Sadly, it appears that the number of American troops killed in Afghanistan this past year have just about doubled the casualty rate of each of the preceding years. Troop deaths of other coalition members are also at their all time highest level. There are currently 19,000 American troops in Afghanistan.
See the [...]
I am reprinting verbatim the following Dec. 30 press release from the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition. In the wake of the recent uproar over NSA warrantless wiretaps, they are taking the opportunity to call for informed people to come forward and do their civic duty by speaking out about government abuses of power, crime and [...]
See lenin at the Tomb on the British Foreign Office’s Cheney-esque tactics in the attempted silencing of former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray. Particularly revolting are the Yoo-like legal contortions of one Michael Wood as he justifies the use of "intelligence" obtained via Karimov’s torture chambers.
And lest any Americans feel smug [...]
Now we’re expected to believe the pollsters, lobbyists and other interested parties that the Pakistanis are (finally!) falling in love with America all over again:
“…the number of Pakistanis with a favorable opinion of the U.S. doubled to more than 46% at the end of November from 23% in May 2005.
…While support for the U.S. [...]
While we’re on the subject of the NSA and intercepting international emails, I’m surprised how few people remember ECHELON.
It’s about five years old now, but the reports of the intercepts of global communications data were troubling enough to spark an investigation by the EU Parliament. The year-long investigation confirmed the existance of ECHELON, but in [...]
With all attention focused on the New York Times’ expose of illegal wiretapping of Americans without the benefit of a court issued warrant, that story withheld for a year, it was not the first time that accusations have come up that the NSA was indeed illegally listening in on Americans’ calls. As this article [...]
Remember how the justification for the US government’s permanent blockade and eventual aggressive invasion of Iraq in 2003 was based on the idea that Saddam Hussein was in defiance of the cease fire agreement that ended his war with the United Nations in 1991?
For the sake of making the real point of this post, [...]
Uh-huh.
Also recommended.
Buried away toward the bottom of this news article are a few interesting paragraphs about the morale of at least one Iraqi Army battalion:
Meanwhile, gunmen Friday attacked an Iraqi army checkpoint in the city of Adhaim, in religiously and ethnically mixed Diyala province, killing eight soldiers and wounding seventeen, an Iraqi army officer said on [...]
Marek Antoni Nowicki, ombudsmen for Kosovo, is notable for being one of the very few international officials to have remained in the UN mission there from the very beginning. But now he’s on the way out, reports ADN Kronos.
He’s also remarkable for being one a very few officials who consistently has stood up for the [...]
At the invitation of the Perdana Peace Foundation, Justin Raimondo and Eric Garris spent the week attending their Global Peace Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We had a wonderful time and were treated royally by the staff and volunteers of the foundation and the other participating organizations and companies. We’d especially like to thank Matthias [...]
From the AP:BERLIN – The U.N.’s lead investigator in the inquiry into the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister said Wednesday he believes a spate of recent killings in the country are linked.
“These are not isolated attacks,” Detlev Mehlis told reporters at a news conference after returning home to Berlin from the U.N. assignment. “It’s [...]
