In a little-noted but potentially ominous move, Halliburton has announced that is pulling out of Iran, where it has long maintained oil industry maintenance services, exploiting loopholes in the sanctions. The company’s CEO Dave Lesar said "the business environment currently… Read moreIran: Halliburton out, Air Force in?
Former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter argues in a Jan. 25 piece for al-Jazeera that the so-called "Salvador Option" for Iraq has already been used. He writes that in the months after Paul Bremer took over the Coalition Provisional Authority… Read moreRitter on the “Salvador Option”: already in place?
Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News reports that Iraq’s elections are taking place under a "climate of fear," with at least 30 killed Jan 27 alone in roadside ambushes, twin suicide attacks in Samarra and fighting on Baghdad’s Haifa Street, which seems… Read more“Climate of fear” for Iraq elections
The US is petitioning the UN Security Council not to prosecute Darfur war criminals–just another piece of Washington’s ongoing campaign against the International Criminal Court, which could one day be used against US troops or political leaders. Meanwhile, a report… Read moreAirstrikes hit Darfur village; UN: “not genocide”
They did it again. On Jan. 24, the Supreme Court ruled 6-2 that police sending a drug-sniffing dog into a car in a traffic stop is constitutionally permissible, even in the absense of any evidence of drug use. The ruling… Read moreSupremes deal blow to Fourth Amendment
The recent slaying of a Coptic Christian family in New Jersey is being linked by many (on somewhat specious evidence) to Islamic extremists (typical headline: "Jihad in Jersey City"). An attempt by Newsday to shed some historical light on Coptic-Muslim… Read moreJihad in Jersey City?
More violence in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous Northwest Tribal Areas. This time rival clans in a land dispute in Miranshah, North Waziristan, decided to settle scores with live fire in the middle of a crowded market, leaving seven dead. (Bahrain’s Gulf Daily… Read morePakistan: unstable, nuclear
I generally like Hobsbawm, but there has always been a contradiction in hisworks between his enthusiasm for the ultra-democratic movements of theEnglish Civil War (Diggers, Levellers, etc.) and his allegiance to theBritish Marxist soft-on-Russia crowd. This piece reflects that ambivalence,and… Read moreHobsbawm on “exporting democracy”
America’s own homegrown Mickey Maoists, the Revolutionary Communist Party, have found their latest cause celebre in the Maoist insurgency in Nepal (see their special report). Meanwhile, a new Amnesty International report takes both the guerillas and government forces to task… Read moreNepal insurgency: Amnesty International rips both sides
It has hardly made international headlines, but there has been a wave of bombings at Spanish resorts by ETA in recent months–not claiming any lives, but causing several injuries and wreaking some property damage. Now the Basque regional government is… Read moreDeja Vu in Spain: Basques v. Fascists
Baluchi guerillas shut down Pakistan’s top gas field with rocket attacks on the pipeline. Why is nobody paying attention? ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Supplies from Pakistan’s main gas field have been fully restored, officials said on Saturday 11 days after a… Read morePakistan guerillas hit pipeline
If it hits the fan in Pakistan, Bush’s victory in neighboring Afghanistan could be a Pyrric one… From AP: QUETTA, Pakistan – Three rockets fired by unidentified assailants landed in a residential area of this deeply conservative southwestern Pakistani city,… Read moreNext: Free Baluchistan?
