Antiwar.com

http://www.independent.org/tii/antiwar/e060207.html

John Negroponte, our first director of national intelligence, gave his first threat assessment [.pdf] to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week. “Let me begin with a straightforward statement of preoccupation shared by all of us sitting here before you: terrorism is the preeminent threat to our citizens, homeland, interests, and friends. “The War … Continue reading “Gravest Threat – Not”

"A hoax on the American people, the international community, and the United Nations Security Council." That is how Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell’s February 2003 Iraq WMD speech to the UN was described last Friday (Feb. 3) on PBS by one who ought to know, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Secretary Powell. … Continue reading “Following Orders Is No Excuse”

The current flurry of Western diplomacy will probably turn out to be groundwork for launching missiles at Iran. Air attacks on targets in Iran are very likely. Yet many antiwar Americans seem eager to believe that won’t happen. Illusion #1: With the U.S. military bogged down in Iraq, the Pentagon is in no position to … Continue reading “The Iran Crisis: ‘Diplomacy’ as a Launch Pad for Missiles”

The Bizarro World illogic started right off the bat when George W. Bush intoned that what we need more of in public life is “a civil tone.” This from a man who has repeatedly impugned the patriotism of his opponents, and just the previous week declared that critics of the Iraq war are giving “comfort … Continue reading “Prepare for Perpetual War”

For the last two years he has grown no poppy, and his family have begun to feel the pinch. This year, this farmer from Nangahar province in Afghanistan plans to resume poppy cultivation. And not just he but thousands of others, and not just in Nangahar province but beyond. As Britain leads the Western push … Continue reading “Afghan Farmers Feel Pinch of Poppy Eradication”

Hamas won the Palestinian elections. Huge surprise. Years of Israeli policy to crush secular Palestinian nationalism succeeded beyond expectation. Who could predict that in the Middle East, where causes invariably produce unintended effects (oh, those irrational Arabs!), Israel’s policy to weaken Fatah would end up in a landslide victory for Hamas? Israel birthed and nurtured … Continue reading “Hamas and Israel: Rival Twins”

I laughed when Hamas swept the Palestinian elections. After all, President Bush and his gang of neoconservative ideologues have been preaching that democracy in the Middle East will lead to peace. Oops. Now the president will once more have to expose himself as the hypocrite he is. Democracy is good, in Mr. Bush’s view, only … Continue reading “Hamas and Democracy”

I choose to see it as a sign of verging on desperation. The war in Afghanistan is still going on at a certain level all these years after our leaders congratulated themselves on winning it, and Afghan president Hamid Karzai still has trouble setting foot outside Kabul. A majority of Americans now believe, and are … Continue reading “Dreary Old Clichés”

US officials and analysts here are hoping that Haiti’s elections next Tuesday will run smoothly and bring to power a credible government two years after Washington itself helped oust the last elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Unlike recent elections in the two other countries on which the administration of Pres. George W. Bush practiced "regime change" … Continue reading “U.S. Hopes for Smooth Elections in Haiti”