US Moves to Seize More Iraqi Assets

The United States is moving to freeze millions of dollars in accounts held by relatives of Saddam Hussein and other senior officials in his fallen regime, months after Washington seized billions of dollars in frozen Iraqi assets overseas. The US Treasury Department in a statement Thursday urged other countries to follow suit and transfer the … Continue reading “US Moves to Seize More Iraqi Assets”

Praise the Troops, Not the War

During the five-hour debate on this resolution, Congressman Paul was not given an opportunity to speak, even though he is a fairly senior member of the House International Affairs Committee. Much more junior member of the committee, Kathryn Harris of Florida, was given two opportunities to speak on the issue. Clearly, the GOP leadership did … Continue reading “Praise the Troops, Not the War”

Silencing the Truth About the Attacks in Spain

A group representing reporters and editors at Spain’s state-run news agency, EFE, says the agency knew about evidence pointing to involvement by Islamic terrorists in the Mar. 11 train bombings in Madrid that very morning, but kept it under wraps due to pressure from the government of Prime Minister José María Aznar. “EFE knew, from … Continue reading “Silencing the Truth About the Attacks in Spain”

Pakistan Courts Resentment as it Seeks Tribal Militants

Pakistan is grappling with local resistance as it presses tribesmen along the Afghan border to hand over people accused of harboring foreign militants, in an effort that coincides with a major U.S. offensive aimed at nabbing al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. The deaths in a firefight Tuesday that left 40 people dead, including 16 … Continue reading “Pakistan Courts Resentment as it Seeks Tribal Militants”

Notes on the Margin

The terrorist attacks in Spain and the resulting meltdown of the pro-Bush regime in Madrid, along with the ongoing implosion of the occupation in Iraq, are currently the stuff of headlines. Little attention is paid to developments in the Balkans, which continue to challenge policy assumptions and ideological trappings of both the “humanitarian hegemony” of … Continue reading “Notes on the Margin”

This Cliché Is A Lie

One of the clichés one hears incessantly from the mouths of politicians is that we have the "best-trained, best-equipped Army" in the world. No we don’t. We have a military that is overstretched and underequipped because it has more missions than resources. We have a military that is suffering from a leadership crisis. We have … Continue reading “This Cliché Is A Lie”

Untruth And Consequences

On March 9, the all-but-official Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry told a group of supporters after a speech in Illinois that he had never had to deal with such "lying and crookedness." He did not specify about whom he was speaking, but outraged Republican leaders assumed, probably correctly, that he was referring to the Bush … Continue reading “Untruth And Consequences”

Madrid 2004 = Munich 1938? Not Even Close

For neo-conservative and other right-wing US hawks, Madrid has suddenly become Munich in 1938 and Spain’s Prime Minister-elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. In an extraordinarily unanimous campaign, newspaper columnists and television commentators are flooding the media with cries of “appeasement,” the dreaded epithet with which Chamberlain was permanently … Continue reading “Madrid 2004 = Munich 1938? Not Even Close”
Casualties in Iraq I would like to see a breakdown, if it is possible with the information you can get, of the wounded as to how many are "life changing" wounds. In other words, how many are receiving wounds that will hamper their future lives in terms of physical and mental activity? This is certainly … Continue reading “”

Terrorists – and Freedom Fighters?

Between 1971 and 1973, he was commander of the Derry Brigade of the Provisional IRA, which fought gun battles with British soldiers in a war that would cost 320 lives. Arrested in Donegal near a car loaded with 5,000 rounds of ammunition and 250 pounds of explosives, he was sentenced to six months by a … Continue reading “Terrorists – and Freedom Fighters?”