With Lebanon possibly next in the US crosshairs following the Valentine’s Day car-bomb assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, the Hezbollah militia movement marked the Shi’ite holy day of Ashura with a massive rally in Beirut. Amid requisite chants… Read moreHezbollah next US target?
Writes Israeli left-wing commentator Uri Avnery in a Feb. 19 piece for Media Monitors Network, "Beware of the Dog!": It is not very flattering to be paraded like a Rottweiler on a leash, whose master threatens to let him loose… Read moreIsraeli air-strikes on Iran planned?
In an uncharacterstically strong and principled lead editorial Feb. 19, the NY Times says its "Time for an Accounting" on Abu Ghraib and the administration’s policy on torture and detainment generally. Maybe, finally, a sign that elite consciences are beginning… Read moreNYT: “Time for an Accounting” on torture, detainment
The NY Times’ Feb. 18 front-page profile of John Negroponte, Bush’s appointment as Director of National Intelligence, did at least mention—albeit towards the end, at the bottom of page 16—"allegations that he played down human rights violations in Honduras when… Read moreNegroponte and the death-squad connection
The American Civil Liberties Union has called for creation of an independent special counsel to investigate "torture policies" following the Senate’s confirmation Feb. 15 of Michael Chertoff as Homeland Security Secretary. (ACLU, Feb. 15) Chertoff headed the Justice Department’s criminal… Read moreACLU protests Chertoff confirmation
More horrific claims of rights violations in Uncle Sam’s military prison camps in Iraq and Afghanistan—including threatening detainees who dared to complain of beatings and torture. One Iraqi detainee who was apparently beaten and injured was forced to drop his… Read moreACLU: more torture in US prison camps
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has called for a "coordinated effort" to pass a federal shield law protecting journalists from revealing confidential sources in the wake of the unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S…. Read moreJail for journalists in Plame case?
The US has called home its ambassador to Syria in protest of Damascus’ supposed links to the Hariri assassination before the facts are even in. In response, Syria and Iran—traditional rivals, but both fearing they could be next for US… Read moreHariri fallout: Iran-Syria “united front”
Former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri (and 11 others) were killed in a Beirut car bomb attack Feb. 14. Because he had been an outspoken opponent of the Syrian military presence in Lebanon, suspicion immediately fell on Damascus and Damascus-backed… Read moreWho killed Rafik Hariri?
Here’s what’s really sad: the Kyoto treaty on global climate change which takes effect this week–minus the US, the world’s major producer of greenhouse gases by far–doesn’t even significantly address the problem, activists charge. In fact, some measures are downright… Read moreKyoto: What’s to celebrate?
Robert Jensen of the Univeristy of Texas at Austin has a piece on CommonDreams entitled "Ward Churchill Has Rights, and He’s Right," arguing that "The main thesis Churchill put forward in [his controversial essay] is an accurate account of the… Read moreA little matter of mass murder: Churchill fan doesn’t get it
Madrid’s landmark Windsor office tower was gutted by fire the night of Feb. 12, and much of downtown Madrid remains closed off by authorities. The fire (apparently caused by a short-circuit) resulted in only seven injuries, none serious–but several of… Read moreMadrid office tower inferno: lessons for 9-11
