Category: Uncategorized

This week, Undersecretary of State John Bolton will demand that the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) refer to the UN Security Council for possible punishment the "failure" of Iran to promptly disclose its production – during experiments conducted at Lashkar Ab’ad between October 2002 and January 2003 – of milligram … Continue reading “South Korea Rains on Bolton’s Parade”

Perhaps you’re paying attention to the increasingly annoying presidential campaign, in which the nearly lost art of distinguishing typewriter fonts may prove decisive, and it just didn’t register; or maybe you were too focused on the latest developments in the Scott Peterson murder trial, and it slipped beneath your radar. My theory is that Zell … Continue reading “While You Weren’t Looking …”

Three weeks after initially suggesting the U.S.-created "Fallujah Brigade" had long since served its purpose, and one week after a clash between Brigade members and U.S. Marines left four Iraqis dead, American and Iraqi officials announced the official dissolution of the controversial unit Saturday, the LA Times reports. But as U.S. pilots continue to bombard … Continue reading “Fallujah Brigade Disbanded After Joining the Resistance”

There is nothing very complicated or mysterious about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Never trust those who present it as an extremely complex issue, with endless political, historical, religious and cultural repercussions, on which you cannot take an informed stand without a Ph.D. in history and three decades of political activity for AIPAC. It’s quite simple: the … Continue reading “Back to Indirect Occupation?”

CANBERRA – In the wake of last week’s suicide bombing at the gates of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has deftly shifted debate in the federal election campaign for the Oct. 9 polls onto his publicly perceived strong points on anti-terrorism measures and national security. Following a widely publicized weekend … Continue reading “Jakarta Blast Dominates Aussie Campaign”

Sometimes the perverse consequences of federal government policies and programs are evident immediately and sometimes they take a bit longer. For example, at the end of World War I, statists, imperialists, and interventionists were in ecstasy over the U.S. intervention, proudly claiming that the loss of more than 100,000 American deaths was worth the conquest … Continue reading “Another Perverse Consequence of the “War on Terrorism””

BAGHDAD – Armed groups and foreign terrorists have established new camps in central Iraq as government forces attack rebels in the north and south, officials say. The reports follow an admission by U.S. central command chief Gen. John Abizaid that there are more areas in Iraq under rebel control today than there were last year. … Continue reading “Iraqi Rebels Expand Area of Control”

According to the geniuses who misled Americans into supporting the war against Iraq, the fighting should have been over a long time ago. The dancing in the streets should have long ago blossomed into a democracy Thomas Jefferson would have been proud of. The soothing effects should have spread throughout the Middle East. Unfortunately, reality … Continue reading “Debased Citizenship”

Soon after the American death toll in Iraq passed the 1,000 mark, I thought of Saadoun Hammadi and some oratory he provided two years ago. At the time, Hammadi was the speaker of Iraq’s National Assembly. "The U.S. administration is now speaking war," Hammadi said. "We are not going to turn the other cheek. We … Continue reading “The Brave Posturing of Armchair Warriors”

"The American political system has never been as sick as it is today," says Belgian philosopher Lieven De Cauter, in a wide-ranging interview where he discusses his theories about the "state of exception" in the context of the Bush administration’s "war on terror." De Cauter’s ideas are especially timely in light of the continuing revelations … Continue reading “Bush ‘Exceptionalism’ Led to Abu Ghraib”