Remember all those vicious rapes and senseless murders that served to justify the shoot-to-kill policy declared by state and federal authorities in post-Katrina New Orleans? Well, weeks after the fact, it turns out most of them probably didn’t really happen…. Read moreNew Orleans: post-Katrina violence was exaggerated
Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command in Iraq has been killed, reports say. Iraqi and US officials said Abu Azzam, described as an aide to leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was killed in a joint operation in Baghdad. A US military official said Azzam was… Read moreAl-Qaeda in Iraq number two killed, US claims
From New York Newsday, Sept. 27: Off-duty cop under fire for accident BY DARYL KHAN STAFF WRITER The witnesses’ names were not known Monday, but the stories they told painted starkly different pictures of how a girl died Friday night,… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
On Sept. 19 Honduran defense minister Federico Breve ordered an investigation into a camp the Chicago-based firm Your Solutions was running in the community of Lepaterique to train security personnel for work in US-occupied Iraq. The Honduran daily La Tribuna… Read moreHonduras: Iraq mercenaries recruited
Agents of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shot dead fugitive Puerto Rican nationalist leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios on Sept. 23 in the western town of Hormigueros at a farmhouse where he had been staying secretly with his wife,… Read morePuerto Rico: FBI kills Machetero leader
Ecuadoran troops destroyed a suspected Colombian guerilla camp near the jungle border between the two countries, Ecuador’s defense ministry said Sept. 23. The camp was “probably used by irregular groups” from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the ministry… Read moreEcuador targets Colombian guerillas
Army Pfc. Lynndie England, whose smiling poses in photos of detainee abuse at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison made her the face of the scandal, was convicted Sept. 26 by a military jury at Ft. Hood, TX. England, 22, was convicted… Read morePfc. England convicted in Abu Ghraib abuse case —scapegoat?
Chris Thompson writes for East Bay Express in Oakland, CA, Sept. 21: War Pornography US soldiers trade grisly photos of dead and mutilated Iraqis for access to amateur porn. The press is strangely silent. If you want to see the… Read moreSnuff porn from Iraq
A reference in a recent post on ethnic politics in eastern Anatolia to “the two Kurdish dialects of zaza and kurmanci” prompted the following letter from a reader, which we produce verbatim: Zaza(Sassaniden)’s are not Kurds and not Turks We… Read moreNext: Free Zazaistan?
Reports Sarah Ferguson in the Village Voice Sept. 25: Organizers with the dueling anti-war groups United for Peace and Justice and International ANSWER estimated the crowd size for Saturday’s march on Washington, D.C., at 300,000—making it the largest demonstration since… Read moreVets, grieving families strike somber tone at Iraq war protest
Citing a new report concluding that global warming threatens New Mexico’s water supply, state and local officials are joining with environmentalists in demanding immediate steps to address the issue. The report, Less Snow, Less Water, was released Friday by the… Read moreAs planet warms, US West loses water: report
Violence—generally held to be drug-related—is spreading across Mexico at an alarming pace. The Pacific resort of Acapulco, in the conflicted southern state of Guerrero, has seen some 30 killings this year—many in the disco and restaurant zone frequented by tourists…. Read moreViolence grows across Mexico
