Category: Uncategorized

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe the United States government would react with anything but unmitigated outrage if 500 to 750 demonstrators in, say, Russia, had been mowed down in cold blood by government troops. Yet here we have in Uzbekistan the biggest massacre since Tiananmen Square, and the Americans are saying… … Continue reading “Uzbekistan: The Revolution Betrayed”

Taken by surprise by the sudden and unexpectedly bloody repression in Uzbekistan, the administration of President George W. Bush appears to be backing away from its initial, reflexive support for its authoritarian ally in the war against terrorism, Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Echoing Karimov himself, the White House expressed particular concern about the escape of … Continue reading “US Caught Up Short by Uzbekistan Violence”

The popular uprising and subsequent crackdown by government troops that left hundreds dead in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan confirm the international community’s concern over human rights violations in this central Asian nation. According to Nozima Kamalova, chairwoman of the Uzbekistan Legal Aid Society – one of the country’s leading human rights organizations – … Continue reading “Uzbek Uprising Triggered by Rights Violations, Say Activists”

Bush to Finish Clinton Intervention During last year’s electoral campaign, John Kerry’s camp turned to Bill Clinton’s policymakers to offer a "new" strategy of aggression in the Balkans as a way of discounting the botched Babylon operation. Kerry lost, and for a moment it seemed that the Balkans intervention lobby went down with him. Sadly, … Continue reading “Back to Kosovo”

Not a day goes by in Washington without a smug official or a snooty U.S. columnist delivering a long and tedious sermon to officials in Beijing or Moscow. The Chinese and the Russians are told sternly by the Americans how to behave themselves – that is, if they really, really want to become “full members” … Continue reading “Spare Russia and China the Sermons”

"It [the Koran] is the great visceral connector that makes all Muslims feel that there is a community between them. … For Muslims, dissing the Koran is the hot button of all hot buttons." – Lee Harris, May 12, 20051 One need not be a Pollyanna to find a bright spot in an otherwise negative … Continue reading “A Fire Bell in the Night for the West?”

Nineteen years ago, Mordechai Vanunu, a technician at the secret nuclear weapons production facility at Dimona in Israel, did something that he was right to do, something that others with his knowledge of Israel’s nuclear activities and their implications for Israeli security and democracy and for world order should have done earlier, or later. He … Continue reading “Vanunu Deserves Our Thanks”

Here’s a question for international news hounds. Who is the “son of a bitch” referred to in this comment by a U.S. Defense Department spokesman? “People are dead because of what this son of a bitch said. How could he be credible now?” Is he an unnamed Defense Department source who told Newsweek magazine that … Continue reading “Who’s the S.O.B.?”

GUSH KATIF, Gaza Strip – Israel’s government last week postponed the implementation of its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip for three weeks, ostensibly to take into account an annual Jewish period of mourning. One look around the settlements and a few conversations with some people there confirm what has been mooted as an alternative explanation … Continue reading “Gaza Moves Into Unsettling Times”

The FBI’s decision in early May to arrest Lawrence Franklin, the Pentagon analyst accused of disclosing classified information about U.S. forces in Iraq, has put in the spotlight the work of an influential pro-Israel lobbying outfit, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), as well as its many supporters in and outside government, including Paul … Continue reading “What’s ‘American’ About the American Israel Public Affairs Committee?”