Howard Dean Still Selling Out the Antiwar Movement

It was just over two years ago that I learned a little-known “antiwar” Democrat from Vermont was planning to run for president. At a rally on the eve of Bush’s Iraq invasion, a fellow protester handed me a leaflet touting the now infamous Howard Dean, hoping that the propaganda would entice me to support his … Continue reading “Howard Dean Still Selling Out the Antiwar Movement”

Kyoto Goes Nuclear

Following Russia’s formal ratification of the Kyoto Protocol last November, it went into force on Feb. 16, 2005. The Protocol obligates "industrialized" signatories to reduce by 2012 their emissions of six "greenhouse gases" – primarily carbon dioxide – to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels. The United States is not a signatory. Of course, it’s obvious … Continue reading “Kyoto Goes Nuclear”

Bye-Bye NPT?

The 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will occur 2-27 May 2005 at the United Nations in New York and it may be the last. Under the NPT, the International Atomic Energy Agency is the designated "inspectorate" for verifying compliance by nation-states with their safeguards … Continue reading “Bye-Bye NPT?”

Afghanistan: Media Black Hole

We at the Afghan Women’s Mission (AWM) often ask ourselves, why aren’t the major newspapers showing the American people what’s really happening in Afghanistan? AWM co-directors James Ingalls and I recently returned from a trip to Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan’s (RAWA) projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan. While we were there we saw … Continue reading “Afghanistan: Media Black Hole”

Little Reporting on Paranoia in High Places

Journalists often refer to the Bush administration’s foreign policy as "unilateral" and "preemptive." Liberal pundits like to complain that a "go-it-alone" approach has isolated the United States from former allies. But the standard American media lexicon has steered clear of a word that would be an apt description of the Bush world view. Paranoid. Early … Continue reading “Little Reporting on Paranoia in High Places”

Blaming and Crediting Bush for Everything: Two Sides of the Same Coin

In a mirror image of those who blame everything wrong in the world on President George W. Bush, a surprising number of people are now giving him credit for the recent show of force by hundreds of thousands of Lebanese protestors demanding an end to Syria’s overbearing influence in their country. It is extremely doubtful … Continue reading “Blaming and Crediting Bush for Everything: Two Sides of the Same Coin”

US Restores Guatemalan Military Aid After 15-Year Hiatus

The restoration of U.S. military aid to Guatemala 15 years after it was suspended for human rights abuses was assailed late Thursday by several rights groups, who said the move was premature. On a visit to the Guatemalan capital earlier in the day, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced that the George W. Bush administration … Continue reading “US Restores Guatemalan Military Aid After 15-Year Hiatus”

Rehearsals for the Rapture

In mid-February, Israel’s parliament backed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements. While the vote in parliament has set off a few disruptive demonstrations by anti-disengagement settlers and their supporters, increased violent resistance may be coming down the pike. On March 15, Ha’aretz, an Israeli daily … Continue reading “Rehearsals for the Rapture”

Washington Focuses on Southern ‘Axis of Evil’

While U.S. President George W. Bush played nice to a deeply frustrated Mexican President Vicente Fox at the North American Summit in Texas Wednesday, U.S. media attention was focused more on Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld’s efforts to sound the alarm against Latin American troublemakers in his swing through the region this week. Topping his list … Continue reading “Washington Focuses on Southern ‘Axis of Evil’”