Category: Uncategorized

SANA’A, Yemen – The Yemeni government, which has condemned the abduction of journalists and aid workers in Iraq, itself stands accused now of "abducting" journalists and trying to silence them. Abdel-Karim al-Khiwani, chief editor of the daily al-Shoura, was picked up by the "terrorism department" last month and later sentenced by a court to a … Continue reading “Yemen’s Detention of Journalists Provokes a Struggle”

NORTHERN GAZA STRIP – The rapidly mounting civilian death toll as a result of Israel’s massive offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip is deepening hatred and may lead to continuing cycles of bloodshed, Palestinian politicians and human rights activists in Gaza say. The number of fatalities has crossed 80 over eight days of … Continue reading “Gaza Offensive Deepening Hatred”

Banking is difficult during the National Holiday in China. For seven days, everybody is on vacation – everybody. Cooks and old bearded cardboard collectors still do their routines, but their relatives are coming through from afar and filling the apartment up with shouts and covering the floor with sunflower seeds. All accountants are in Yunnan. … Continue reading “Riding the Tiger”

It’s not an if, it’s a when. Pentagon officials have indicated that they plan to send as many as 15,000 more troops to Iraq during the first four months of 2005, and President Bush continues to insist that "we will stay the course" until Iraq is stabilized. Where will the additional troops come from? The … Continue reading “Not Enough Troops – or Truth”

Sidelined by their failed predictions for Iraq and President George W. Bush’s efforts to reassure voters he is not a warmonger, prominent neoconservatives and their Christian Right allies are nonetheless trying hard to prepare the ground for future U.S. adventures in the Middle East. Echoing increasingly threatening noises from the government of Israeli Prime Minister … Continue reading “Sidelined Neocons Stoke Future Fires”

Some will argue that the events of this week are encouraging cynicism about their leaders among the American public. What is much more striking is the cynicism displayed by the leaders when they were in the midst of selling a policy of invading an internationally-recognized sovereign country that had neither invaded nor threatened its neighbors … Continue reading “Season of Cynicism”

Amid the back-and-forth between the Bushies and the Kerry camp, one campaign season fusillade has gone largely unnoticed. Fundie nut-job Pat Robertson exposed the real heart and soul of his movement of moonbats the other day at a news conference in Jerusalem, where he threatened to withdraw his support from the GOP: "’The President has … Continue reading “Larry Franklin’s October Surprise”

First, the CIA comes out and says it can’t find any convincing evidence that Saddam Hussein harbored Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi’s presence at certain points in Iraq has long been argued as a proof of his links to terrorism and al-Qaeda (even though Zarqawi’s Monotheism and Jihad is a bitter rival of al-Qaeda rather than … Continue reading “WMD Myth Meant to Deter Iran”

BAGHDAD – As proponents of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq constantly assert, not everything taking place in the "New Iraq" is bad news. Indeed, there are people trying to make the best of a nightmarish situation. Here are a few of their stories. Generations of Artists Kareema al-Husseini was standing in a spacious room surrounded … Continue reading “Iraq: Making the Most of a Bad Situation”

BANGKOK – One of Asia’s most colorful monarchs, Cambodia‘s King Norodom Sihanouk, has plunged his country into a constitutional crisis following Thursday’s announcement that he is abdicating. The 82-year-old king’s decision was revealed on the day he was due back in the country from China, where he has been in self-imposed exile since the beginning … Continue reading “Sihanouk’s Abdication Catches Nation by Surprise”