BRUSSELS - The European Union and some of its largest member states have reaffirmed their support for Iraq this week under the gaze of Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawar and amid rising tensions in the country. Top European Union (EU) officials have offered their...
Hezbollah Active Among Palestinians
NABLUS - The narrow streets amid the breeze-block shacks of the Balata refugee camp on the edge of the large West Bank City of Nablus have been a focus of Palestinian militancy throughout the current Intifada (uprising) that was triggered four years ago. Balata is the...
Hegemony or Survival?
In Hegemony or Survival, Noam Chomsky suggested that our leaders, facing the choice in the book's title, might well opt for hegemony over survival. "There is ample historical precedent," he wrote, "for the willingness of leaders to threaten or resort to violence in...
Growing Consensus That Iraq Is Hopeless
After weeks of hurricanes and controversies over swift boats in Vietnam and Texas and Alabama National Guard records, Iraq is beginning to creep back onto the front pages, and the news is uniformly bad. Consider some of the headlines in major newspapers that appeared...
Spanish Tank Sale Called Off, but Colombia-Venezuela Tension Remains
CARACAS - Spain took a step aimed at smoothing relations between Bogota and Caracas by canceling the sale of 40 French-made AMX-30 tanks to the Colombian government. If the sale had gone through, the tanks' guns would likely have pointed toward the Venezuelan border....
UN Reluctant to Push Sanctions for Sudan
UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations is reluctant to impose punitive economic sanctions on Sudan accused of genocide in the politically troubled province of Darfur because embargoes have a relatively poor track record, according to senior UN officials and...
US Occupation Shuffling Money Before Flushing It
Even as people throughout Iraq continue to suffer from severe shortages of water, electricity and other crucial services, including the health care resources needed to treat the resulting illnesses, the Bush administration on Wednesday officially proposed to shift...
Trading for Peace
If you forced me to bet today, I would probably wager that Dubya will win the election in November, despite some interesting observations from Will Saletan at Slate.com suggesting that the president is more vulnerable than he seems to be. However, in his speech...
Putin, the Patriot
With the recent downing of two planes over Russian airspace, now believed to be the result of a terrorist attack, and the horrific Beslan stand-off, in which women and children were butchered on the world stage and in living color, a curious double standard is...
Japan Constitution May Hinder Ties to Indonesia
Japan's commitment to help Indonesia train its police and upgrade its sea defenses may be compromised by Japan's constitutional ban on participating in military actions overseas, according to a senior Indonesian diplomat. Specifically, Indonesia wants Japan to...


