It was a very hard choice, but Peter Bergen has given our killing by remote control a grudging thumbs up (Pakistan drone war takes a toll on militants — and civilians, CNN, Oct. 29, 2009).
Not only do the drone attacks “consistently” kill civilians, they also prompt blowback, but as that blowback has yet to reach U.S. shores, well, the price in Pakistani [...]
Tireless Guantánamo chronicler Andy Worthington will be on our side of the Pond over the next couple of weeks promoting his new movie, Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo, based on his research. Here in New York, I’ll be attending his talk at (surprisingly bourgeois-looking) Revolution Books on Wednesday November 4th at 7 pm, 146 [...]
Wednesday, in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas explained to his colleagues the reasons for his opposition to the Iranian sanctions legislation and wondered why Congress would try to undermine the president when he’s in the middle of trying to reach a deal with them (Via DailyPaul.com):
“The Bravest Woman in Afghanistan,” Malalai Joya did two CNN interviews on Thursday. Joya is an elected member of the Afghanistan parliament who has been suspended for “insulting fellow members of parliament” in a television interview. She is articulate and firm in her position that the Western occupation is feeding the [...]
The new film, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS, will be shown in Washington at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center this Thursday (10/29) at 7 pm. Details here. Ellsberg will take part in panel discussion after the film is shown.
The film, which is getting [...]
As Veterans Day approaches, a gift of some good news. Thanks to a lot of lobbying by members of congress and vet organizations, and backed up by great reporting by the Army Times and by hundreds of personal testimonies and affidavits by individual soldiers and veterans, Congress has passed some tough new guidelines regarding the [...]
October 18th’s suicide bombing in Iran near the Pakistan border was the subject of the top three articles in October 20th’s Asia Times.
“Conventional wisdom suggests that the terrorist strike by Jundallah in southeastern Iran on Sunday might have had the backing of the United States or Britain,” M K Bhadrakumar opens the first. Yet “clearly,” he concludes, Obama would have to be “out [...]
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gave an interview to the Guardian today, and the throw-away final sentence is causing a small stir. Quote:
He insisted that the Turkey-Israel strategic alliance – which some AKP insiders have said privately is over – remains alive but chided the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who he said had threatened [...]
Two major bomb blasts ripped through Baghdad Sunday, killing an estimated 130 147 men, women and children and wounded some 520 721, according to reports.
Twin car bombs targeted two government buildings in downtown Baghdad Sunday, wrecking pillars of the state’s authority and cutting like a scythe through snarled traffic during the morning rush hour. The [...]
So what am I missing in Afghanistan?
Isn’t this like a really dumb bank robber being caught in the act (stealing almost a million votes) – and then – instead of booking him on charges, being given another chance to rob the same bank?
The U.S. government and NATO are going to let Karzai take another swing [...]
Military.com has done a story on Sibel Edmonds’s allegations of widespread espionage in the U.S. by the Israeli and Turkish governments and their allies in the U.S. government. For the first time, Richard Perle and Douglas Feith have gone on record to deny her allegations.
BradBlog.com has more coverage here.
Seems like President Barack Obama — Nobel Peace Laureate Obama – has taken his predecessor’s predator drone program and jacked it up with steroids. The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer reports this week that the number of Obama-authorized strikes in Pakistan equals the sum launched by the Bush Administration — in the last three years of [...]
