Antiwar.com

We are constantly admonished to remember the lessons of 9/11. Of course the real issue is not remembering, but rather knowing what the pertinent lesson of that sad day is. The 9/11 Commission soon will release its report after months of fanfare by those whose reputations are at stake. The many hours and dollars spent … Continue reading “The Real Lessons of 9/11”

Missing from the debate over the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are the lessons of this country’s only previous attempt to imprison foreign suspected subversives, captured overseas, in special camps beyond the reach of the courts. Then, as now, casting aside legal principles led to injustices while weakening support for the United States … Continue reading “The Guantanamo Camps: a Mistake Repeated”

The situation of the detainees at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo has been taboo for the United Nations human rights system, but particularly since Cuba decided Thursday not to pursue its moderately worded resolution against the United States. Cuba’s ambassador Iván Mora Godoy told the U.N. Commission on Human Rights that his country was … Continue reading “Cuba Backs Down Over Guantánamo Challenge to US”

I keep thinking that sooner or later a cumulative effect will kick in and the American people will succumb to the evidence that the rationales for the Iraqi war and its still-bloodier-than-expected aftermath were the fantastical and thoroughly unjustified. True, the enthusiasts are still out there (in more ways than one), but their case keeps … Continue reading “Iraq Rationales Getting Weaker (If That Is Possible)”

U.S. public perceptions about former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s alleged ties to al-Qaeda and stocks of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) continues to lag far behind the testimony of experts, boosting chances that President George W Bush will be reelected, according to a survey and analysis released Thursday. Despite statements by such officials as the … Continue reading “Majority Still Believe in Iraq’s WMD, al-Qaeda Ties”

“If we have to make common cause with the more hawkish liberals and fight the conservatives, that is fine with me,” William Kristol has told the New York Times. The Weekly Standard editor added that the neoconservatives may just abandon the Right altogether and convert to neo-liberalism. Alluding to his father Irving’s definition of a … Continue reading “Going Back Where They Came From”

Although spying charges have been dropped against a Muslim army chaplain ministering to the 600 prisoners at Washington’s Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, the fate of two others facing similar accusations remains in doubt. The chaplain, Capt. James Yee, was exonerated and returned to his post last week after spending 76 days in solitary … Continue reading “Chaplain’s Release Deflates Guantanamo ‘Spy Ring’ Theory”

Until recently, it was easy to find Sheikh Salim Mejid Jumar, one of Muqtada Sadr’s top leaders in Baghdad. The cleric dressed in flowing white robes could be found most days in the municipal building of Baghdad’s poor and primarily Shia neighborhood Showle. He is a member of the municipal governing council and he came … Continue reading “US Fatwa Turns Sadr From Community Leader to Insurgent”

It was quite an experience to be on the same panel on Tuesday with Richard Perle and Toby Dodge, before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Perle wasn’t added until the last minute, and it is mysterious why he was there, since ours was supposed to be an “expert” panel. Dodge has an important … Continue reading “‘Iraq Expert’ Perle Shills for Chalabi at Senate Panel”

American soldiers in Iraq have trouble understanding the principles that we are told they are fighting for. That is why when Iraqis objected to the seizure of posters of Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, the troops were left befuddled. Engineers from 1st Platoon, Company C “found these posters in apartments and some shop windows.” The lieutenant … Continue reading “US Soldiers Puzzled by Iraqi Resistance to Censorship”