Antiwar.com

U.S. President George W. Bush suffered a stinging defeat Thursday when overwhelming congressional support forced him to abandon his opposition to anti-torture legislation and reach an agreement with its sponsor, Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican. The president’s reversal came after months of White House attempts – led by Vice President Dick Cheney and National … Continue reading “Torture Ban May Have a Loophole”

A bipartisan majority of senators refused to reauthorize the USA PATRIOT Act Friday, which was hurriedly passed six weeks after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and gave U.S. law enforcement agencies significant expanded powers to investigate suspected terrorists. While in favor of most of the act’s provisions, senators opposing reauthorization targeted several provisions that … Continue reading “PATRIOT Act in Limbo Amid New Spying Flap”

According to the highly influential “experts” at the Heritage Foundation – who have apparently never bothered to read the Iranian Note Verbale [.pdf] to the International Atomic Energy Agency of Aug. 1, 2005 – “Iran remains a dangerous revolutionary power determined to acquire nuclear weapons. No policy short of war is guaranteed to halt the … Continue reading “Those Crazy Mullahs”

Editor’s note: This week, Antiwar.com is on the spot in Hong Kong for the Sixth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference. This is the third in a series about the issues surrounding the conference, the people involved, and the roles played by the U.S. and China in this debate. Since Tuesday, the Sixth Ministerial has … Continue reading “Livelihoods at Stake”

By the end of the current session of Congress later this month, the Pentagon could have legal authority to "covertly" gather intelligence on U.S. citizens in the United States – a power taken away following excesses during the Vietnam War. The Senate Intelligence Committee, meeting in closed session, last month quietly approved a request from … Continue reading “Watchdogs Protest Pentagon’s ‘Mission Creep’”

It might not be a bad idea to step back from events for a moment or two. I’m fascinated at just how casually many Americans – I’ve even caught myself doing it – are able to say how proud of and pleased with the Iraqis they are for pulling off an election with a minimum … Continue reading “Time to Lower Expectations”

We all know the feeling. After your last minute holiday gift-giving near-disaster in 2004 (surprisingly similar to the one in 2003), you made that firm New Year’s resolution yet again – this time you were determined to buy those Christmas presents in July. The Monday after Thanksgiving at the absolute latest. They would all be … Continue reading “For the Jingo Who Has Everything”

Are U.S. tactical nuclear weapons deployed in the Persian Gulf, on hair-trigger alert, and ready to be launched against Iran at a moment’s notice? The answer is contained in presidential directive NSPD 35, “Nuclear Weapons Deployment Authorization,” issued May 2004, which is classified. Nevertheless, we can infer the answer from the fact that every other … Continue reading “Nuclear Deployment for an Attack on Iran”

With Scooter Libby slated to go to trial sometime next year, the Lewis Libby Defense Trust is gearing up for a big fundraising effort – and lookee lookee at all the luminaries who’ve signed on to help! Hey, how about a benefit concert? They could book Libby supporters Jack F. Kemp and Steve Forbes to … Continue reading “Scooter Libby, Neocon Martyr”

In the run-up to the Iraq war, FBI veterans say they were pressured by the Bush administration to come up with links, no matter how tenuous, between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda to help sell the planned military incursion. They came up empty, however, and were told to redouble their efforts, scraping the bottom of the … Continue reading “FBI Pressured to Gin Up Iraq-al-Qaeda Links”