BAGHDAD - U.S.-appointed interim Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi recently handed out $100 bills to journalists at a press conference. He then gave teachers an unexpected $100 bonus. Allawi seems to be on his way to winning the election in Iraq, such as it is. Wa'il...
Payola Pundits for War?
How pervasive is the practice of pundit payola? First it was black conservative Armstrong Williams found sucking on the federal teat to the tune of $240,000 to promote the Bush administration's "No Child Left Behind" legislation. Armstrong, in his own defense,...
The ICG Strikes Again
The International Crisis Group ICG for short (though they've recently decided to shun the acronym) has long been a player on the Balkans scene, deployed first as rhetorical support for the Clinton regime's interventions, then as a pressure group to...
Rights Groups Take Rare Step of Repudiating Nominee
Riding over opposition from its Democratic members, the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday voted 10-8 to send the nomination of Attorney General-designate Alberto Gonzales to the full Senate for confirmation, possibly as early as next week. In another widely...
Kurdish Parties Eye Independence
ARBIL - Ahmed Khani sips his tea as he reclines in a high-back leather chair, a sepia-toned portrait of the father of Iraqi Kurdish nationalism, the late Mullah Mustafa Barzani behind him. In the portrait, Barzani wears military fatigues and the traditional Kurdish...
EU Resumes Aid to Sudan
BRUSSELS - The European Union restored ties with Sudan Tuesday and offered 50 million euros ($65 million) in aid to help boost a peace agreement after the end of one of Africa's longest-ever civil wars. Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, and...
Demand Accountability
A few days ago, during an interview, I was asked to provide comments regarding the inspector general's (IG) report into my allegations, and I was asked whether or not I agreed with the report's conclusion that the FBI did not take my reports and allegations seriously,...
What if It Was All a Big Mistake?
Watch Ron Paul deliver this speech to the House of Representatives on video. America's policy of foreign intervention, while still debated in the early 20th century, is today accepted as conventional wisdom by both political parties. But what if...
My Husband Is Defending Democracy
In a democracy, we are supposed to have choices. Our Constitution gives us those choices. Our Constitution is founded on the highest order of morality. As a soldier, my husband, Sgt. Kevin Benderman, has a sworn duty to defend his country and its Constitution. As a...
The Iraq Election: Another Dead End?
In the United States, the long-awaited Jan. 30 Iraqi election, assessed below by Dilip Hiro, might be labeled the "until" election or, more recently, the "in-the-days-before" election. Since "sovereignty" was turned over to the interim Iraqi government last June (a...


