Antiwar.com

When the Bush administration first took office, its intention was to transform the U.S. military to meet the challenges of the 21st century. In February 2001, President Bush said to troops and personnel at Norfolk Naval Air Station: "We’re witnessing a revolution in the technology of war, powers increasingly defined not by size, but by … Continue reading “Defense Transformation at the Crossroads”

Legal, diplomatic, religious, and human rights authorities are struggling to be heard on what many consider to be the "Son of Guantánamo" – a secret prison in Afghanistan where the U.S. military is said to have been holding some 500 "enemy combatants" for as long as three or four years without access to lawyers. The … Continue reading “Bagram: Son of Guantánamo”

As Iraq descends into chaos and the nascent Iraqi state implodes even before it is born, support for a continued U.S. military presence in the region is plummeting: a new poll shows a whopping 62 percent of Americans think the war is going badly, up from 54 percent just last month. The really shocking news … Continue reading “On the Road to Empire”

Triumph of the Imaginary Balkans Last week’s media flurry over the alleged arrest of Gen. Ratko Mladic – reported by certain Serbian media as fact, then denied by officials both in Belgrade and The Hague – coincided with the start of "negotiations" in Vienna between the representatives of Serbia and the separatist Albanians, determined to … Continue reading “Insult to Injury”

Evidently the president’s trip to India created an option too perfect to pass up: The man who has led the world in violence during the first years of the 21st century could pay homage to the world’s leading practitioner of nonviolence during the first half of the 20th century. So the White House announced plans … Continue reading “Mahatma Bush”

A unique poll of active-duty troops in Iraq shows a huge disconnect between the commander in chief and the troops in battle. It is evident that the president views the war very differently than the troops on the ground. The loss of the troops may be the final straw in the illegal occupation turned failed … Continue reading “The Commander in Chief Has Lost the Troops”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum, could well be called the Democrats’ Daddy Warbucks. He’s scored bundles from war contracts. He has recently purchased a $16.5 million crib in San Francisco and along with his wife has handed hundreds of thousands of dollars over to fellow Democrats. Since the 2000 election cycle, Blum has contributed … Continue reading “The Democrats’
Daddy Warbucks”

A senior U.S. military commander has branded as "propaganda" a new report from a major human rights group revealing that of the 98 detainees who have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since August 2002, 34 are suspected or confirmed homicides. The group, Human Rights First (HRF), adds that another 11 cases suggest … Continue reading “Top US General Dismisses Grim Abuse Report”

U.S. President George W. Bush hopes his maiden tour of India and Pakistan this week will draw both South Asian giants more firmly into Washington’s orbit, as well as help restore his battered foreign policy image back home. Bush will spend three days in India, which U.S. policymakers increasingly depict as a long-term strategic counterweight … Continue reading “Bush Seeks to Draw India, Pakistan Closer to US”

If you’re waiting for the Iranian oil bourse (IOB) – the proposed euro-based petroleum futures exchange in Tehran – to overthrow the global dollar-based economy, don’t hold your breath. Establishing a futures-trading mechanism to compete with the powerhouses of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) for the oil trade is … Continue reading “Is the IOB DOA?”