Antiwar.com

Groups representing Arab and Muslim-Americans are confused by what appear to be conflicting signals from the Bush administration – which claims to be making serious efforts to "build bridges" to these constituencies, but simultaneously continues to practice discrimination and harassment. They note the following: – In Washington, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller … Continue reading “Arabs, Muslims Puzzled by Govt ‘Outreach’”

The Bush administration heralds Indonesia as the world’s largest Muslim democracy and a crucial ally in the war on terrorism. Since 9/11 it has pushed Congress to allow it to bolster the Indonesian military with weapons and military training. For many years, the United States was Indonesia’s largest weapons source, equipping the country with everything … Continue reading “Ignoring Indonesian Repression for the War on Terror”

WASHINGTON – The United States has failed to meaningfully change its policies on the treatment of prisoners, opening the door to repeats of abuses like those at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison and making an independent probe into torture by the U.S. military essential, says a leading human rights group. In a 200-page report released Wednesday, … Continue reading “Amnesty: No Change in US Torture Policy”

JERUSALEM – Child abuse in Israel has gone up five-fold compared to the time before the Intifada, a new report says. Israeli society is paying a heavy price for the flare-up in the conflict with the Palestinians over the last four years, it emerged from the annual report of the country’s Association for the Protection … Continue reading “Child Abuse ‘Rises with Intifada’”

Who was searching for the vast cache of explosives recently revealed to be missing from al-Qaqaa? Not the U.S. military: "The first U.S. military unit to reach the Al-Qaqaa military installation after the invasion of Iraq did not have orders to search for the nearly 400 tons of explosives that Iraqi officials say were stolen … Continue reading “The Weapons No One Looked For”

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations, which was on the verge of adopting a new international convention against nuclear terrorism, has been forced to shelve the proposed treaty because of opposition from Islamic states. "After six years of protracted negotiations, the final draft was ready for adoption by the UN Legal Committee last week," a … Continue reading “UN Terrorism Treaty Deadlocked”

The tragicomedy of errors currently playing in Iraq took an ominous turn the other day when the ambush of 49 Iraqi National Guards by insurgents was blamed on … the U.S. And, no, the accuser wasn’t Michael Moore, or Noam Chomsky, or any of the other demonized figures in the Bush-neocon gallery of hate: it … Continue reading “No Exit From Iraq?”

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s first run-in with the military ended up giving a boost to the movement to gain access to the secret archives dating back to Brazil‘s 1964-1985 military dictatorship. The Torture Never Again Group (GTNM) of Rio de Janeiro is demanding the immediate opening of what … Continue reading “The Struggle to Pry Open Brazil’s Military Archives”

The Cato Institute and the Objectivist Center on Friday offered a full-scale inter-libertarian debate on war. Topics included "Principles Guiding Military Intervention," "Has the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq Advanced America’s Interests in the Middle East?," and "Reflections on the Iraq War." Luncheon speaker was Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason magazine, on "Why Libertarians Should … Continue reading “Libertarians Face Off on Intervention”

BANGKOK – A clash at the start of this week between hundreds of Muslim protesters and heavily armed Thai troops in the country’s south – which left over 80 dead – has delivered a blow to Bangkok’s view that it has the local communities on its side. The showdown on Monday that initially resulted in … Continue reading “Deaths in Custody Could Inflame Thailand’s Muslim South”