Posts From The Saker
Democracy Now! reports: On Visit to France, Donald Rumsfeld Hit with Lawsuit for Ordering, Authorizing Torture The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit. This is the fifth time Rumsfeld has been charged with direct involvement in torture since 9/11. We speak with two attorneys with the plaintiffs — Center for Constitutional Rights president Michael Ratner and Jeanne Sulzer of the
Livni behind closed doors: Iran nukes pose little threat to Israel By Gidi Weitz and Na’ama Lanski, Haaretz Correspondents Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said a few months ago in a series of closed discussions that in her opinion that Iranian nuclear weapons do not pose an existential threat to Israel, Haaretz magazine reveals in an article on Livni to be published Friday. Livni also criticized the exaggerated use that Prime
By Patrick Cockburn in the Qandil mountains, Iraq Turkey used its helicopters and artillery to attack Kurdish guerrillas inside northern Iraq yesterday as the Turkish army massed just north of the border. The helicopter gunships penetrated three miles into Iraqi territory and warplanes targeted mountain paths used by rebels entering Turkey. Guerrilla commanders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were defiant in the face of an impending invasion. In an
(Indymedia) A bi-partisan group of Congressmembers have personally apologized to Maher Arar, the Canadian citizen seized by U.S. officials secretly flown to Syria where he was tortured. Arar testified last week before a House panel, the first time he has had a chance to tell his story to U.S. lawmakers. But he couldn’t testify in person. Even though the Canadian government has cleared his name, Arar remains barred from the
Sy Hersh delivers the annual Amnesty International/Trinity College lecture. This is the third year, previous speakers were Noam Chomsky (2006) and Michael Ignatieff (2005). Recorded on 24th October 2007. Click here to listen to the lecture (file in mp3 format)
More Than 755,000 on US Terrorist Watch List (AFP) The US terrorist watch list includes more than 755,000 names and continues to grow, the US Government Accountability Office said Wednesday.The list exploded from fewer than 20 entries before the September 11, 2001 attacks to more than 150,000 just a few months later, after the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) was created in December 2003 to keep tabs on terrorist suspects, according
Watch how Podhoretz is unable to answer his critics at a New York Barnes&Noble:
Probe Finds Taser Use on Student Was OK University of Florida police were justified in using a Taser against a student who refused to stop questioning Sen. John Kerry on campus last month, according to a state investigation released Wednesday. Some had questioned the use of force in using the stun gun against Andrew Meyer, leading to the investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. A summary of the
(Reuters) – An anti-war protester waved blood-colored hands in U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s face at a congressional hearing on Wednesday and shouted “war criminal!”, but was pushed away and detained by police. Rice, an architect of President George W. Bush’s Iraq policy, appeared unfazed by the incident, which occurred when she entered a House of Representatives meeting room to testify at a hearing on U.S. Middle East policy.
By Maya Schenwar The Bush administration’s $196.4 billion war supplemental spending request, released Monday, has Democrats reeling. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd called the supplemental “short-sighted at best,” while House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey remarked in a statement, “It’s amazing to me that the president expects to be taken seriously.” Yet beyond the request’s mind-boggling size, its open-ended aims point to the potentially vast scope of the “war
The Bush Administration is considering air strikes, including cruise missiles, against the Kurdish rebel group PKK in northern Iraq. The move would be an attempt to stave off a Turkish invasion of that country to fight the rebels. President George Bush spoke with Turkish President Abdullah Gul by phone yesterday in an effort to ease the crisis. And Prime Minister John Howard says the tensions on the Turkey-Iraq border will
Cheney Lays the Foundation for War by Scott Horton This weekend the roll-out for the Next War continues. The most remarkable item is a speech delivered by the man who, by all accounts, has aggressively pushed for war against Iran for at least two years: Vice President Dick Cheney. Here are a few take-outs from his speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, up now at the White
by Amy Goodman President Bush has asked Congress for another $46 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The request brings this year’s total to more than $196 billion — by the far the highest amount since the 9/11 attacks. If the trend continues, war funding could top $1 trillion by the time Bush leaves office. By some measures, that amount would exceed the cost of the Korean
“If war breaks out“ By Reuven Pedatzur The next war with Syria, if there is one, will be different from every other war we have known. Granted, there might be tank battles on the Golan Heights, as in the past, but it is doubtful that the war will take place solely at the front, while the civilian rear stays out of it. If, as expected, the fighting expands to include
Clinton bucks the trend and rakes in cash from the US weapons industry By Leonard Doyle in Washington The US arms industry is backing Hillary Clinton for President and has all but abandoned its traditional allies in the Republican party. Mrs Clinton has also emerged as Wall Street’s favourite. Investment bankers have opened their wallets in unprecedented numbers for the New York senator over the past three months and, in
(excerpt, stress added) Q. (…) So taking the nuclear question off the table, is there some other kind of military steps that should be taken to save the lives of American troops from Iranian weapons in Iraq? A. I think we can do some things. Clearly, there is a need to stop the — to stem the flow of that technology into Iraq and into Afghanistan. There is a very
By Scott Ritter Don’t worry, the White House is telling us. The world’s most powerful leader was simply making a rhetorical point. At a White House press conference last week, just in case you haven’t heard, President Bush informed the American people that he had told world leaders “if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing [Iran] from having the
(Moqawama) Hizbullah issued the following statement: “Commenting on the information published in `Al-Safir` newspaper yesterday, regarding the United States seeking to set up one of its military bases in Lebanon, we would like to emphasize the following: 1. These efforts represent a part in a broad plan to link Lebanon to the American project in the region, by describing it as `one of the windows` to the `New Middle East`,
(AP) – Hezbollah’s deputy leader warned the U.S. on Sunday against setting up a military base in Lebanon, saying the guerrilla group would consider such a move “a hostile act.” Sheik Naim Kassem’s warning came days after a senior Pentagon official said the U.S. military would like to see a “strategic partnership” with Lebanon’s army to strengthen the country’s forces so that Hezbollah would have no excuse to bear arms.
Watch this short video about the Lobby’s attempt to suppress any critical discussion of the self-styled “Jewish state” and its racist policies:
