Category: Uncategorized

A year ago, I urged readers to forget about President Bush’s “Road Map to Peace” – on which so much attention was wasted at the time, by now a dead letter – and concentrate on the real map of Palestine, radically changed by the construction of Israel’s Apartheid Wall, which was virtually ignored by the … Continue reading “Don’t Call it a Wall”

Hundreds of U.S. military and government officials routinely leave their posts for jobs with private contractors who deal with the government, a process that has eroded the lines between government and the private sector, according to a report released by a watchdog group on Tuesday. “There is a revolving door between the government and large … Continue reading “The Revolving Door Spins Away”

BOGOTA – Shrouded in silence in Colombia, the Plan Patriot has begun to emerge as the most ambitious military offensive to date against the leftist guerrillas, in which the U.S. military is providing tactical and logistical support. Taking part in the operation, which according to press reports involves 17,000 soldiers deployed in southern Colombia, are … Continue reading “US Increases Colombian Involvement”

From Dahr’s weblogAbu Talat picks me up at my hotel and we’re off through the uncharacteristically empty streets of central Baghdad en route to the airport. It’s early enough that we drive with the windows down rather than running the air conditioner, and the warm breeze carries the sounds of shop owners sweeping the sidewalks … Continue reading “Leaving Iraq”

An influential Washington think tank with close ties to the Kerry presidential campaign is calling for Washington to send 25,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq, even as the U.S. supposedly gives the Iraqis more authority. In a 12-page report released as the Bush administration formally transferred limited sovereignty to the interim government, the Center for … Continue reading “A Preview of Kerry Foreign Policy”

PARIS – The kind of torture inflicted upon Iraqi prisoners by the U.S. army followed methods France used during the Algerian war of independence in the late 1950s, several French historians and journalists say. Both the U.S. and the French armies had obviously studied Islamic traditions in order to devise torture methods aimed particularly at … Continue reading “US Hawks Owe More to the French Than They Realize”

The book has an apt title: Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror. And the author spells out “why.” We are losing because of the misguided war on Iraq and the upsurge in terrorism it has engendered. Sadly, that conclusion was validated last week by the widespread, coordinated attacks by the … Continue reading “Why Didn’t They Speak Out Earlier?”

SEOUL – The failed attempt to rescue a South Korean hostage in Iraq, before he was beheaded, has prompted lawmakers in South Korea to launch an investigation into government agencies for their alleged inaction after first hearing news of the abduction. This investigation comes as the nation begins to mourn the death of 33-year-old Kim … Continue reading “Mother of Slain Korean: ‘The Govt Killed My Son’”

Since 1932 Democrats have been so confident of the inherent virtue of government that they have been willing to trust any amount of power to it. The liberal agenda boiled down to the growth of government power. Republicans were the naysayers, forever quoting the Founding Fathers’ warnings that government power meant liberty’s demise. The administration … Continue reading “Role Reversal”

SRINAGAR – Technology bridged a decades old divide this week when separated families across the Indian and Pakistani sides of Kashmir interacted through a web cast, amid tears, laughter and hopes of peaceful tomorrows. The three-day event organized by the BBC in the Indian city of Srinagar and Pakistani town of Muzaffarabad brought a ray … Continue reading “Web Weaves Reunion for Kashmiris”