The Pentagon is claiming to be very upset about the photos of a captive Saddam Hussein in his skivvies which grace the covers of today’s NY Post and UK Sun, both owned by right-wing media magnate Rupert Murdoch. The tabloids… Read moreDoes the world really need to see Saddam Hussein in his underwear?
The May 19 Jerusalem Post reports that the Palestinian Authority pulled a link to the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” the notorious 19th-century anti-Semitic forgery, from one of its Web sites. The link reportedly appeared on the site of… Read moreThe “Protocols” and the Palestinians
President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, who leads a Moscow-aligned Soviet-nostalgist authoritarian regime, has got to be concerned about the recent unrest in Uzbekistan–especially coming on the heels of regime change in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan over the past year-and-a-half. However… Read moreBelarus: the last domino?
With the world still trying to get a grasp of the magnitude of the violence that has shaken Uzbekistan over the past week, the Uzbek government claims to have retaken (with no bloodshed) the small eastern border town of Korasuv,… Read moreUzbekistan back from the brink?
U.S. Navy conscientious objecotr Pablo Paredes was sentenced to three months hard labor May 13 for refusing deployment to the Persian Gulf. He was also demoted from petty officer third class to seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy…. Read moreConscientious objector gets hard labor—but no jail time
The New York Times reported yesterday that Kuwait, at long last, has granted full political rights to its women citizens. Better late than never, eh? An interesting irony that during Operation Desert Storm women had the vote (for what it… Read moreKuwait grants women political rights
Nepal’s royalist government May 18 freed nine opposition political leaders detained since King Gyanendra seized sweeping emergency powers over three months ago. Nepal’s Supreme Court one day earlier ruled the politicians had been held illegally, and ordered that the detainees,… Read moreNepal: “normalization” of royal dictatorship?
Luis Posada Carriles, the Cuban exile and accused terrorist who re-entered the U.S. to file an asylum claim, has been arrested by immigration authorities and is being held at a Florida facility run by the Homeland Security Department’s Bureau of… Read morePosada Carriles arrested
There has been a second conviction in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal–once again of a low-ranking MP, Army Spc. Sabrina Harman. The media have made much of her conviction in a court martial at Fort Hood, TX, playing up quotes… Read moreAbu Ghraib convictions: spooks stay in the shadows
The government and opposition protesters are sharply at odds in Uzbekistan days after the eastern city of Andijan exploded into violence. A May 15 AP report claimed some 500 bodies had been laid out in a school in Andijan for… Read moreWhat happened in Uzbekistan?
Allegations in the May 9 Newsweek that U.S. military interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had abused a Koran, and even flushed one down a toilet, led to riots that left several dead in Afghanistan May 11. By the next day, protests… Read moreNewsweek “retraction” on Gitmo Koran controversy: rush to judgement?
The following post was made after an excellent Gideon Levy commentary on Ha’aretz, which blames Israel for the widely expected next outbreak of violence. I’m assuming the poster is authentic because Ha’aretz moderates its comments, and he posts a lot…. Read moreRetired IDF officer: generals corrupt
