Category: Uncategorized

Slowly and gradually, as the death toll mounts, as the "weapons of mass destruction" continue to prove elusive, and as evidence mounts that many if not most of the certainties U.S. officials touted as evidence that Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat were based on at least shaky and probably deceptive intelligence information, the American … Continue reading “Occupation: Counting the True Costs”

We are fast approaching the second anniversary of the anthrax scare: the first letter filled with the deadly spores was postmarked September 18, 2001. Almost two full years after the FBI fixed its sights on Steven J. Hatfill as a “person of interest” in the anthrax-by-mail attacks, John Ashcroft’s G-men are still persecuting Hatfill – … Continue reading “Anthrax Anniversary”

Ever since we peaceniks lost the effort to stop the war, our liberventionist friends have been telling us to look on the bright side. We should all be pleased that a dictator met justice, they say, no matter why the war was fought or what its other results may be. It is in this optimistic … Continue reading “The Autumn of the Patriarchs”

All across the world economic ministers are asking themselves "What are we to do about China?" Everybody wants to sell their goods here, but inevitably, Chinese goods break through what trade barriers are left in place in the 21st century and swamp the market, putting locals out of business and sending consumers away smiling at … Continue reading “Adjust or Fall”

In 2002, this writer went on record predicting US military action in West Africa. Rumsfeld had just said that Al-Qaeda had operations in 60 countries, and that the US maintained prerogative to go into those potentially failed states and strike blows for American values. And Assistant Secretary of State Walter Kansteiner was quoted last summer … Continue reading “Warmongers of the Congressional Black Caucus”

The long-awaited congressional report on 9/11 came with a kicker: 28 redacted pages, deemed too sensitive for the unwashed masses, which have generated more discussion than all the other 800-plus pages put together. The censored section deals with “specific sources of foreign support for some of the September 11 hijackers while they were in the … Continue reading “What Does Bush Have to Hide?”

It is high time to reiterate the favourite media question – "Is Arafat Unable, or Rather Unwilling to Stop Terrorism" – but with a different protagonist. Prime Minister Sharon has now been in office for about 15 months. He has been enjoying total and unprecedented freedom, both nationally and internationally, to fight Palestinian terrorism however … Continue reading “Israel’s War For Terrorism”

It would be deeply unfair to offer only a list of dreadful books about the Balkans Wars and not mention the other kind – the books that help the overall understanding of the region and the turmoil it has been undergoing for the past decade or so. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the number of good … Continue reading “The Worthy Balkans Booklist”

Sixty years after it was dropped on Salzburg, a U.S. bomb explodes, killing the two men who tried to defuse it. Vietnamese kids keep losing fingers, toes, arms, and legs to a conflict they’re too young to have even forgotten. Hostages of last year’s Chechen theater siege are still collapsing from the elixir that set … Continue reading “Where Will Timothy McVeigh Strike Next?”

The “fence,” as the Israelis and their amen corner in the U.S. call it, is actually a wall, about 25 feet high: higher than the Berlin Wall. Like every atrocity carried out by the Israeli government, it is being sold as a “defensive” measure, but is in reality an act of aggression, cutting off large … Continue reading “Mr. Sharon, Tear Down That Wall!”