Antiwar.com

It was a quite a show at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s worldwide threat assessment briefing on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Committee Chairman Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., outdid himself as damage control officer for fallout from failed intelligence. Sen. Roberts captured the spirit when he told reporters that, although “everybody would have some second thoughts” about the … Continue reading “No Skunks Allowed”

Aerial spraying of Colombia’s coca crops should be halted because of its harmful impact on local farmers and the environment, and because it is not heaving any impact on the availability of cocaine in the United States, three NGOs argue on the eve of the State Department’s release of its annual report of countries cooperating … Continue reading “US-Colombia Coca Eradication Called Destructive, Futile”

This week, Nepal’s Maoist rebels announced plans to raise a militia of 50,000 children by April, amid reports of mass abduction, even sexual abuse of kids, who they allegedly use as cannon fodder. On February 22, the leader of the Maoists student wing, Kamal Shahi, said the decision to raise child militia was taken by … Continue reading “Nepal Communists Plan to Train 50,000 Child Soldiers”

The United States is pressing the U.N. Security Council to endorse a draft resolution that would allow the use of force against "entities and individuals" suspected of trying to develop, possess or transfer weapons of mass destruction (WMD), diplomats and observers here say. Though they say they are equally concerned about proliferation of the weapons, … Continue reading “US Pushes UN to Endorse Preemptive Action Against Suspected WMDs”

Haiti is devolving into what conventional political observers call anarchy, in the sense of being a place where chaos, disorder and violence reign supreme. For better or worse – mostly for worse – as has been the case for most of its 200-year history as a nominally independent country, Haiti’s problems do not arise from … Continue reading “Haiti: Resisting Imperial Temptation”

If Walter Lippman, perhaps the most influential U.S. press critic and foreign-policy columnist of the 20th century, were alive today, chances are he would shake his head knowingly and mutter something like, “Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose.” (“The more things change, the more they remain the same.”) After all, it was in … Continue reading “‘Plus Ça Change’ – NY Times Hit for WMD Gullibility”

Is there a bigger, fatter, more egregious hypocrite on God’s green earth than David Horowitz? What else can we call someone who mounts a campaign for censoring campus speech – in the name of “academic freedom“? According to Horowitz’s own website, Colorado Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation embodying his Orwellian concept of “academic freedom”: “The … Continue reading “The Neo-Authoritarians”

Three days before the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) is due to ratify a Fundamental Law to guide the country’s transition until a permanent constitution can be drafted, 16 Democratic members of Congress have asked President Bush to urgently clarify its strategy for guaranteeing the rights of Iraqi women. While commending Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) chief … Continue reading “US Lawmakers Express Concern Over Threats to Women’s Rights in Iraq”

UN premises are inviolable – and any country defying that sanctity is guilty of an illegal act, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Thursday, responding to assertions that intelligence officers spied on Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "We have seen today’s media reports alleging that the secretary-general’s phone conversations were tapped by British intelligence," Eckhard told reporters. "We … Continue reading “UN Demands Halt to Spying in Premises”

Critics are condemning as irresponsible and illegal the Bush administration’s recent proposal to increase the budget for the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Dump in western Nevada State despite unresolved safety issues and legal challenges. After more than two decades of contesting the selection of their state as the nation’s primary repository for high-level nuclear waste, … Continue reading “Opposition Hardens as Bush Boosts Nuclear Waste Plan”