Antiwar.com

What’s in a day? In the US, certain dates have come to mean certain things: July 4 is about freedom, even if only in theory; December 7 stands for a surprise attack, despite evidence to the contrary; and September 11 has become shorthand for terrorism writ large. The French still faithfully celebrate July 14, the … Continue reading “On St. Vitus Day”

I call my colleagues’ attention to a recent article by Scott Ritter, former chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq, published in the Los Angeles Times. In this article, Mr. Ritter makes a salient point that deserves careful and serious consideration in this body: how will it be possible to achieve the stated administration goal of … Continue reading “Inspection or Invasion in Iraq?”

After months of teeter-tottering between fairness to the Palestinians and complete prostration before Israel’s amen corner in the US, George W. Bush has come down decisively on the side of the latter – and the so-called war on terrorism has taken a new and ominous turn. It was pathetic, really, to see that Chairman Arafat … Continue reading “‘AMEN TO THAT!’”

Did America’s newly discovered ally, India, cry wolf (that is, deliberately exaggerate tentative indications of the presence of Al-Qaeda in Kashmir) to get the United States to intervene sympathetically on its behalf and secure a commitment from Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf to end “cross-border infiltration” of militants? Although there is no irrefutable proof of this, … Continue reading “Did India Cry Wolf to Secure US Intervention?”

It was eerie to actually see the scene of a story I have written about on more than one occasion, to see and hear the people I had only read about and, vaguely, imagined. On Friday night, the ABC News program 20/20 broadcast “The White Van,” which told the story of 5 young Israeli men … Continue reading “BABA WAWA’S WHITEWASH”

Before I fell ill, I had last week meant to write about how what Britain leaving the EU would entail. I would like to be able to tell you that whilst lying on a bed of pain, a series of hallucinatory visions about the nature of foreign policy occurred to me, and hence why, again, … Continue reading “Getting Bogged Down”

By choosing to nominate APJ Abdul Kalam as its candidate for Presidential elections next month, the Vajpayee government has sent out an unambiguous message: It has no compunctions in making an appeal to crass militarism to advance its narrow parochial interests. And by going along with the nomination or co-sponsoring it, the bulk of India’s … Continue reading “‘Missile Man’ as India’s President”

RETRACTION In the following column, I wrote about Sibel Edmonds, a wiretap translator formerly employed by the FBI who has stepped forward with allegations about infiltration of the FBI by a mysterious "Middle Eastern country." Citing "a trusted source," I wrote: "According to his Justice Department sources, the mysterious “Middle Eastern country” the [Washington] Post … Continue reading “TREASON IS THE REASON”

After the visits of Richard Armitage and Donald Rumsfeld, which formalised the commitments made by Islamabad and New Delhi to their American mediators or “facilitators”, the threat of overt war has diminished in South Asia – although it has by no means disappeared. A new triumphalism is now discernible in parts of political India, and … Continue reading “The Relevance of Détente”

Here in the Twin Cities Governor Jesse Ventura has just announced that he will not run next term, to everybody’s surprise. His was a reign of frustration and entertainment and I am one of the few who will miss him. His replacement will surely be boring and bursting with platitudes. One of the last great … Continue reading “Ties That Bind”