Senate Blocks Military Aid to Indonesia

U.S. military training to the Indonesian Armed Forces will be banned until its officials cooperate with investigators probing the ambush and killing of staff from an international school in West Papua province last year, according to amendments passed by the Senate. The change to the 2004 foreign-aid bill that will ban training for Indonesian army … Continue reading “Senate Blocks Military Aid to Indonesia”

The Untouchables

Last Wednesday, former KLA commander Agim Ceku was arrested in Slovenia on an Interpol warrant forwarded by Serbia. The following morning, after the intervention of Kosovo’s UN viceroy Harri Holkeri, fierce protests in Pristina, and even (reportedly) threats of terrorism against Slovenia, he was released. According to agency reports cited by Reality Macedonia, Holkeri told … Continue reading “The Untouchables”

Bush Falls From Favor Abroad, Too

If U.S. President George W. Bush was surprised on his recent trip to Indonesia by the negative image the country’s Muslim leaders had of his administration, he is unlikely to be reassured by two new surveys from Latin America and Europe. Nearly 90 percent of more than 500 elite figures in six Latin American countries … Continue reading “Bush Falls From Favor Abroad, Too”

Rumsfeld Wants a Ministry of Truth

When deceit catches up with a government, officials take refuge in propaganda. Thus, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld told the Washington Times (Oct. 24) that he wants a "21st century information agency in the government" to help fight a "war of ideas" and educate Americans and foreigners that Big Brother is right. Last year Rumsfeld was forced … Continue reading “Rumsfeld Wants a Ministry of Truth”

Get the Product Right First

A Hollywood marketing man, Michael Levine, is pushing what is undoubtedly a good-hearted effort to bridge the gap between the United States and the Muslim world to improve both the intellectual content and the marketing savvy of America’s public relations effort to the world. With all due respect to what is undoubtedly a sincere undertaking, … Continue reading “Get the Product Right First”

The Axis of Hubris

"The path of peace is preferable to the path of war." ~ Yitzhak Rabin, November 4, 1995 President George Bush and the United States are in a serious situation in Iraq for one reason only: neoconservatives will permit no dissent. Neoconservatives used their presidential appointments and Vice President Cheney to silence the CIA and Defense … Continue reading “The Axis of Hubris”

Who Are the Bombers?

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz’s weekend tour of Iraq appeared to be going splendidly: everywhere he went – even in Saddam Hussein’s former stronghold of Tikrit – Iraqis greeted him with smiles and warm handshakes, no doubt adding to his conviction that the war really was for "liberation" rather than "occupation." Until Sunday morning, that … Continue reading “Who Are the Bombers?”

A Holocaust in the Making

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." Vice President Dick Cheney, 8-26-02. "For those who say we haven’t found the banned manufacturing devises or banned weapons, they’re wrong, we found them." President George Bush, 5-30-03. When it became obvious that the neoconservatives would succeed in turning the … Continue reading “A Holocaust in the Making”