Jim Lobe

Three days after the administration of President George W. Bush shrugged off the unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace plan released last week in Geneva, a bipartisan group of eight former top U.S. national-security officials said they supported the so-called "Geneva Accord." The endorsement of the group, which includes four former national security advisers, comes amid a growing … Continue reading “Former Top US Security Officials Back Geneva Accord”

On one point, all sources appear to agree: what happened in the northern Sunni town of Samarra last Sunday could tell us a great deal about whether U.S. forces are likely to succeed or fail in pacifying and stabilizing Iraq. That there was a three-hour battle between U.S. soldiers and Iraqis is also not in … Continue reading “A Sunday in Samarra”

While U.S. Treasury officials scour financial records worldwide to stop funds donated by wealthy Arabs from flowing to radical Islamist groups, a small group of U.S. citizens is trying to shut down a major source of funding for Jewish extremists in Israel and the occupied territories. Its target is a gambling casino located half a … Continue reading “Group Contests Casino Owned by Pro-Israel Extremists’ Backer”

The administration of US President George W. Bush is violating the spirit of its own export policy by approving the sale of tools to countries known to use them to torture detainees, according to a new report released here Tuesday by Amnesty International. In 2002, US exports of electroshock weapons and restraints that can be … Continue reading “US Exporting ‘Tools of Torture’”

While electricity generation now exceeds pre-invasion levels, markets are plentiful, and virtually all school-aged children are back at their desks, the war for Iraqi "hearts and minds" remains very much up in the air, say independent analysts who have recently returned from that country. "This could go either way," Kenneth Pollack, a former Middle East … Continue reading “Experts Returning from Iraq Criticize US Tactics”

If the success of the unofficial Israeli-Palestinian peace plan launched amid great fanfare in Geneva on Monday were dependent on international goodwill, it could be implemented tomorrow. With three Nobel Peace Prize laureates – including former US president Jimmy Carter – in attendance, as well as messages of support sent from leaders from around the … Continue reading “Unofficial Mideast Peace Plans Get Global Backing”

Uighur separatists from China are likely to be mistreated if they are returned to Beijing’s custody from the Guantanamo Bay naval base as the US administration is reportedly considering, says the group Human Rights Watch (HRW). More than a dozen members of the Muslim ethnic group are being held at the base in Cuba with … Continue reading “US Freeing Guantanamo Inmates to Torture?”

A classified FBI intelligence memorandum, leaked to the New York Times last weekend, has raised concern among some civil-rights groups and lawmakers who worry that it reflects a growing tendency on the part of the Bush administration to promote security measures at the expense of key freedoms in the name of fighting terrorism. Among other … Continue reading “FBI Plans for Antiwar
Movement Spur Opposition”

After two years of dominating US foreign policy, are unilateralist hawks in the administration of President George W. Bush losing power to the so-called realists whom they have long disdained? Although internal fights within the administration on issues such as policy towards Syria, Iran and North Korea remain fierce, there are growing indications that the … Continue reading “Foreign Policy Realists Rally”

International human rights groups are raising new questions about US counterinsurgency tactics in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In a letter sent to Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld late last week, London-based Amnesty International asked whether the US military has adopted a policy of demolishing houses of the families of suspected insurgents in Iraq. At the same … Continue reading “US War Tactics Slammed by Rights Groups”