We’ve noted that Zbigniew Brzezinski is one of the primary exponents of the policy-elite backlash against the neocons, and his emergence as an adviser for Barack Obama says much about the coalition that is coming together behind the Obamarama. The… Read moreBarack Obama pawn in intra-elite paleo-neocon wars?
We’ve noted ourselves that Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate that talks a good line on the Iraq war. But it is really disturbing to see anti-war folks line up behind him uncritically. Nico Pitney notes the phenomenon—without comment—on… Read moreRon Paul: right-wing wackjob
A joint press release from US Labor Against the War and Oil Change International, Feb. 15: Stop the Theft of Iraq’s Future – Iraqi Oil for the Iraqi People In Iraq, the on-going war and occupation has led to hundreds… Read moreInternational mobilization to defend Iraq’s oil
In a “rare burst of productivity,” Iraq’s parliament Feb. 13 passed three key laws and approved them as a package, ending months of deadlock. Two of the laws—providing for a general amnesty for thousands of Iraqi prisoners and defining the… Read moreIraq: “progress” —if you set the bar really, really low
The same depressing story that we’ve heard from Bosnia to Baghdad now reaches us from Kenya. From the New York Times, Feb. 15, “Signs in Kenya of a Land Redrawn by Ethnicity “: Kenya used to be considered one of… Read moreKenya: whither “majimboism”?
Police arrested 24 in Spain’s Basque region Feb. 14 in a strike called by the outlawed Batasuna party to protest the banning of other parties supposedly linked to the armed group ETA. Strikers, mostly teachers and academics, held banners reading:… Read moreSpain: dozens arrested in Basque Country strike
Some 20 FARC guerillas are dead and 30 more injured in ongoing clashes over the past week at the Colombian village of Chaparral, Tolima department, officials say. High casualties were reportedly due to aerial bombardment of rebel positions by Colombian… Read moreColombia: air force bombs marijuana growers?
In a new report, Human Rights Watch charges that Mexico’s National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) is adept at documenting abuses—but has failed to prevent them. Said HRW Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco: “While it does a decent job documenting abuses… Read moreMexico: HRW blasts National Human Rights Commission
On Feb. 11, ski-masked gunmen stopped a bus on the road between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Ocosingo in the conflicted southern Mexican state of Chiapas, threatening passengers and robbing them of cameras, cell phones, ID documents and other… Read moreChiapas: paramilitaries freed from prison —attack bus route?
Danish newspapers this week reprinted the notorious cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb for a turban, a day after three people were arrested for allegedly plotting to kill the artist who drew it, Kurt Westergaard, a 73-year-old illustrator… Read moreNew skirmish in cartoon jihad
Rival mass tributes were held in Beirut Feb. 14 despite bad weather to commemorate the third anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the Feb. 12 car-bomb slaying of senior Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus…. Read moreWho killed Imad Mughniyeh?
From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), Feb. 12: Once Again US Troops Desperately Attempt to Suppress the Voice of Freedom in Iraq The occupying troops have made another attempt to eliminate the voice of freedom from Iraq by raiding the… Read moreIraq civil resistance headquarters raided by US troops
