The Bush administration's "anti-terrorism" policies have come increasingly under fire from civil libertarians across the political spectrum, but the subject of civil liberties has not become a major issue in this year's presidential campaign, leading some to...
Larry Franklin’s October Surprise
Amid the back-and-forth between the Bushies and the Kerry camp, one campaign season fusillade has gone largely unnoticed. Fundie nut-job Pat Robertson exposed the real heart and soul of his movement of moonbats the other day at a news conference in Jerusalem, where he...
WMD Myth Meant to Deter Iran
First, the CIA comes out and says it can't find any convincing evidence that Saddam Hussein harbored Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Zarqawi's presence at certain points in Iraq has long been argued as a proof of his links to terrorism and al-Qaeda (even though Zarqawi's...
Iraq: Making the Most of a Bad Situation
BAGHDAD - As proponents of the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq constantly assert, not everything taking place in the "New Iraq" is bad news. Indeed, there are people trying to make the best of a nightmarish situation. Here are a few of their stories. Generations...
Sihanouk’s Abdication Catches Nation by Surprise
BANGKOK – One of Asia's most colorful monarchs, Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk, has plunged his country into a constitutional crisis following Thursday's announcement that he is abdicating. The 82-year-old king's decision was revealed on the day he was due back...
Russia-Venezuela Alliance Takes Flight
CARACAS - The Venezuelan army plans to acquire 40 Russian helicopters within the next few months in the first step towards a new "strategic alliance" with Moscow promoted by President Hugo Chávez, who is further marking his distance from Washington....
Saudi Democratization to Include Women?
DUBAI - When conservative Saudi Arabia announced last year that it would hold partial municipal elections in which people for the first time could vote directly, the reaction of many in and out of the country was nothing less than shock. Now reform-minded activists...
Darfur Still Dangerous, Despite Global Pressure
PRETORIA - Saleh Mahmood Osman chooses his words carefully. The human rights lawyer makes it clear that, although he comes from strife-torn Darfur, he does not bear ill will toward the Sudanese diplomats who have come to listen to his address in the South African...
Is Kirkuk About to Explode?
In an interview with al-Arabia television, Iraq's Washington-backed president said that demanding a referendum for the right of self-determination in the Kurdish North will be regarded as an act of national treason of the Kurds against Iraq and would forcibly be...
Sidelined Neocons Stoke Future Fires
Sidelined by their failed predictions for Iraq and President George W. Bush's efforts to reassure voters he is not a warmonger, prominent neoconservatives and their Christian Right allies are nonetheless trying hard to prepare the ground for future U.S. adventures in...