A tiny, fringe fundamentalist cult in Florida, of the sort that American popular Christianity specializes in producing, has announced that it will burn the Qur’an on the anniversary of September 11 because it considers Islam an evil religion. The group also targets gays and the Wicca worship of the Goddess. This is more cult-like thinking, […]
Archives for July 2010
July Deadliest Month ever for US troops in Afghanistan
Taliban killed three US troops in the Pashtun south with two bombings, bringing the death toll for July 2010 to 63, the highest since W. began the war. Meanwhile, Andrew Bacevich points out that having a big army and lots of state of the art weapons no longer guarantees quick victory in contemporary warfare. //
The Closing of the Zionist Mind
It finally happened. The Jerusalem Post has declared archeology itself anti-Semitic. To tell you the truth, I am frankly worried about some of my colleagues who are committed Zionists having difficulty in dealing with reality in the wake of the severe difficulties facing the Zionist project in historical Palestine. Caroline Glick’s inaccurate and angry attack […]
Dems Souring on Afghan War as 25 Killed by Roadside Bomb in Nimroz
Those opposed to President Obama´s escalation of the Afghanistan War were crestfallen when Congress approved another $33 billion in war funding. But as Richard Wolfe at USA Today points out, the interesting thing about the vote is the 103 Democratic Party ´no´ votes, triple the number who voted against a similar bill in summer 2009. […]
Meyer: NY Times: Saber-rattling Against Turkey
Carlyn Meyer writes in a Guest Editorial for Informed Comment, also mirrored here: NYT Saber-Rattling Against Turkey The New York Times prides itself on being a newspaper “of record’ reporting crucial information for citizens to make informed choices in policy and elections. What I want to know is how NYTimes editors can claim that last […]
Cameron Calls Gaza under Israel Blockade a ‘Prison Camp’
British Prime Minister David Cameron went to Turkey this week and engaged in some refreshingly blunt talk about Ankara’s application to join the European Union (which does not appear to be going anywhere fast), and about the strained Turkish-Israel relationship. Cameron slammed France and Germany for putting the brakes on Turkey’s EU membership, which US […]
War is Theft: Pentagon cannot account for $8.6 Billion of Iraq’s Reconstruction Funds
The Pentagon cannot account for the over $8 bn. given out to cronies in the first years of the Iraq occupation, money which came from Iraq’s oil proceeds to begin with. The reason is that in the chaotic days after the fall of the Baath government and the collapse of the old economy, Paul Bremer […]
Dietrich: Energy and the Future of U.S. Diplomacy
Christopher R. W. Dietrich writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: Energy and the Future of U.S. Diplomacy In a paper written in conjunction with Lloyds of London, Dr. Paul Stevens of Chatham House recently predicted that oil could arrive at $200 per barrel by 2013. As the events in the Gulf of Mexico […]
40 Killed in Bombings of Shiite Pilgrims in Iraq;
Constitutional Crisis Unfolds
Despite Republican senator John McCain’s conviction that “We’ve already won that one,” i.e. the Iraq War, actually you couldn’t say either that the war is over or that things are going well politically in that country. It lacks a new government, the political wrangling is interminable, the apparatus of state is paralyzed, and big bombings […]