BAGHDAD, Aug 17 –Washington’s envoy to Iraq has claimed that pulling US troops out of the country could open the door to a “major Iranian advance” that would threaten US interests in the region. Ambassador Ryan Crocker also accused Tehran of seeking to weaken the Iraqi government so that it could “by one means or another control it”. Crocker’s allegations clash head-on with Tehran’s public support for Iraq’s government. Washington
US citizen Jose Padilla has been found guilty of plotting to kill people overseas and supporting terrorism. His two co-defendants, Lebanese-born Palestinian Adham Amin Hassoun and Jordanian-born Kifah Wael Jayyousi, were convicted on the same counts. Below is a detailed report from Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! news show describing what has been done to him: In a Democracy Now! national broadcast exclusive, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Angela Hegarty speaks for the
A pending court case could expose the administration’s torture regime. by James Bovard From the first days after the Abu Ghraib photos hit the airwaves, the torture scandal has epitomized the worst of the Bush presidency. A timid media, a cowardly opposition party, and a refusal by most Americans to face the grisly facts has contained the damage since 2004. But the web of lies and lawlessness is rapidly unraveling.
Tuesday: 572 Iraqis Killed, 6 GIs; 412 Iraqis Wounded Updated at 5:21 p.m. EDT, Aug. 15, 2007 At least 572 Iraqis were killed and 412 more wounded in the latest round of attacks, which included a major triple bombing in northern Iraq. Also, six GIs were killed and three more were wounded in separate events. One American servicemember was killed and three others were wounded during combat operations in western
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned “Israel” on Tuesday against launching another war on Lebanon, saying any attempt to attack the country “will be faced with a colossal surprise likely to change the fate of the war and the region.” “You might say I am exercising a war of nerves … This is true yet my war of nerves is based on truthful facts and aims at avoiding any
By GARY LEUPP Hamid Karzai, hand-picked by Washington to pose as president of the broken country of Afghanistan, says his government has “very, very good, very, very close relations [and] will continue to have good relations with Iran.” He declares on CNN, “So far, Iran has been a helper” in fighting terrorism. Nuri al-Maliki, favored by Washington as the most viable prime minister to pretend to lead the bleeding country
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Salam (Peace) be upon you oh most honorable of people, who made the glory of the nation, you were the makers of the victory, heroes of the resistance, the meaning of sacrifice and symbols of steadfastness. I bless and congratulate you for the recorded victories and those yet to come in the course of mankind’s history and that of
Neolibs and Neocons, United and InterchangeablePhilip Giraldi When it comes to foreign policy, particularly as it relates to the Middle East, there is not a whole lot of separation between the Democratic and Republican Parties. Republicans tend to be more bellicose in their statements, but Democrats have more than made up for that with their steely resolve to take the fight to the enemy wherever he might be. Both Republicans
The Israeli army had become used to smashing Palestinian civilians in their homes, to murdering their emerging leadership, to terrorising pregnant women in roadblocks, and to shelling young kids in their school classes. By Gilad AtzmonSpecial to PalestineChronicle.com “A few reasons help to create the Nasrallah obsession (‘dibuk’), that influenced decision makers along the (Second Lebanon) war. Primarily, Israel always perceived the Arab (leaders) as (private) people rather than representatives
As British Leave, Basra DeterioratesViolence Rises in Shiite City Once Called a Success Story By Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. RicksWashington Post Staff WritersTuesday, August 7, 2007; A01 As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources, deepening concerns among some U.S. officials in Baghdad that elements of Iraq’s Shiite-dominated
Bush, Colombia & Narco-Politics By Andrés CalaAugust 8, 2007 George W. Bush’s strategy of countering Venezuela’s leftist president Hugo Chávez by strengthening ties to Colombia’s rightist government has been undercut by fresh evidence of high-level drug corruption and human rights violations implicating President Alvaro Uribe’s inner circle. These new allegations about Colombia’s narco-politics have tarnished Uribe’s reputation just as Bush has been showcasing the Harvard- and Oxford-educated politician as a
A stable Iraqi state would constitute a strategic victory—and the only one still possible. by William S. Lind Among the bits of lore of the United States Senate is a story that dates back to before I arrived there in 1973 as a staffer to Sen. Robert Taft Jr. of Ohio. A senator—from New York, perhaps—known for depending wholly on his staff while treating it with contempt, told his assistant
How reporters trumped up a story about Iranians killing Americans in Iraq by Gareth Porter On July 2 and 3, The New York Times and the Associated Press, among other media outlets, came out with sensational stories saying that either Iranians or Iranian agents had played an important role in planning the operation in Karbala, Iraq last January that resulted in the deaths of five American soldiers. Michael R. Gordon
By David Ivanovich Washington – More than 1,000 civilian contractors have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion more than four years ago, according to Labor Department records made available Tuesday. In response to a request from Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., the Labor Department revealed that 1,001 civilian contractors had died in Iraq as of June 30, including 84 during the second quarter of the year. So far in
by Robert Fisk They’ve done it again. The Arabs have, once more, followed democracy and voted for the wrong man. Just as the Palestinians voted for Hamas when they were supposed to vote for the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas, so the Christian Maronites of Lebanon appear to have voted for a man opposed to the majority government of Fouad Siniora in Beirut. Camille Khoury – with a strong vote
Where is the War on Terror heading?By Bita Ghaffari, Press TV, TehranRecent remarks by the US presidential hopeful Tom Tancredo have shed more light on the absolute chaos governing American politics. The Republican long shot said last week the best way to ward off a nuclear assault on American soil is to threaten to bomb Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina. The brash assertion even sparked a reaction from
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard The Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions to force a yuan revaluation. Two officials at leading Communist Party bodies have given interviews in recent days warning – for the first time – that Beijing may use its $1.33 trillion (£658bn) of foreign reserves
On Tony Karon’s excellent blog Mark Perry offers 10 reasons why Hamas, rather than Abu Mazen and his U.S. backers will prevail in the struggle for Palestinian hearts and minds. The Islamists today represent the Palestinian mainstream, while Fatah is broken from top to bottom. Even more importantly, Abbas is increasingly isolated within his own organization, most of whose grassroots and mid-level leadership want nothing to do with the U.S.
TEHRAN, Aug. 6 –Iran has manufactured the Middle East’s most powerful supercomputer at the Research Center for Ultra High-Speed Processing of Amir Kabir University of Technology.A researcher with the project’s team, Bahman Javadi, said the project is the result of two years of research, Fars reported.“The supercomputer has 216 Aptron processing units with two gigahertz frequency that utilizes cluster technology and functions in a parallel manner. This computer has 56
By Gareth Smyth, Financial Times The following is the transcript of an interview that Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for legal and international affairs, Abbas Araghchi, has given to UK’s Financial Times. Financial Times: What is the big obstacle to Iran and the US talking to each other? Abbas Araghchi: We had no plan to do so, although the Americans were obviously interested … We didn’t think the theatrical behavior would
