Well, after three years in Pentagon custody, José Padilla has finally been indicted. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, announcing the indictment, tried to be as lurid as possible, charging that Padilla was part of a “North American support cell” to send… Read morePadilla indicted: was “dirty bomb” a dirty lie?
Sen. Joseph Biden’s Nov. 21 speech before the Council on Foreign Relations calling for a phased withdrawal of US troops from Iraq over the next two years is clearly intended as a response to Dick Cheney’s bellicose tirade before the… Read moreCheney v. Biden: some choice!
Spain’s largest ever trial began Nov. 21, as 56 people accused of links with the Basque armed separatist group ETA appeared in court in Madrid. It is the culmination of an investigation begun in 1997 by Baltasar Garzón, Spain’s leading… Read moreSpain: Basque supporters face political trial
On Nov. 16 Rosemond Pradel, general secretary of Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), announced that presidential, legislative and local elections, already postponed twice, are being rescheduled to Dec. 27. Runoffs, if required, will be held on Jan. 31. Haiti’s Constitution… Read moreHaiti: vote postponed again
Two small explosions caused minor damage on the morning of Nov. 18 in branches of the BBVA Bancomer bank in Tlalnepantla and Atizapan de Zaragoza, cities in Mexico state just northwest of Mexico City. According to the Mexico state attorney… Read moreMexico: explosions at two banks; Venezuela dispute in background
On Nov. 16, Brazilian landless workers Vanderlei Macena Cruz and Mauro Gomes Duarte, residents of Accampamento Renascer (Rebirth Encampment), were assassinated while riding a motorcycle to work near Gleba Gama, in the Nova Guarita region of Brazil’s Mato Grosso state…. Read moreParamilitary terror in Brazil
On Nov. 19 and 20, some 19,000 people gathered outside the gates of Fort Benning, Georgia to demand a dramatic shift in US foreign policy and the closure of the US Defense Department’s Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC),… Read more20,000 protest School of the Americas
All of a sudden, the right-wing blogs and pseudo-news sources (MichNews, PostChronicle) are rallying around bogus claims that WMD really were found in Iraq. One who has actually written a book arguing this transparently ridiculous case is Richard Miniter: WMDs… Read moreDittoheads grasp at WMD straws
From the UK Guardian, Nov. 19: The right to rule ourselves Faced with US torture, killing and collective punishment of civilians, support for the Iraqi resistance is growing by Haifa Zangana The photograph of an elderly Iraqi carrying the burned… Read moreWhich Iraqi “resistance” do we support?
Perhaps it is a sign of the turning of the tide, evidenced by Congressional demands for a timetable on troop withdrawals this week. Or maybe it was just the magnitude of the death toll. But after weeks of burying the… Read moreIraq carnage newsworthy again
From the LA Times, Nov. 19: Jewish Group Demands an Exit Strategy From Newsday NEW YORK — The largest grass-roots Jewish organization in the United States voted overwhelmingly Friday to demand the Bush administration develop a “clear exit strategy” from… Read moreReform Jews break ranks with war
Another leader of the Peace Community of San José de Apartado was killed by the Colombian army on Nov. 17. Arlen Salas David was working in his cornfield with his comrades when a unit of the 17th Brigade opened fire… Read moreAnother killing at Colombian “Peace Community”
