Over at the CIA, they must really be scratching their heads over Eritrea. It is hosting the exiled Islamist leaders of Somalia and is accused by Washington of backing Islamist insurgents there. But the New York Times reports Oct. 5… Read moreWhat is Eritrea’s Sudan strategy?
From the New York Times, Oct. 5: 3 Youths Die in Connecticut Car Crash WOLCOTT, Conn. — Anthony Apruzzese, a 17-year-old high school senior, used to joke on Facebook about his history of reckless driving. But on Thursday the kidding… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Four clandestine armed groups in Mexico issued a communique Sept. 27 calling for a “common front” to “recuperate the fatherland,” which they say has been hijacked by a “rightist usurping minority.” The statement also called for the reappearance alive of… Read moreMexico: guerillas call for “common front”
Democratic Voice of Burma Oct. 2 reports claims from members of the Burmese junta’s Swan Arr Shin militia that thousands of detained monks could be headed for labor camps: Monks currently detained at the government technical college compound in Insein… Read moreBurma: labor camps for detained monks —”energy blackmail” silences neighbors
While the Burmese regime still touts an official count of 10 dead in five days of repression, the UK’s Daily Mail reports Oct. 2 claims of a “a former intelligence officer in Burma’s ruling junta that thousands of protesters have… Read moreHow many killed in Burma repression?
For all the opprobrium being directed at China over its support for the repressive Burma regime, the US corporate presence is going unexamined. As we recently noted, the new Burma sanctions announced by Bush mean no more than a visa… Read moreUnocal still in Burma
A suicide bomber in burqa killed 13 people at a police checkpoint Oct. 1 at Bannu in northwest Pakistan on the Afghan border. (AGI, Oct. 1) The following day, a suicide bomber killed 12 Afghan police on a bus in… Read moreTerror both sides of Pak-Afghan border
Twelve Nigerian troops were killed in a Sept. 30 attack on an African Union base at Haskanita, Darfur, the deadliest since AU forces were deployed in 2004. Thirty vehicles overran the base, with fifty troops still missing and seven seriously… Read moreDarfur: guerillas (not Janjaweed!) attack AU troops
A Sept. 29 AP story given prominent placement in the New York Times, “Nervous Gulf Hears Calmer Tones on Iran,” notes that CentCom chief Adm. William Fallon, on a tour of the Persian Gulf states, is reassuring regional leaders that… Read morePost-neocon Iran strategy: back to containment
Iraq’s bitterly divided political leadership came together Sept. 30 to denounce a non-binding US Senate resolution approved last week that endorses the decentralization of Iraq through the establishment of semi-autonomous regions. That same day, the US Embassy in Baghdad issued… Read moreIraqi leadership unites against partition plan
The Turkish government signed an agreement with Iraq Sept. 28 to cooperate in fighting guerillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who are launching attacks on Turkey from Iraqi territory. That same day, the PKK attacked a military post in… Read moreBaghdad, Ankara pledge cooperation against defiant PKK
At least seven young men were killed in an apparent US helicopter attack on an outdoor Ramadan gathering in the Baghdad Shi’ite suburb of Abu Dshir late Sept. 27. Witnesses say the men were playing a traditional Ramadan game called… Read moreIraq: US bombs Shi’ites —again; Congress funds carnage —again
