On May 20th I reported that Ehud Olmert told Nacy Pelosi that the USA should impose a naval blockade on Iran. Back in Washington, the rabidly pro-Israeli Pelosi immediately got to work and less than a month later H.CON.RES 362 was introduced by a New York Democrat (what else?) and with no less than 146 co-sponsors. Predictably, AIPAC was a key supporter of the resolution. Take a look at the
The Jewish Daily Forward reports that Congress has passed a resolution demanding that Iraq recognize Israel or loose billions of dollars in US aid: To the many challenges facing the fledgling Iraqi government, Congress may soon add this: Recognize the State of Israel and establish diplomatic ties with Jerusalem, or else risk losing some of the billions in aid that Baghdad receives from the United States. A nonbinding resolution demanding
Press TV reports: Iraqi MPs adamant against US pact: The Iraqi Parliament wants US forces out of Iraq. The majority of Iraqi parliamentarians have written to the US Congress rejecting a long-term security deal, if US forces don’t leave Iraq. New York Times reported that Rep. William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, released excerpts from a letter he was handed by Iraqi parliamentarians laying down conditions for the security pact
by Mizgin (author of the excellent Rasti blog) “It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress.”~ Mark Twain. Yeah, okay . . . I wasn’t going to say anything, but after hearing an overblown, completely undeserved eulogy for the dead Tom Lantos on the local public radio station, I’m not letting it pass. You’ll remember Tom Lantos from Sibel
By Cindy Sheehan “At a time like this, scorching iron, not convincing argument, is needed.”Frederick Douglass “Cindy’s campaign will prove that organized people can beat organized money” Reverend Lennox Yearwood; founder of the Hip Hop Caucus We are a nation that was created by “the rich, white, male property owners” and specifically for “the rich, white, male property owners.” Women and blacks, (who were counted as 3/5ths a person for
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
By Paul Findley There is an open secret in Washington. I learned it well during my 22-year tenure as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. All members swear to serve the interests of the United States, but there is an unwritten and overwhelming exception: The interests of one small foreign country almost always trump U.S. interests. That nation of course is Israel. Both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue give
by Stephen Zunes This week marks the fifth anniversary of the congressional vote granting President George W. Bush unprecedented war-making authority to invade Iraq at the time and circumstances of his own choosing. Had a majority of either the Republican-controlled House or the Democratic-controlled Senate voted against the resolution or had they passed an alternative resolution conditioning such authority on an authorization from the United Nations Security Council, all the
“It Doesn’t Get Any Worse Than That, Ray” By William Cook Ray Suarez (PBS News Hour Reporter, October 2, 2007): “You’re saying that the national legislature of this country, rather than doing the will of the citizens of the United States, passed that Iran resolution, sanctioning the Republican Guard, because of the American-Israeli Political Action Committee?” Mike Gravel (Democratic Presidential Candidate): “Wait a second. They’ll (sic) be some information coming
After reading the very interesting article by Joel S. Hirschhorn “Time to Boycott Voting” I decided to contact him to ask him some further questions about his controversial point of view. He kindly agreed to answer my questions for which I am most grateful to him. ——- Q: Please introduce yourself, tell us about you, about what you do in life A: Though I started my professional life in engineering
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Senate Monday passed a mammoth 648 billion dollar defense policy bill, shorn of attempts by disappointed anti-war Democrats to dictate President George W. Bush’s Iraq strategy. The bill included around 128 billion dollars for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate. The legislation passed by 92 votes to three after Democrats lost several attempts to dictate US troop levels
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s major political parties denounced the US Senate proposal calling for a limited centralized government with the bulk of the power given to the country’s Shiite, Sunni or Kurdish regions, saying it would seriously hamper Iraq’s future stability. At a news conference earlier Sunday, at least nine Iraqi political parties and party blocs representing both Shiites and Sunnis said the Senate resolution would diminish Iraq’s sovereignty and called
Sheik Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah slams vote to label Revolutionary Guard a terror organization by Roee Nahmias and Dudi Cohen “The declaration of the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group is a declaration of war,” Sheik Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Hizbullah’s spiritual leader, said Sunday in response to a Senate resolution on Wednesday calling on the State Department to include the dominant branch in Iran’s army on its list of terrorist organization.
AFP – The US Senate has called for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to be officially designated a “foreign terrorist organization,” a day after the House of Representatives passed a similar measure. The Senate on Wednesday voted 76-22 for the non-binding amendment sponsored by Republican Jon Kyl and independent Joseph Lieberman to place the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, or Pasdaran, on the US terrorist blacklist. Such a designation if adopted by the
Washington – US lawmakers voted Wednesday to split Iraq into a loose federation of sectarian-based regions and urged President George W Bush to press Iraqi leaders to agree. More than 20 Republicans joined Democrats to pass the non-binding measure in the Senate, 75-23, showing frustration in both parties about Bush’s war policy and lagging national reconciliation in Iraq. Supporters of Iraqi partition believe it would let Shia, Sunni and Kurdish
PRESS TV reports: The US House of Representatives has passed a bill that would tighten sanctions on Iran’s energy sector and recognize the IRGC as terrorists. According to US media, Tuesday the US House of Representatives passed a bill only hours before Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s UN General Assembly address. Prepared by Chairman of the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Lantos, the bill was approved by a
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Senate is expected to vote as early as Tuesday on a Bosnia-style plan to subdivide Iraq on ethnic lines, touted by backers as the sole hope of forging a federal state out of sectarian strife. Though the measure is non-binding, and would not force a change in President George W. Bush’s war strategy even if it passes, the vote will provide a key test of
By US Army Reserves Colonel (Retired) Ann Wright “I HOPE IT’S YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS THAT DIE” said US Representative Dana Rohrabacher to American citizens who questioned the Bush Administration’s unlawful extraordinary rendition policies. Congressional hearings provide a deep insight into the inner spirit of our elected representatives-and sometimes, the insight is not pretty. On April 17, we witnessed Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) unleash his unbridled anger onto members of the
by Politico Sixteen of Democratic Rep. Jim Moran’s House colleagues rebuked him in a withering letter Wednesday for saying last week that the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, “pushed [the Iraq] war from the beginning.” It was the Virginia congressman’s latest dust-up over Israel — and one that brought a demand for a retraction by the House Democratic leader, Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland. Moran’s colleagues
From the Jewish daily Forward: Jerusalem – The summer tour season to Israel for American politicians reached its peak this month, with nearly 10% of the House of Representatives visiting Jerusalem in the past two weeks. Forty Republicans and Democrats met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in two separate rounds of intensive touring mixed with high-level policy meetings. This year’s tours came at a crucial moment, as Congress is considering
