by Uri Avnery AFTER MONTHS of a tough and bitter race, a merciless struggle, Barack Obama has defeated his formidable opponent, Hillary Clinton. He has wrought a miracle: for the first time in history a black person has become a credible candidate for the presidency of the most powerful country in the world. And what was the first thing he did after his astounding victory? He ran to the conference
By Patrick Cockburn for The Independent The US is holding hostage some $50bn (£25bn) of Iraq’s money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the US occupation indefinitely, according to information leaked to The Independent. US negotiators are using the existence of $20bn in outstanding court judgments against Iraq in the US, to pressure
Press TV reports: A senior Iranian cleric says the US should withdraw its troops from Iraq if Washington seeks to survive the quagmire in the country. The military agreement that the White House wants the Iraqi government to sign is ‘impractical’, said Tehran’s interim Friday prayers leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati with regards to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) drawn up by Washington. The US echelons are currently negotiating with
Press TV reports that Maliki will travel to Tehran this Sunday for the discussion of “a further expansion bilateral ties” and that he will meet with both President Ahmadinejad and, more importantly, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. So what are they going to discuss? Opening an Iraqi chamber of commerce in Tabriz or maybe expanding cultural ties? Hardly. There is no doubt in my mind at all that what will really
Press TV reports: An Israeli deputy prime minister has claimed that the Israeli regime will attack Iran if the country continues its nuclear program. “If Iran continues its nuclear weapons program, we will attack it,” claimed Shaoul Mofaz. “Other options are disappearing. The sanctions are not effective. There will be no alternative but to attack Iran in order to stop the Iranian nuclear program,” Mofaz, also a transportation minister, told
Press TV just published the following on its website: Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has set four conditions for any security pact between the US and Iraq, top Iraqi politician says. “The cleric stressed that any long-term pact in Iraq should maintain four key terms including safeguarding Iraqis’ interests, national sovereignty, national consensus and being presented to the Iraqi parliament for approval.” leader of the largest bloc in Iraq’s parliament,
Press TV reports: A top Iraqi member of parliament says the United State has asked the Iraqi government to establish 50 military bases throughout Iraq. The draft submitted by the US has demanded building 50 military bases, controlling of airspace by American forces and launching military operations from the bases without prior permission from the Iraqi government, Hassan Al-Sunaid, an Iraqi lawmaker and a member of Prime Minister Nouri Al
(Thanks to Toufic for this contribution!) Bush wants 50 military bases, control of Iraqi airspace and legal immunity for all American soldiers and contractors By Patrick Cockburn for The Independent A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November. The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to
Obama is the same spineless genuflecting prostitute as the rest of them. Judge for yourself and click here to read his AIPAC speech. Ralph Nader is, along with abstention, the only possible choice for anyone with a conscience.
“Israel will not tolerate the possibility of a nuclear Iran” Ehud Olmert, AIPAC 2008 Conference These are amazing words indeed. Ten words which speak volumes and who say more about the nature of the state of Israel then many books. The key words here are, of course, Israel, tolerate and possibility. What exactly does Olmert mean by “Israel will “? We know for sure what he does *not* mean. He
John McCain. He makes Dubya look smart, articulate and almost educated. He makes Rumsfeld look like a pot-smoking peacenik. He makes Hillary look principled. But most frighteningly, he makes Hitler look sane. Though I intensely dislike Obama and Hillary (the latter being at least as sold to the Israel Lobby as McCain), there is something in McCain which makes him truly frightening, a sense of radiating utter lunacy, something about
By Pepe Escobar for the Asia Times WASHINGTON – They’re all here – and they’re all ready to party. The three United States presidential candidates – John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Madam House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Most US senators and virtually half of the US Congress. Vice President Dick Cheney’s wife, Lynne. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. And a host of Jewish
RIYADH, June 1 (Reuters) – Clerics in Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia attacked minority Shi’ites in a statement on Sunday saying Lebanon’s Hezbollah was posturing against Israel to hide an anti-Sunni agenda. The Saudi government and religious establishment has watched with alarm as the Lebanese Shi’ite group’s popularity rose in the Arab world since forcing Israel to withdraw in south Lebanon in 2000 and surviving an Israeli military onslaught in 2006.
Press TV reports that the Political Leader of Hamas Khalid Meshaal has called on Arab countries to forge stronger ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Arab and Islamic countries should consolidate their unity and distinguish friend from foe, he said while addressing a ceremony held in the Syrian capital, Damascus, to commemorate the demise anniversary of the Founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini. He stressed the
It’s official now: even the Iraqi government has rejected the US SOFA. The former Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari also condemned the SOFA as “undermining the Iraqi sovereignty”. Of course, that rejection should not be seen as some sudden outburst of patriotic fervor: the Maliki regime is a US stooge and that did not change overnight. But even a US stooge cannot openly defy a united Shia opposition to the SOFA.
Press TV reports: Pakistan, Iran agree on Jundullah’s fate Tehran says members of the Jundullah terrorist group taken into custody in Pakistan may be extradited to Iran as early as next week. “We are currently discussing the matter with the Pakistani government and there is a possibility that the terrorists will be turned over to Iran in the coming week,” caretaker Interior Minister, Mehdi Hashemi told reporters on Saturday. Hashemi
There is a certain irony in the following: Michael Chertoff, who is a Russian Jew whose name in Russian means – literally – “of the devil” or “from the devil” (Чертов or Chiortov) has declared that Hezbollah, which means the Party of God in Arabic (حزب الله or Hizb Allah), is “greatest US security threat” and that it makes “al-Qaeda look like a minor league team”. How fitting, isn’t it?
The Shias are now taking to the streets in protests against the US SOFA. In the meanwhile, former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer says Israel is planning to attack Iran in the near future over its nuclear program. Is anybody paying attention to all this?!?! Looking at the blogosphere I get the feeling that nobody is paying any attention at all…
Many thanks to Toufic for this very interesting contribution – VS The brightest and best of the presidential hopefuls seeks to extend a cruel, immoral Cuba blockade By Fidel Castro It would be dishonest of me to remain silent after hearing Barack Obama’s speech delivered at the Cuban American National Foundation last Friday. I feel no resentment towards him, for he is not responsible for the crimes perpetrated against Cuba
That’s it. Moqtada al-Sadr and Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani are demanding a popular referendum on the SOFA the US is trying to impose on Iraq. By demanding a referendum the Shias are achieving three results: a) they are completely by-passing the National Assemblyb) they are making the SOFA an election issuec) any referendum on the SOFA will be a de-facto referendum on the US presence in Iraq The Imperial Command is
