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Archives: June 2008
Iacocca: Where the Hell is our Outrage?
McClatchy says that lack of funds is hobbling the Republican attack machine. It could be that the country is in such a mess that even rich cranky white people are not sure…Arato: The Turkish Constitutional Crisis and the Road Beyond
Guest editorialAndrew AratoWe should be deeply worried about Turkey’s unfolding constitutional crisis, that could end in many things: the continuation and even conclusion of the long democratic transition; military coup with entirely…Paul: Iran and Energy Crisis
Sunday afternoon viewing: Ron Paul on Iran and the energy crisis. He argues that speculation about a US or Israeli strike on Iran is driving some of the increase in oil prices.The…
Salih Speaks of Horizon for US Troops; Chalabi in Tehran, Criticizes US; Sistani rejects Use of His Name in Campaign
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih said that the al-Maliki government is beginning to think about the "time horizon" of the US troop presence in Iraq. That terminology is awfully close to a…US Kills Maliki Relative; Fadhila Accuses Grand Ayatollah of conspiracy
Ooops. A US military operation in Karbala province at Janaja resulted in the arrest of one Iraqi and the killing of another. The dead Iraqi is said to be a relative of…Addington: They’ll be Watching Me
David Addington, Cheney's legal capo, can't say whether he authorized waterboarding because he is afraid that al-Qaeda might be watching C-Span. Al-Qaeda is this crew's excuse for everything that they always wanted…Huge bombing in Mosul Targets Governor; Awakening meeting 50 Miles from Baghdad Hit
Big bombs in Mosul and in Karma, al-Anbar.Questions are being raised about whether the Iraqi army can hold Mosul. DPA reports that two major bombings in Sunni Arab areas of Iraq on…McCain Adviser Plans Casino on the Tigris
Update: This appears to be a hoax. See comments below.Hat tip to Raed Jarrar and to Rick B at Ten Percent.A 'foreign policy adviser' to the McCain campaign was interviewed last February…"Family Wiped out By US; Mosul: Rapid Downward Security Spiral
Headlines you never want to see: "Family wiped out by US." A US air strike on suspected insurgents at Tikrit went terribly wrong Wednesday, when an American missile instead killed a family…Kelly Kennedy, George Carlin, and the Reason for Traumatized Iraq Veterans
The late George Carlin did not like the phrase "post-traumatic stress disorder." He famously said, ' I don't like words that hide the truth. I don't like words that conceal reality. I…5 US Troops Killed; 90 Iraqis Wounded in Mosul; District Election for Sadr City Bombed:
Guerrillas deployed a roadside bomb to kill 3 American soldiers and an interpreter in northern Iraq on Tuesday.McClatchy reports two major bombings in Iraq on Tuesday. In Mosul, guerrillas set off a…Hansen: Try CEOs of Big Oil for Fraud
NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen called for the CEOs of the oil majors to be put on trial for obstructing efforts to stop global warming and for misinforming the public about the…McCain Aide Wishes on a Star
You always suspected that they thought it. But who would be so stupid as to say it. On McCain's "political maestro" Mr. Charlie Black and how he thinks thousands of Americans being…Councilman Kills 2 GIs; Mortar Fire Kills 10 on Awakening C.
A city council member in Mada'in (Salman Pak) abruptly opened fire on Americans who had been in a meeting with him. He killed 2 US troops and wounded 4 other Americans. He…Saudis Driven into Poverty by High Oil Prices
Aljazeera International explains how high oil prices are hurting ordinary Saudis, driving up the cost of their food and imports. The petroleum is owned by the government and profits go to it.…Clark: McCain’s Threats of Force Disrespect Presidency
Gen. Wesley Clark on John McCain's lack of policy-making and foreign policy leadership experience. Clark says McCain has always been for the use of force, and more force, when a president should…
Shenkman: Why the American People Were So Easily Bamboozled by the Bush Administration
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…16 Killed, 40 Wounded in Baquba Bombing; Women MPs Protest Speaker; Awakening Councils fear Stab in Back
Readers who don't read blogs on weekends should nevertheless look at my Sunday column on 'The Real State of Iraq'.Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Awakening Councils are afraid they will be…
The Real State of Iraq
American television loves natural disasters. The Burmese cyclones that may have carried off as many as 200,000 people offered the cameras high drama. The floods in Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri along the…Baradei: Attack on Iran Would Create Fireball in ME;
The American interpretation of a recent Israeli air force exercise as a warning to Iran that it could be bombed caused oil futures prices to rise and the US stock market to…Sadrist Condemns ‘Eternal Slavery’ to US; 1 US Troop Killed, 5 Wounded; Bombings in Mosul
An American soldier was killed and five were wounded by roadside bombs on Friday in Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad.Congress passed a $161 bn. budget for the Iraq War, with a bit…Ahmadinejad: ‘I was Almost Kidnapped by Bush’
The USG Open Source Center translates an article in Tabnak saying that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is alleging that the US had planned to abduct him when he visited Baghdad in March,…
They’re Baaack; It is Politically Inconvenient to Acknowledge . . .
The consortium of American and European oil companies that had dominated Iraqi petroleum in the twentieth century is returning to Iraq to carry out service agreements aimed at expanding production in four…Doggett Introduces Climate Bill
Climate MATTERS Cap-and-Trade Legislation IntroducedWashington, DC – U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), announced today that he is introducing the Climate MATTERS Act (Climate Market Auction Trust and Trade Emissions Reduction System) to…The Great Torture Scandal
McClatchy and other reporters are abruptly pulling the curtain away from the Bush team's illegal practices in arresting people arbitrarily, declining to offer proof that they were guilty of anything, detaining them…Troops Move in To Amara; Awakening Mounts Party;
Iraqi government troops began fanning through Amara and other towns of Maysan Province in the Shiite South on Thursday morning. Shiite militiamen, having been given three days to put away their heavier…
John McCain’s Oil Scam
McCain is arguing for offshore drilling to lower US petroleum prices in the "short term."It is all a big lie, and a dangerous one at that. Our marine environment and our fisheries…
Massive Bomb Burns Market, Kills, Wounds 126; US Soldier Killed Near Hilla; Debaathification Law Never Implemented
Guerrillas detonated a massive bomb in a Shiite market in north Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 51 and injuring 75. The bomb levelled a two-story building and set ablaze 20 shops. (Courtesy Farsnews).McClatchy…Sadr won’t Oppose US Crackdown on Militia; Al-Musawi Denies Mahdi Army Disbanded; Demands National Referendum on SOFA
Two bombings near a university in Baghdad killed 2 and wounded 23 persons on Monday. 3 GIs were announced killed on Monday in separate incidents. Some 15 Iraqis were estimated killed in…McClatchy Guantanamo Guards Abused Known Innocents
John McCain's attack on the Supreme Court for upholding the right of Habeas Corpus even for Guantanamo detainees was self-serving and hypocritical. But it was also ethically wrong, because the Guantanamo system…Sadr Movement Will Back Independents;
Salah al-Ubaidi, a spokesman for the Sadr Movement, says that it will not boycott the fall provincial elections, exactly. The Movement will not run candidates under its own name, but will rather…Karzai Theatens Pursuit into Pakistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday threatened to send Afghan troops on hot pursuit of Taliban readicals right into Pakistani territory. That threat doesn't strike me as a good development for the…2 Killed, 45 Injured in Bombings Saturday; Sadr To Appoint Special Ops Commanders; Sadrists Withdraw from Provincial Elections
A female suicide bomber injured 34 soccer fans and police in the town of Qara Tappah in Diyala Province, 75 miles northeast of Baghdad. The fans had poured into the street after…Massive Guerrilla attack in Afghanistan; 4 Marines Killed
Breaking News: Guerrillas in western Afghanistan deployed a roadside bomb to kill 4 US Marines on Saturday.Pushtun guerrillas mounting an insurgency against the Karzai government and against NATO troops in the Pushtun…Al-Maliki: May ask US Troops to Leave; Al-Sadr Forms Special Groups to Fight Occupation
First, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that negotiations between Iraq and the Bush administration over a status of forces agreement were at an impasse. He said that the US was asking Iraq…Suspects’ Right to Court Hearing Affirmed; Obama Advisors Clash on Troop Strength
If you liked the Supreme Court's reinstatement of Habeas Corpus, vote Obama. McCain did not like it and will be in a position to appoint a justice who will vote with the…US Airstrike in Pakistan Angers Public; Afghanistan Aid Plagued by Corruption
A wave of anger has washed over Pakistan because the US hit Pakistani troops along with the Taliban to whom it was giving hot pursuit.I don't think a lot of the development…
McCain Confuses Baghdad with Seoul Again; 5 Dead, 10 Wounded in Minibus Bombing; Do Ruling Shiites Want US Out?
John McCain says that it isn't too important when American troops leave Iraq, that the main thing is to ensure there aren't troop deaths. He said that the US has troops in…Secret UK Dossier "Damning" of Iraqi Army
The narrative of the American Right about Iraq is that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is finally in control, that the Iraqi armed forces are performing well, and that in short things are…BBC: $24 Bn Lost to War Profiteering; Security Agreement Faltering
A BBC investigation concludes that as much as $24 billion has gone missing in Iraq, and much of it may have been embezzled by private companies and corporations brought there by Bush:'…Kucinich: Impeaching Bush
Kucinich on articles of impeachment of Bush:Engelhardt: The World According to Tomdispatch
The following excerpt is mirrored from Tomdispatch.com in celebration of the publication of Engelhardt's latest edited book, The World According to TomDispatch: America in the New Age of Empire.The book contains my…US Seeking 58 Bases; Khamenei Tells al-Maliki not to sign Security Pact
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met Monday with Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to Farsnews writing in Persian, Khamenei told al-Maliki that the most important and fundamental problem for Iraq…Moyers, O’Reilly and Fox Gotcha "Journalism"
Fox Producer Porter Barry ambushes Bill Moyers at National Conference for Media Reform 2008, insisting that the NCMR is a partisan organization (it is not) and harassing him with silly questions about…Napoleon’s Egypt in Paperback
Some readers asked me to let them know when my recent book, Napoleon's Egypt, was out in paperback. Well it is out and can be ordered at Amazon.com as well as being…Moyers on the Crisis of US Media
Bill Moyers addresses the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, June 7, 2008:via Freepress.netSee also 2012: the End of the Internet:
2 GIs Killed, 18 Wounded; Al-Maliki Tries to Reassure Tehran; Mudarrisi Denounces Security Accord
The guerrilla movement in Iraq struck with three strategic attacks and several lesser ones on Sunday. A suicide bomber targeted US troops at a patrol base in Rashad near the oil city…The Real Question is, Would a President McCain be good for Women?
A spate of newspaper articles has appeared profiling women activists who are furious that their candidate was defeated and who feel Senator Clinton was disrespected because she is a woman. It is…Iran Alleges US Bribing Iraq MPs on SOFA
The USG Open Source Center translates an Iranian radio broadcast that alleges the US is trying to bribe members of the Iraqi parliament to pass the proposed security agreement with the US,…OSC: Iraqi Government Defends Negotiators in SOFA Talks
The USG Open Source Center reports on the efforts of the ruling United Iraqi Alliance (Shiite fundamentalist parties backing Nuri al-Maliki; OSC calls it United Iraqi Coalition) to shore up the credibility…Demonstrations, Speeches Against Security Agreement; PM Faces Split in Own Party
Thousands of Shiites demonstrated on Friday after prayers against the security agreement being imposed on Iraq by the Bush administration. In Sadr City, crowds set fire to the American flag.Even Iraqi government…Bush Blackmailing al-Maliki with $50 Bn. in US Fed
The intrepid Patrick Cockburn reveals that the White House is more or less extorting the Iraqi government into signing a security pact with George W. Bush. At stake is $50 bn. of…Huge Explosion Rocks Baghdad, Kills 15 [18], Wounds 75; 3 US Troops Killed; Sistani wants Parliament to Approve Security Pact
A big explosion in north Baghdad killed at least 15 [late reports say 18] persons and wounded 75 on Wednesday. Iraqi police said it was a suicide bombing. The US military said…OSC: Former Sunni Insurgent Turns to Politics
The USG Open Source Center reports on the way a former Sunni guerrilla leader of the Islamic Army, Abu Azzam Tamimi, is now turning to civil politics. He has formed a political…The First Web 2.0 President?
The NYT leads this morning with "Obama Claims Nomination; First Black Candidate to Lead a Major Party Ticket." You can see from my headline that I put a different emphasis. I'm not…US-Iraq Security Talks Hit Snag; Mosul Police HQ Bombed, 55 Killed or Wounded
The US is still hopeful that it can conclude a security agreement with the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on the framework for a US troop presence next year after the…Aljazeera: Iraqi Reactions to Security Agreement
The USG Open Source Center translates an Aljazeera segment on the proposed security agreement with the US. Via BBC Monitoring'June 1, 2008 SundayAL-JAZEERA TV DEBATES IRAQI REACTIONS TO PROPOSED SECURITY DEAL WITH…Obama, the Dukakis Trap, and Meeting Sistani
Barack Obama is considering a trip to Iraq this summer. I fear he has been forced into this visit by John McCain, who keeps taunting him on his limited foreign policy experience,…