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While the original pretext offered to the Australian people for the invasion and occupation of Iraq was the presence of weapons of mass destruction and their certain use against Western targets, the justification has now moved from the pragmatic to the ideological. As Prime Minister Howard has repeatedly articulated, the project is now one of … Continue reading “Forcing Square Pegs Into Round Holes”

After a brief, frenetic political battle between the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) and the U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority, both parties on Tuesday named Sheikh Ghazi Al-Yawar president of Iraq’s newly formed interim government. Yesterday UN representative Lakhdar Brahimi and U.S. administrator Paul Bremer announced that they favored Adnan Pachachi for the presidential slot, while IGC … Continue reading “New Iraqi President Holds Tentative Grassroots Respect, Little Power”

A U.S.-based company with close links to members of the Iraqi Governing Council has been re-awarded a lucrative supply deal by the U.S. Army. Virginia-based Nour USA was originally granted a $327 million contract to supply the new Iraqi military and Civil Defense Forces in January, according to New York Newsday. That decision was soon … Continue reading “Chalabi Pal Gets Iraq Contract”

CARACAS (IPS) – Venezuela will hold a recall vote for President Hugo Chávez, it was confirmed Thursday, after the election authorities announced that the opposition had gathered enough signatures to trigger a referendum. The valid signatures total at least 2.451 million, according to the National Electoral Council. That exceeds the minimum of 2.436 million, or … Continue reading “Recall Qualifies: Regime Change Imminent in Venezuela?”

Last Wednesday it was Attorney General John Ashcroft – joined Friday by me-too Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge – claiming that “credible intelligence from multiple sources indicates that al-Qaeda plans to attempt an attack on the United States” between now and the November election. If “credible intelligence” sounds to you like protesting too much, there … Continue reading “Beware of ‘Credible Intelligence’”

CAIRO (IPS) – Egypt has presented a security initiative to support an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but wants to avoid being drawn into a “security trap.” The initiative calls for a bilateral ceasefire agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis, and the resumption of negotiations aimed at implementing the stalled roadmap peace plan. Egypt … Continue reading “Egypt Eager to Help Israel Out of Gaza”

TEHRAN (IPS) – While foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi has rejected claims that Iran received highly classified U.S. intelligence from Ahmad Chalabi, other government officials and the hardline newspapers that support them have remained largely silent on the allegations Washington has leveled against its former top Iraqi ally. The various mouthpieces of Supreme Leader … Continue reading “Despite US Backlash, Chalabi Still a ‘Kingmaker’”

Recorded May 22, 2004 A “Philip Dru” interview with Lt. Col. (ret.) Karen Kwiatkowski. Kwiatkowski spent her final four and a half years in uniform working at the Pentagon, where she was privy to much neoconservative chicanery in the run-up to war. She writes for LewRockwell.com WMV format (requires Windows Media Player) MP3 format (download … Continue reading “An Insider’s Look at the March to War”

While Iraqi and American political players have been frenetically rearranging the chairs of interim government members on the Titanic that is occupied Iraq today, a massive car bomb explosion rumbles my hotel, miles from where it detonated outside of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan building near the so-called Green Zone. So rather than celebratory gunfire … Continue reading “New President, New Car Bomb”

It had to happen, sooner or later, or else the irony would not be complete: news has emerged this week that oil has been discovered in Bosnia. Granted, the find is nowhere near as big as the Middle Eastern fields, but given the precious liquid’s current paucity in the world, chances are it will be … Continue reading “Once More, With Irony”