Tag: Iraq

Eight Years of Abuses and Impunity in Iraq

A leading human rights group released a report Monday documenting the proliferation of human rights abuses in Iraq since the United States invasion in 2003. Among the most egregious cases, the 102-page report by Human Rights Watch identifies women, journalists, detainees, and marginalized groups, including internally displaced persons and religious minorities, as the most vulnerable … Continue reading “Eight Years of Abuses and Impunity in Iraq”

Iraq Protests Spread to Kurdistan

SULAIMANIYA – At least one person died and dozens were injured Thursday in Iraqi Kurdistan’s second largest city as angry protestors attacked the local headquarters of one of the two ruling Kurdish parties, while an opposition building was set ablaze in the other major Kurdish city. The violence broke out in Sulaimaniya following a rally … Continue reading “Iraq Protests Spread to Kurdistan”

Rumsfeld Revives Old Lies in New Book

Watching Diane Sawyer of ABC News help former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld promote his memoir, Known and Unknown, gives one a definite feeling of, as Yogi Berra put it, “déjà vu all over again.” Listening to Rumsfeld field Sawyer’s softball questions, delivered in a deferential tone normally reserved for sympathetic conversations with senior U.S. … Continue reading “Rumsfeld Revives Old Lies in New Book”

Don’t Expect Iraq to End Like Sudan

The American media continues to tout the reduced violence in Iraq without foreseeing the long-term potential for a resumption of severe ethno-sectarian violence and the absence of mechanisms – à la Sudan – to defuse it. The lull in Iraqi mayhem was mainly achieved by the U.S. bribery of Iraqi Sunni tribes (the “Awakening”) to … Continue reading “Don’t Expect Iraq to End Like Sudan”

All Bases Covered?

India, a rising power, almost had one (but the Tajiks said no). China, which last year became the world’s second largest economy as well as the planet’s leading energy consumer, and is expanding abroad like mad (largely via trade and the power of the purse), still has none. The Russians have a few (in Central … Continue reading “All Bases Covered?”