In a near-explicit threat, Somalia’s President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed Nov. 13 called on Mogadishu residents to help fight insurgents—or suffer in government crackdowns in the violence-torn capital. “My government is doing all it can to save the lives of the… Read moreEthiopia tightening grip on Somalia —or losing it?
In a little-noted move, the US House of Representatives Oct. 23 passed the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007” (HR 1955), which is being widely assailed by civil libertarians. The bill, if it becomes law, would establish… Read moreHouse passes thoughtcrime prevention act
Just as the Kurdistan crisis seemed to be de-escalating, come reports in the Turkish press that Turkish warplanes bombed three villages frequented by PKK guerillas in Iraqi territory near the border town of Zakho in pre-dawn raids Nov. 13. Officials… Read moreTurkey bombs Iraq —again?
David Adler on his Lerterland blog exposes the latest ugly manifestation of idiot leftism—which, unfortunately, seems to be rapidly eclipsing any legitimate critique of empire. Arundhati Roy‘s latest seems to be an advocacy of revolutionary suicide—a cheerful admission that the… Read moreArundhati Roy: please hang me
Spain’s King Juan Carlos (now famously) told Hugo Chavez to “shut up” after the Venezuelan president repeatedly referred to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a “fascist” at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 10. (AP, Nov…. Read moreSpanish king in on ’02 Venezuela coup?
With the despoilation of San Francisco Bay still in the headlines, comes far worse news from the Sea of Azov. This should give pause just after Russia has announced a series of new oil hubs in the Arctic Passage—newly opened… Read more“Ecological catastrophe” in Sea of Azov
This Nov. 9 BBC report on Sudan’s expulsion of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Darfur, Wael al-Haj Ibrahim, answers the question of what happened to the residents of a refugee camp near Nyala, who were forcibly relocated by government troops—as… Read moreDarfur: Sudan dispersing refugees
Um, didn’t we just hear identical news about Iraq? If Cambodia was Nixon’s “sideshow” to Vietnam, Afghanistan is Bush’s to Iraq—largely eclipsed from the headlines, even as it goes from really bad to considerably worse… From AP, Nov. 10: KABUL… Read more2007 deadliest year for US in Afghanistan
From the Reporters Without Borders, Nov. 9: Coca grower leader threatens to kill five journalists Reporters Without Borders today condemned death threats made against five journalists in the northwestern province of Tocache by Sergio Gonzales Apaza, the leader of the… Read morePeru: cocaleros threaten journalists
From the LA Times, Nov. 10: Emergency declared in Bay Area oil spill Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Friday for the San Francisco Bay Area as an oil spill continued to coat some of the state’s most… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Three days before the Nov. 7 opening of the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, a hacker broke into the website of Chile’s presidency and planted the flag of Peru, leaving the site inoperable for some 18 hours. AP reports the intruder… Read morePeruvian cyber-guerillas attack Chile
In contrast to their Cold War counterparts of yesterdecade, who openly embraced any dictator who was “our son of a bitch,” today’s neocons often seem to really believe their own rhetoric about how their global project is expanding democracy. This… Read moreGeorgia: Rose Revolution meets the new boss
