Bulgarian Revelations Explode Hezbollah Bombing ‘Hypothesis’

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 2013 (IPS) – When European Union foreign ministers discuss a proposal to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov will present his government’s case for linking two suspects in the Jul. 18, 2012 bombing of an Israeli tourist bus to Hezbollah. But European ministers who demand hard evidence … Continue reading “Bulgarian Revelations Explode Hezbollah Bombing ‘Hypothesis’”

Israel Pins Bombing on Hezbollah to Get EU Terror Ruling

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim Sunday of absolutely reliable intelligence linking Hezbollah to the bombing in Burgas, Bulgaria, last week was apparently aimed at supporting his government’s determination to get the EU to declare Hezbollah a terrorist state. The Netanyahu claim in interviews on Fox News Sunday and CBS’s Face the Nation of “rock … Continue reading “Israel Pins Bombing on Hezbollah to Get EU Terror Ruling”

The Disappearing Terrorists

Night is here but the barbarians have not come. And now what shall become of us without any barbarians? Those people were some kind of solution.– Constantine Cavafy It hardly makes sense to have a global war on terror if there are not that many terrorists  threatening to blow themselves up in Peoria. Terrorism can … Continue reading “The Disappearing Terrorists”

CIA Follies Put Agents at Risk

The transformation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) into a “terrorist-killing machine” using pilotless drones has diminished its ability to perform the function for which it was created in 1947 — to collect and analyze information. Right from the beginning, there was concern that the CIA would become some kind of secretive international police force … Continue reading “CIA Follies Put Agents at Risk”

Alleged Plot Weakens Claims of Iran’s Sway in Latin America

MANAGUA — Claims by neoconservatives and other right-wingers that Iranian influence in Latin America poses a growing security threat to the United States seem exaggerated, at best, with recent allegations that Tehran sought the help of an Iranian-American used-car salesman in a high-profile assassination plot.Overblown though they may be, those wide-ranging claims have been frequently … Continue reading “Alleged Plot Weakens Claims of Iran’s Sway in Latin America”

Hariri Bombing Indictment Based on Flawed Premise

The indictment of four men linked to Hezbollah in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri made public by the Special Tribunal on Lebanon Aug. 17 is questionable not because it is based on “circumstantial evidence,” but because that evidence is based on a flawed premise. The evidence depends on a convoluted theory … Continue reading “Hariri Bombing Indictment Based on Flawed Premise”

A Hezbollah-Run Lebanon Poses Little Threat to US Security

With the rise of a Hezbollah-backed government in Lebanon, hand-wringing seems to be the order of the day in the American and Israeli governments. Hezbollah is a Shi’ite Islamist group that is the only Arab entity to have defeated Israel in armed conflict – the latest installment being a war in 2006. Yet as much … Continue reading “A Hezbollah-Run Lebanon Poses Little Threat to US Security”

The Assassins of Lebanon

Those who believed we would see a significant change in America’s misguided – indeed, suicidal – foreign policy of global intervention, especially in the volatile Middle East, have surely been sorely disappointed by what President Obama has wrought. In Afghanistan, Iraq, and throughout the region, the present administration has simply continued and even amplified the … Continue reading “The Assassins of Lebanon”

Hard Line on Hezbollah Clashes with Political Reality

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman visited Washington last week, for his first visit with President Barack Obama. The meeting was a quick one, tucked in amongst the myriad of domestic issues that are demanding Obama’s attention. Yet despite its brevity, the meeting touched upon issues that strike at the heart of the U.S.-Lebanon relationship — U.S. … Continue reading “Hard Line on Hezbollah Clashes with Political Reality”