Category: Uncategorized

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous," President Bush said as he emerged from talks with European Union leaders. Ridiculous? Let’s hope so. For, according to Sirus Naseri, a senior member of Iran’s delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency, whose Board of Governors meets next week … Continue reading “Bye-Bye, NPT; Hello, Mushroom Cloud”

Last week, India spelled out its emerging thinking and policy toward its neighbors in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). In a public speech, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran – the chief of the Indian diplomatic service – announced a more assertive approach, to which economic cooperation, leading to a South Asian common market, … Continue reading “India Talks Down to Its Neighbors”

The acquisition of a nuclear warhead by any country, whether a friend or foe of the United States, is a development of not merely military significance. Instead it necessarily has immense political importance both to a domestic audience and on a wider international stage: the bomb helped India to shake off feelings of post-colonial inferiority, … Continue reading “Why Israel Really Fears Iranian Nukes, Part Two”

President Bush will hail his trip to Europe as a resounding success. He hails everything he does as a resounding success regardless of the evidence to the contrary. All politicians do that. Lest you be spun by the spin, note that he comes home with only one tangible result – an agreement by NATO to … Continue reading “Don’t Be Spun by the Spin”

When newly appointed CIA Director Porter Goss recently warned that China’s modernization of its military posed a direct threat to the U.S., was it standard budget time scare tactics? Or did it signal the growing influence of hard-liners in the Bush administration who want to "contain" China and re-institute the Cold War in Asia? A … Continue reading “Cornering the Dragon: Bad Idea”

  Listen to Scott’s interview with Brian Doherty stream download mp3     It’s clear at this point in the history of our nation that the national government is not limited in any serious way by the restrictions placed upon it in the Constitution. The limited republic envisioned by the founders has given way to … Continue reading “Man, Technology and State”

OTTAWA (IPS) – Bowing to pressure from the public and his own parliamentary colleagues, Canada’s prime minister has risked the ire of the Bush administration by rejecting Canadian participation in Washington’s ballistic missile defense (BMD) system. Prime Minister Paul Martin made the announcement Thursday, although Canadian officials said Bush was informed earlier this week at … Continue reading “Relations Take Another Hit as Canada Rejects U.S. Missile Shield”

BEIRUT – Ever since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri earlier this month, the radical Shi’ite group Hezbollah has been much sought after by politicians opposed to the Syrian presence. Hezbollah, a group that few took seriously when it was created with the help of Iran and Syria in early 1980s, is … Continue reading “Hezbollah May Hold the Key in Lebanon”

“Stopping Iran short of achieving a nuclear weapons capability – by diplomacy if possible; by other means, if necessary – is a vital U.S. interest.” That’s essentially the message President Bush has been laying on the Europeans, but it’s actually a conclusion contained in a report just issued by the Washington Institute for Near East … Continue reading “Not Another Osiraq”

Senator Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, is on a collision course with President George W. Bush over how much leeway should be given to intelligence agencies and law enforcement to wage their "war on terror." Feingold has introduced three bills to limit provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, legislation passed shortly after the Sep. 11, … Continue reading “Senator Seeks to Curb Controversial PATRIOT Act”