Before Operation Iraqi Freedom, one of the most compelling symbols of the depravity and danger of Saddam Hussein was the uncompleted Baghdad Metro. Saddam was believed to have launched the multi-billion-dollar subway project in 1983 to alleviate traffic congestion in Baghdad’s streets. But Iraq’s war with Iran apparently shifted Saddam’s priorities. At some point in …
Continue reading “The Collapse of Saddam’s Secret Subway”
BANGKOK – By dismissing the country’s prime minister in an unprecedented manner, Burma‘s military leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe has affirmed that the junta’s hardliners will stop at nothing to retain their grip on power. Few Burma watchers expected Gen. Khin Nyunt’s end as the nominated prime minister of the military regime to come so …
Continue reading “Burmese Democracy Off Radar Screen With Hardliners in Control”
Thirteen colonies fought off one of the most powerful, expansive and brutal empires in the history of the world in the late 18th century, creating a new nation based on anti-imperial principles and the notion that people have a right to self-determination. For about a hundred years, the United States, whatever its faults and unwise …
Continue reading “The Empire Exposed”
A landmark reform plan prepared by 40 civil society groups from 15 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries for a recent G8 meeting in New York is at risk of "a false start," according to one of its signatories. The meeting to discuss the seven-point plan, on the sidelines of the United Nations General …
Continue reading “Mideast Reformers Call for Change From Within”
GENEVA – More than 100,000 refugees from the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan continue to languish in camps in Nepal, while neither talks between the governments of the two South Asian kingdoms nor the international community have come up with any plan to put an end to their forced exile, which has dragged on for …
Continue reading “13 Years On, No Solution in Sight for Refugees in Nepali Camps”
Now that President George W. Bush’s allegations about former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s ties to al-Qaeda and ambitious weapons programs have been thoroughly discredited, another outstanding charge remains to be resolved. During a campaign speech in September 2002, Bush cited a number of reasons – in addition to alleged terrorist links and weapons of mass …
Continue reading “So, Did Saddam Try to Kill Bush’s Dad?”
The defiance of 17 U.S. Army Reservists who refused a fuel delivery mission Wednesday prompted the military to promise long-awaited armor for their military vehicles, even as the military refused to acknowledge claims from family members that the platoon’s convoy was expected to travel through insurgent hotspots unprotected. "I can’t think of anything we’re not …
Continue reading “Refusing Reservists’ Fates Uncertain”
http://www.independent.org/tii/antiwar/e041019.html
TEHRAN – A combination of light entertainment, talk shows and politics beamed into Iran by a dozen or so satellite stations set up by Iranian exiles in the United States is proving to be explosive in the Islamic country. Iranian hardliners have denounced foreign satellite broadcasts for trampling on Islamic values and say they are …
Continue reading “Iranian Exiles Use Satellite TV to Promote Change”
Elections in Afghanistan and Iraq may prove disastrous by increasing violence and extremism, according to studies of other post-conflict societies included in a book released Monday by United Nations University Press. If elections in volatile situations are ill-timed or poorly designed, they risk producing the direct opposite of the intended outcome, fueling chaos and reversing …
Continue reading “UN Study: Premature Vote May Prove Disastrous” 
