Monthly Archives: June 2008 »
NY judge: NSA can refuse to discuss wiretapping
WASHINGTON (AP) | The National Security Agency does not need to tell lawyers for Guantanamo Bay detainees whether their phones were tapped as part of the Bush administration’s domestic surveillance program, a federal judge in
Read More »$2 billion in U.S. aid to Pakistan questioned
By Greg Miller | WASHINGTON — The United States has paid more than $5 billion to reimburse Pakistan for counter-terrorism expenses that have often been exaggerated, if not fabricated, according to a government audit
Read More »Iraq authorities say U.S. soldiers killed 9 civilians
By Doug Smith | BAGHDAD — Nine Iraqi civilians were killed Wednesday in two armed clashes involving U.S. soldiers, local authorities reported. The military said U.S. soldiers were fired upon first in both incidents.
Read More »Oh! What a Lovely (drugs) War
By Ron F | According to UN figures, in the 2000 growing season opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan covered 82,000 hectares. (1) Following a ban ruthlessly enforced by the Taliban opium cultivation declined to
Read More »Zimbabwe and the Question of Imperialism
Democracy Now! | Listen to the Interview Audio stream Download mp3 Criticism of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and the actions of his ruling Zanu PF party is growing. The most recent condemnation comes from
Read More »Bush administration lifts North Korea sanctions
Bush administration lifts sanctions, moves to take North Korea off terrorist list. President Bush said Thursday he will lift key trade sanctions against North Korea and remove it from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, a
Read More »Exposed: the arms lobbyist in Parliament
By James Macintyre | A senior arms lobbyist is gaining access to ministers, MPs and peers inside Parliament using a research assistant pass allotted to a member of the House of Lords who benefits
Read More »Gitmo Detainee’s Lawyer ‘Not Allowed To Tell Him’ He’s No Longer An ‘Enemy Combatant’
Think Progress | Nearly two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that detainees held at Guantánamo Bay have the right to habeas corpus and can thus challenge their detention in civilian courts, a
Read More »Kucinich: We went to Iraq for oil
Press TV | Rep. Dennis Kucinich has accused the US of forcing Iraq to privatize its oil fields and keeping US troops at war to protect Iraqi oil reserves. Kucinich, who has introduced measures
Read More »Five Myths About the New Wiretapping Law
By Patrick Radden Keefe | Sometime today, the Senate is likely to approve the most comprehensive overhaul of American surveillance law since the Watergate era. Unless you’re a government lawyer, a legal scholar, a
Read More »How the Pentagon Turned an Interrogation Resistance Program into a Blueprint for Torture
By Spencer Ackerman | In August 2004, a Defense Dept. panel convened to investigate detainee abuse after the Abu Ghraib scandal issued its much-anticipated report. Interrogation techniques designed for use at Guantánamo Bay, which
Read More »UK uses lung-shredder to kill rebels
Quqnoos | BRITISH troops have used missiles in Afghanistan which suck the air out of human targets, shred their internal organs and crush their bodies, according to a leading British newspaper. The Hellfire missiles,
Read More »A Tragedy Unnoticed By The World
How conflict exacerbates Somalia’s starvation Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says thousands of Somalis are malnourished and in need of urgent medical treatment. This comes as local human rights groups claim conflict in the country
Read More »Fortress Britain
By Muhammad Idrees Ahmad | “The public has to be more alert”, warned one “international terrorism expert” in the Daily Mail late last year, because Scotland “is set to become another Israel within five
Read More »Report: Iraq social and refugee crisis is worsening
By Sandy English | According to a report issued last week by the human rights organization Amnesty International, the plight of nearly 5 million Iraqis displaced from their homes since the American invasion of
Read More »New technique can detect biological, chemical and explosive agents
By Steve Wampler | LIVERMORE, Calif. — Airplane passengers and baggage might be screened one day by a machine under development at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) that can detect explosive, chemical and biological
Read More »American Envoy Is Linked to Arms Deal Cover-Up
By ERIC SCHMITT | WASHINGTON — An American ambassador helped cover up the illegal Chinese origins of ammunition that a Pentagon contractor bought to supply Afghan security forces, according to testimony gathered by Congressional investigators.
Read More »Big Oil’s Big Lie
By George Monbiot | Of course, it’s not a crime, and it’s hard to see how, in a free society, it could or should become one. But the culpability of the energy firms the
Read More »Mind-Forged Manacles
By George Monbiot | Which of these countries has the most prisoners per head of population? Sudan, Syria, China, Burma, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe or England and Wales? We win, or rather lose: I have
Read More »“Blood and Oil” an Important Film to See and Share
ADS | “Blood and Oil” is a very, very well made film that will show you something new even if you already know that – as Dubya admits – the United States is addicted
Read More »Blackwater, skirting federal law, using cache of AK-47s
By Joseph Neff | The private military company Blackwater has found an unusual way to skirt federal laws that prohibit private parties from buying automatic weapons. Blackwater bought 17 Romanian AK-47s and 17 Bushmasters,
Read More »Government Study Criticizes Bush Administration’s Measures of Progress in Iraq
By JAMES GLANZ, New York Times | Beyond the declines in overall violence in Iraq, several crucial measures the Bush administration uses to demonstrate economic, political and security progress are either incorrect or far more
Read More »Facing the Truth About the American Voter
Rick Shenkman, is the author of the just-published Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter (Basic Books, 2008). He blogs at Howstupidblog and is editor of George Mason University’s
Read More »US to carry on military trials at Gitmo despite ruling
Hearings for terrorism suspects before US military tribunals in Guantanamo Bay are going ahead despite a Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the detainees have a right to challenge their detention in a civilian court.
Read More »ONE IN FOUR AMERICANS CALL THEIR WORKPLACE A DICTATORSHIP
Zogby | UTICA, New York – One out of every four working Americans (25%) describes their workplace as a dictatorship, while just 34% of bosses in the American workplace react well to valid criticism, according
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