Category: Uncategorized

Iran’s Nuclear Program In 2002 Iran announced plans to build six nuclear power stations. As a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran can buy and operate centrifuges and other equipment needed for enriching uranium as long as it only uses the devices for nuclear power. NPT rules require that inspectors from the International … Continue reading “An End to Ambiguity: US Counter-Proliferation from Tel Aviv to Tehran”

"Have they all drunk the Kool-Aid?" asked a former CIA colleague, referring to the stampede to appoint a new director and radically restructure the intelligence community. The Kool-Aid allusion was to the "groupthink" that led disciples of self-anointed "messiah" Jim Jones to mass suicide via poisoned Kool-Aid in 1978. Attorney General John Ashcroft warned on … Continue reading “Gossing Over the Record”

BAGHDAD – Since the fall of Saddam Hussein and his dictatorial regime last year, one of the clearest signs that a new Iraq is born is the flourishing media business. But their coverage, and that of international Arabic-language satellite channels such as al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera, has been subject to much debate. U.S. and many Iraqi … Continue reading “Unfettered Iraqi Media Denies Being Biased”

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognizes the “inalienable right” of all signatories to “the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information” related to the “use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.” That means that Iran has the “inalienable right” to acquire nuclear reactors or uranium-enrichment centrifuges from Russia. On the other … Continue reading “North Korea Nuke Mess Made by Bush”

Behind a recent, highly controversial indictment by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Bush administration is maneuvering to revive military ties with the Indonesian Army (TNI), one of the world’s most oppressive institutions. In late June, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft convinced a federal grand jury to indict Anthonius Wamang for a 2002 ambush in … Continue reading “Indonesia: US Underwriting Terrorism?”

BEIJING – Two high-profile envoys of the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, have arrived in China amidst hopes that their visit could lead to a substantive dialogue with the Chinese government after tentative behind-the-scenes contacts in recent months. The Dalai Lama is said to seek assurances from Beijing that it would not … Continue reading “Dalai Lama’s Overtures to Seek Tibet Solution”

BRUSSELS – The European Union and some of its largest member states have reaffirmed their support for Iraq this week under the gaze of Iraq’s interim President Ghazi al-Yawar and amid rising tensions in the country. Top European Union (EU) officials have offered their support – both financial and political – for Iraq during a … Continue reading “Iraqi President Finds Friends in Europe”

NABLUS – The narrow streets amid the breeze-block shacks of the Balata refugee camp on the edge of the large West Bank City of Nablus have been a focus of Palestinian militancy throughout the current Intifada (uprising) that was triggered four years ago. Balata is the birth place of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the … Continue reading “Hezbollah Active Among Palestinians”

In Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky suggested that our leaders, facing the choice in the book’s title, might well opt for hegemony over survival. “There is ample historical precedent,” he wrote, “for the willingness of leaders to threaten or resort to violence in the face of significant risk of catastrophe. But the stakes are far … Continue reading “Hegemony or Survival?”

After weeks of hurricanes and controversies over swift boats in Vietnam and Texas and Alabama National Guard records, Iraq is beginning to creep back onto the front pages, and the news is uniformly bad. Consider some of the headlines in major newspapers that appeared on their front pages on Wednesday alone: Wall Street Journal: "Rebel … Continue reading “Growing Consensus That Iraq Is Hopeless”