If anyone had any illusions that the United States were part of civilized mankind the Bush administration took the additional step of officially seeking the death penalty for 6 Gitmo prisoners. It’s not like the death penalty is anything new in the USA, nor is the USA the only country in the world which still has this uncivilized and useless practice (Japan, which otherwise appears to be generally civilized, just
by Shmuel Rosner, chief US correspondent for Haaretz There’s been a lot of talk lately about John McCain’s problem with the more conservative (and religious) right wing of the Republican Party. In Super Tuesday McCain won among self-identified conservatives in only three of the nine states that were covered by the exit polls I looked at. His real strength is among moderates. The dominant narrative for the rest of the
Belgrade, Feb 9, 2008 – Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica stated today that Kosovo-Metohija is priceless to Serbia, which is why it will not give its consent, in the form of some agreement with the EU, to the southern province’s independence. In a statement to the Tanjug news agency, Kostunica said that by deciding to send a mission to implement Kosovo’s unilateral independence, the EU has breached UN Security Council
The case for a single state solution for Palestine is irrefutable By Hassan Nafaa “Al-Ahram” — – -Is there truly hope for the establishment of a viable, sovereign Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace? Sadly, I doubt it very much, at least in the foreseeable future, in view of current local, regional and international conditions. The creation of a Palestinian state should not be regarded as an end
By Paul Craig Roberts “ICH” — — The Brownshirt Party has chosen John “hundred year war” McCain as its presidential candidate. Except for Cheney, Norman Podhoretz, and billy kristol, McCain is America’s greatest warmonger. In a McCain Regime, Cheney will be back in office with another stint as Secretary of War. Norman “Bomb-bomb-bomb-Iran” Podhoretz will be Undersecretary for Nuclear War with General John “Nuke them” Shalikashvili as his deputy. Rudy
Ron Paul has published a message explaining that he is giving up the race. Sure, he declares his determination to “fight on”, but without a national campaign staff; he wants to focus on his constituents in his home district whom he declares unwilling to “let down”, unlike the rest of his supporters, I suppose. Here is the most important part of Ron Paul’s statement: “Of course, I am committed to
Al-Manar TV reports: The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei on Friday called on Muslim heads of state to join hands to break the Israeli occupation siege of Gaza. “Muslim governments should break siege of Gaza and the Egyptian government and nation have a heavy duty in that concern. All Muslim nations should help the Egyptian government and nations fulfill the duty,” said Ayatollah Khamenei in
By Dr Gideon Polya (Source: Countercurrents via Informationclearinghouse) The United States invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 with the ostensible excuse of the Afghan Government’s “protection” of the asserted Al Qaeda culprits of the 9/11 atrocity that killed 3,000 people. In the light of as many as 6.6 million post-invasion excess deaths in Occupied Afghanistan as of February 2008 (see below), it is important to consider the major problems with this
The Cleveland Jewish Weekly reports: U.S. heading to war in Iran, says former inspector BY: MARILYN H. KARFELD Senior Staff Reporter The former chief United Nations weapons inspector and a retired Middle East diplomat recently warned that America was heading straight toward imminent war with Iran. And while both talked about wrong-headed U.S. policy in Iraq and Iran, they also criticized Israel for its role. Scott Ritter, UN weapons inspector
Some Western observers have recently speculated that recent NIE notwithstanding, a US attack on Iran was still possible. The Deputy Head of Iran’s Armed Forces General Headquarters, Gholam-Ali Rashid, has even reportedly stated that such an attack before the end of 2008 was “probable”. So how likely is such an attack? There can be no doubt that the publication of the NIE has resulted in a dramatic loss of momentum
Al Manar TV reports that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accepted an invitation from Cairo to visit Egypt sometime over the next month. This mark the first time an Iranian president will visit Egypt since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The invitation was extended to Ahmadinejad through the Iranian speaker of parliament, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, who held talks in Cairo over the weekend with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The Iranian student
From Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank Neturei Karta, an international society representing non-Zionist Orthodox Jews, has blasted recent remarks by Yoni Metzger, Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, in which the rabbi called for the deportation of the people of Gaza to the Egyptian Sinai desert. In a statement circulated to the press earlier this week, Neturei Karta called Metzger’s remarks “vicious and provocative.” “Yona Metger is not an authentic rabbi,
Iran Daily reports that on Monday Iran launched a research rocket and unveiled its first major space center, in the presence of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The president said the launch of the first space research center would be a great step toward serving mankind and mark Iran’s progress, IRNA reported. “We witness today that Iran has taken its first step in space very firmly, precisely and with awareness. We need
PRESS TV reports that the US military forces in Iraq had been authorized to cross into Iranian and Syrian borders ‘in pursuit of gunmen’, a report reveals. A classified 2005 document which has been made public by an independent website said the US forces had been given permission to chase what it called terrorists and former members of Saddam Hussein’s government into Iran and Syria. According to Wikileaks, US officials
Al-Manar TV reports: Egyptian and Hamas security forces closed the border between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday, nearly two weeks after resistance fighters blew open the frontier amid as Israeli occupation blockade, a security source and witnesses said. “Security forces have starting closing the border,” an Egyptian security source said. “No more Palestinians are being allowed in.” One gate remained open to allow Palestinians to return to Gaza and Egyptians
by SAREE MAKDISI The people of Gaza were able to enjoy a few days of freedom last week, after demolition charges brought down the iron wall separating the impoverished Palestinian territory from Egypt, allowing hundreds of thousands to burst out of the virtual prison into which Gaza has been transformed over the past few years–the terminal stage of four decades of Israeli occupation–and to shop for desperately needed supplies in
by Uri Avnery FOR SOME days, the country looked like the Place de la Concorde in 1793. The entire public sat expectantly facing the guillotine, waiting for the tumbril to bring the marquis, for the marquis to lie down, for the blade to fall on his neck and for a soldier to hold up the bloody, severed head for the amusement of the spectators. All eyes were fixed on the
Bishop Artemije issued the statement prior to his visit to Washington (source: PRNewswire-USNewswire) Following today’s publication of a Washington Times commentary written by former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, former UN Ambassador John Bolton and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman urging the Bush Administration to withhold recognition of a unilateral declaration of Kosovo independence, His Grace, Bishop Artemije of Ras and Prizren issued the following statement prior to
By Joel Hirschhorn (see his interview with the Saker here)www.delusionaldemocracy.comwww.foavc.org Perhaps a global political apocalypse has already arrived. Activists and dissidents should understand that evil forces and tyrannical governments have evolved. Just as human knowledge and science expand, so do the strategies and instruments used by rulers, elites and plutocrats. By learning from history and using new technology they have smarter tools of tyranny. The best ones prevent uprisings, revolutions
(Note: I think that there is an American saying which says that even a broken watch is correct once every 12 hours. So please spare us the ad hominems about the authors of this piece – what matters is not who they are/were but what they say; or, if you prefer, that even they are saying what they say. In other words, recognizing Kosovo is something which even a patented
