Jim Lobe

A new round in the ongoing battle between realists and neoconservative hawks over Iran policy got underway here Monday with the publication by a task force of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) of a new report urging Washington to engage Tehran on a selected range of issues of mutual concern. The task force, which … Continue reading “Realists, Neocons in New Iran Argument”

This week’s decision by the U.S. State Department to cut up to $18 million in aid to its staunchest anti-terrorism ally in Central Asia is being welcomed by human rights activists, who called the move long overdue. The slap at the government of President Islam Karimov, who has ruled Uzbekistan with an iron hand since … Continue reading “US Cuts Aid to Uzbekistan”

The reported execution of an alleged Uighur “separatist” in China’s Xinjiang province is adding to concern by human rights groups that Beijing is taking advantage of the ongoing “war on terrorism” to crack down on the predominantly Muslim indigenous population in its westernmost territory. Kuerban Tudaji was reportedly sentenced to death on June 30 after … Continue reading “China Taking Advantage of War on Terror”

On the 35th anniversary of the so-called “Act of Free Choice” (AFC) that resulted in West Papua’s annexation by Indonesia, newly declassified documents depict the administration of President Richard Nixon as unwilling to raise any objections to the process despite its assessment that the move was overwhelmingly opposed by the Papuan people. The memos were … Continue reading “Papuan Self-Determination Sacrificed to US Courtship of Suharto”

The imminent choice by U.S. President George W Bush of a new director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), blasted Friday for “groupthink” and incompetence by a key Congressional committee, is fast becoming the major new battleground between the administration’s hawks and realists. Senior Bush officials have said the president is virtually certain to nominate … Continue reading “CIA Becomes Political Football”

While the Pentagon claims that it is trying to expedite the implementation of last week’s decision by the Supreme Court to provide fair reviews of the status of some 594 terrorist suspects held at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, human rights groups are concerned that the Pentagon is trying to subvert the decision. … Continue reading “Rights Groups: Pentagon Subverting Court’s Decision”

The North African nation of Tunisia is holding in isolation as many as 40 leaders of a moderate Islamist movement, who are among 500 political prisoners in the country chosen by U.S. President George W. Bush as the base for his plan to democratize the Middle East, says a new report by Human Rights Watch … Continue reading “Report: US-Backed Tunisia Holding Political Prisoners”

The government of Equatorial Guinea, the rags-to-riches West African petro-state where major U.S. oil companies have invested billions of dollars in recent years, has violently put down the latest coup plot against it, summarily executing at least a dozen alleged rebels and rounding up and torturing relatives and associates of an opposition party accused of … Continue reading “African Oil Giant Foils Alleged Coup”

An influential Washington think tank with close ties to the Kerry presidential campaign is calling for Washington to send 25,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq, even as the U.S. supposedly gives the Iraqis more authority. In a 12-page report released as the Bush administration formally transferred limited sovereignty to the interim government, the Center for … Continue reading “A Preview of Kerry Foreign Policy”

In a new rebuff to the administration of Pres. George W. Bush, a 6-3 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a 215-year-old anti-piracy law can continue to be used by foreign victims of serious human rights abuses access to U.S. courts for redress. Although the majority decided that the abduction of a … Continue reading “Supreme Court: Foreign Victims of Abuse May Sue in US”