Category: Uncategorized

Members of the book industry and civil liberties advocates are scratching their heads over why House Republican leaders decided to bully their way out of passing a bipartisan piece of legislation intended to secure the rights of due process and privacy of library patrons and bookstore customers. “It should make people ask, what are they … Continue reading “PATRIOT Act Foes Lose Book Battle”

The reported execution of an alleged Uighur “separatist” in China’s Xinjiang province is adding to concern by human rights groups that Beijing is taking advantage of the ongoing “war on terrorism” to crack down on the predominantly Muslim indigenous population in its westernmost territory. Kuerban Tudaji was reportedly sentenced to death on June 30 after … Continue reading “China Taking Advantage of War on Terror”

This other wall is not so visible as the controversial “security barrier” Israel is building around itself, but it is as real. It divides thousands of Palestinians from one another, and it does not look like it is going to come down. The name of this wall is The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law … Continue reading “Palestinians Run Into Another Wall”

Blame the CIA. That’s a political agenda that has found bipartisan support in Congress. Both the right and the left saw the departure of CIA chief George Tenet as a first step toward improving U.S. intelligence capabilities. This month two bipartisan committees – the independent 9/11 commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee – reviewing U.S. … Continue reading “CIA: From Bad to Worse?”

With almost 900 Americans dead, thousands horribly wounded, and talk of canceling a national election that is taking place in the shadow of terrorism, one has to ask: how did we get here? Seymour Hersh, speaking at the American Civil Liberties Union conference on July 7, gave a pretty good answer: “Rather than deal with … Continue reading “The Cult of Power”

BAGHDAD – Allawi Kathem Abed sat waiting patiently in the Iraqi assistance center in the capital last Saturday, confident things would be solved soon. He had come from the town of Abu Ghraib to Baghdad with a death certificate, a list of stolen property, and an oral promise of compensation from “Colonel Ryan.” On May … Continue reading “Wrongful Death and Everything After”

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that suspects imprisoned during the so-called “war on terrorism” could use the American legal system to challenge their detention, lawyers for prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center are moving forward with challenges in U.S. courts while the Department of Defense continues its efforts to further … Continue reading “Government Attempts End-Run on Detainee Rights”

TOKYO (IPS) – Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s humiliating blow in Sunday’s House of Councilors election could have a fallout effect on his controversial decision to keep troops in Iraq, say analysts. "The election results reflected people’s anger. Koizumi had too easily followed the United States in drawing up policies on Iraq’s reconstruction," Toshihiro Shimizu, … Continue reading “Japanese Deliver Verdict on Koizumi’s Troop Decision”

Inoculated for a While? Some time ago I was reading PNAC’s Dec. 3, 2003, National Security Outlook, authored by Thomas Donnelly and Vance Serchuk. The following practically leapt off the page [“Fighting a Global Counterinsurgency“]: (D)efense transformation must bring about a change in the military mindset from what Eliot Cohen calls a “mass army” to … Continue reading “Backtalk July 13, 2004”

On the 35th anniversary of the so-called “Act of Free Choice” (AFC) that resulted in West Papua’s annexation by Indonesia, newly declassified documents depict the administration of President Richard Nixon as unwilling to raise any objections to the process despite its assessment that the move was overwhelmingly opposed by the Papuan people. The memos were … Continue reading “Papuan Self-Determination Sacrificed to US Courtship of Suharto”