Nice sentiments. Now we wonder if the good king will abolish public flogging, as demanded by Amnesty International. Dec. 7: MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah appealed to Muslim leaders on Wednesday to unite and tackle extremists… Read moreKing Abdullah: Islam in crisis
We wrote in our last post on the Egyptian elections: The first-round results cast a dubious light on the apparent assumption of the neocons that a wave of democratic revolutions in the Arab and Islamic worlds will bring pro-West “moderates”… Read moreElectoral violence in Egypt
Perhaps some of our Eritrean readers could explain the logic of this decision: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) – Eritrea has ordered the expulsion of U.S., Canadian and European staff of the U.N. peacekeeping mission that monitors the tense border with… Read moreEritrea expels UN troops
Here’s the exact quote, as reported in the New York Times Dec. 7: “I am Saddam Hussein!” the former ruler said repeatedly, shaking his fist. “Like the path of Mussolini, to resist occupation to the end, that is Saddam Hussein,”… Read moreIts official: Ramsey Clark supports fascism
All sides continue to exhibit the utmost cynicism in the increasingly confused Iraq war. The anti-terrorist SITE Institute notes that the self-declared al-Qaeda in Iraq has issued a communique on the Nov. 28 assassination of Sheikh Ayad al-Izzi, a prominent… Read moreIraq: is Iran the real winner?
The December issue of The Broken Rifle, newsletter of the War Resisters International, which supports conscientious objectors from military service around the world, offers this report from a strategically-placed country not often in the news: Eritrea. We noted in our… Read moreConscientious objection in Eritrea
Well, more than 40 years after the damage is done, the government comes clean on the lies that got the US into the Vietnam War. We guess it must be official now that its in the New York Times. But… Read moreTonkin Gulf truth revealed —40 years too late
Another mass grave for the idiot left to deny the existence of or try to explain away—this time in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, near the Syrian border. From Reuters: ANJAR, Lebanon, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Lebanese forces excavated a suspected third… Read moreLebanon: mass graves and opium in Bekaa Valley
Recent reportage raises some disturbing questions about the abduction of the four activists from the Christian Peacemaker Teams now being held hostage in Iraq—Tom Fox, 54, of Virginia; Norman Kember, 74, of London; James Loney, 41, of Toronto; and Harmeet… Read moreIraq peace activist abductions: Pentagon “black op”?
The best-case scenario for the Bush administration in Iraq now is a modicum of stability under a Shi’ite-dominated regime more loyal to Tehran than Washington. In the January 2005 elections, voters trounced the US proxies, the secular Shi’ites of Iyad… Read moreIsraeli intelligence sets deadline for strikes on Iran
Schools and offices were shut down in Bangladesh Dec. 1 in a strike called by lawyers after suicide bomb attacks at court buildings killed nine people. Lawyers and police said the attackers are singling out the judiciary to sow fear… Read moreBangladesh: general strike against terrorism
Rather inconvenient news at a time when Bush is hailing a “clear strategy for victory” (Bloomberg, Dec. 1) and “real progress” (Guardian, Nov. 30) in Iraq. RAMADI, Iraq, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Iraqi militants attacked a U.S. base and a… Read moreIraq: al-Qaeda takes Ramadi?
