By Arianna Huffington As we all await the Petraeus Report on the state of the surge, we may also need to be anticipating the Allawi Coup. I’m talking, of course about Ayad Allawi, longtime C.I.A. asset and former interim prime minister of Iraq. He’s making quite the PR push to get his old job back, penning an op-ed for the Washington Post, hooking up with Wolf Blitzer on Late Edition
A Global Justice Movement By BILL CHRISTISONFormer CIA Analyst George W. Bush has once again thrown down the gauntlet. The Mideast wars of the United States, he announced to the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention on August 22, must end only with a U.S. victory. He has not wavered in this position since September 11, 2001. The unspoken but real purpose of his efforts has been and will be
by Daniel McAdams Although other bloggers have been cited elsewhere on the Barbour, Griffith PR firm move to replace Maliki with Allawi, they have all missed the point: This is NOT a Democrat plot to undermine Republican policy in Iraq, dude: This is “The Party” shifting tactics toward open conflict with Syria and Iran. Anything else is diversionary propaganda. Case in point: Barbour, Griffith is a Republican firm. No doubt
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
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan (AP) – The leaders of Russia, China and Iran said Thursday that Central Asia should be left alone to manage its stability and security — an apparent warning to the United States to avoid interfering in the strategic, resource-rich region. The veiled warning came at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and on the eve of major war games between Russia and China. The SCO was created
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
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
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
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
by Sam Urquhart for Dissident Voice Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Philippines and Lebanon aren’t the only fronts in the “global war on terror.” Although it remains largely out of the public eye, the U.S. has also sought to open up a north-African front in its fight against al-Qaeda, with equally unappreciated consequences. Regional powers have been emboldened to repress both their own peoples and to meddle in weaker neighboring countries.
This morning I woke up the following three news items on the BBC website: First, the Imperial High Command continues with its policy of blaming Iran for its defeat in Iraq. Second, the “only democracy in the Middle-East” has sentenced one of its citizens to six months in jail for speaking with the foreign press. Third, Iran has lauched a 24 hour TV news channel in English (with an well
There is no better source of information about Palestine than the excellent blog of the Palestinian Pundit. His recent posts outline a systematic plan for the invasion of the Gaza sector, the repression of its main democratically elected political party, Hamas, and the total destruction of that party throughout Palestine (at least that’s the plan, whether it will work is a different issue). First, the Empire is sending a poodle
According to the BBC, Ha’aretz, the Jerusalem Post and others Mubarak, Olmert, Abbas and Abdullah will meet this coming Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh to “discuss recent developments between Fatah and Hamas” and “strengthen moderates and to further the Israeli-Palestinian agenda”. That is all very typical of normal war preparations. First, the Imperial High Command leaders meet in the Imperial Homeland (Olmert, Netanyahu consult with the US Nomenklatura bosses), then the
Looks like the Israelis do not want to release Barghouti, or at least so says Avi Dichter, the Israeli “Security Minister”: “Barghouti is certainly a prominent figure in Fatah and in the West Bank, and maybe also in general Palestinian society. But this man built his status on our backs and with our blood“. Besides the usual bizarre “blood thing” which seems to affect so many Israelis, the man has
While Imperial politicians are still entertaining hopes that loud denounciations will make a difference, a “new Middle-East” (to use Condi Rice’s expression) is definintely being created by the recent events in Gaza even if it is not at all the Middle-East envisioned by the USA. The following are the main changes which have, and are still, taking place: The Arabs are not afraid of the Empire any more. Robert Fisk
Looks like the Imperial High Command has been totally caught off guard by the events in Gaza. Now, a former Israeli IDF Intelligence Deputy Chief – General (ret) Yaakov Amidror says that “Hamastan in Gaza” would endanger all of Israel while the IHT reports that the Bush Administration is considering “accepting the Hamas takeover of Gaza“. While this might lead a naive person to conclude that the White House is
