’t remember how long I have been using Leon Hadar for his insights into the Middle East and the complications engendered by the prolonged and increasingly aggressive American interventions – indeed, as Leon puts it, the ongoing efforts to establish the United States as the hegemonic power – in that endemically troubled region. The … Continue reading “In Search of a New Middle Eastern Paradigm”

KARACHI – Prominent citizens in this country are calling for a deeper understanding of the complex situation that led to the July 7 London bombings as British police confirmed that three of the bombers were of Pakistani descent and probably trained here or in neighboring Afghanistan. Noted political commentator and author A.R. Siddiqui said he … Continue reading “Pakistan Analysts Link London Blasts to Afghanistan”

Until very recently, an article titled "Hunt for Cops" might have described a city’s effort to recruit more police officers. Sadly, that was not the message of an article in the July 3, 2005, Cleveland Plain Dealer, my hometown newspaper. "Residents of the capital of the poor and chaotic Russian province of Dagestan have come … Continue reading “Hunting for Cops”

Concerns about "Islamic extremism" and disapproval over violence motivated by it are growing in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries, according to a major new survey that also found declining support for Osama bin Laden in most of the Islamic world, with the exception of Jordan and Pakistan. The survey, released here Thursday by the Pew … Continue reading “‘Islamic Extremism’ Alienates Most in Muslim World”

The U.S. Army general widely considered the architect of abusive prisoner interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and detention centers in Afghanistan used "creative" and "aggressive" tactics, but did not practice torture or violate law or Pentagon policy, the head of the U.S. Southern Command has determined. Despite the recommendations of military investigators, Maj. … Continue reading “Abuse Probes End With Single Reprimand”

What if Karl Rove isn’t guilty of knowingly leaking Valerie Plame‘s name as a covert CIA agent involved in nuclear proliferation issues? What if Rove’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, is correct when he says that he’s been assured by prosecutors that his client is not a target of the ongoing investigation into Plame-gate? I’m going to … Continue reading “Rove-gate: Who Leaked
to the Leakers?”