In his 2002 State of the Union address George W. Bush mentioned North Korea as a member of the “Axis of Evil” along with Iran and Iraq. It was an obvious ploy to shore up support for the eventual war in Iraq as North Korea later went largely ignored. It was even officiallyremoved from the [...]
Continue reading about Secretary Clinton critical of Bush Administration mistakes toward N. Korea
“‘I think this is called a successful multilateral coalition of states that have the same view’ that Iran should be rewarded for its cooperation or isolated for its defiance, Rice said.
She added: ‘I would like to see what other options there are for the international community, given that this policy is one that I think [...]
I take it this is Bush’s strategy to jump-start the US economy?
As Congress and the public focus on more than $600 billion already approved in supplemental budgets to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for counterterrorism operations, the Bush administration has with little notice reached a landmark in military spending.
When the Pentagon [...]
Continue reading about US military spending reaches levels of WWII
This is something only Bush can pull off: photo op with the Dalai Lama, justifying torture and rallying for war with Iran at the same time. Check out the picture in combination with the hedlines on the right right on the NY Times site:
Come along, come along
the end of Vietnam war
dirty smart bombs and napalm
and US army whores
come along, come along
hey baby don’t be late
come along, come along
let’s celebrate Watergate
Come along, come along,
Poor Nixon’s in his home,
Come along, come along
Sitting under Teapot Dome
come along come along
forget their heroin
smoke some grass and relax
and forget your bloody wine
come along, all-americans
and [...]
They grow up so fast. Soon it will be a teenager and will start to be difficult: Middle-eastern news station Al Jazeera is turning 10 years old today. link
For a peek behind the scenes at this extraordinary network, watch the documentary Control Room. It’s quite good.
Ever since former Secretary of State James Baker showed up on the Daily Show last week (watch the excellent interview here.) I have been wondering what those “alternatives” are he is supposedly is coming up with for the Bush administration to fix Iraq. And why is his groups paper coming out AFTER the election? Are [...]
BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has underlined there can be “no military option” for dealing with Iran’s nuclear programme, a spokesman said Monday.
“The door for negotiations remains open,” said chief German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm.
Wilhelm added: “The chancellor has expressed the view that there is no military option.”
US President George W. [...]
Continue reading about Merkel rules out military option for dealing with Iran
Not part of the plan, I take it? (Of course not. We all know there isn’t even a plan. This is the Bush administration we’re talking about here.)
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 4 — More than 100,000 followers of the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr marched today to show support for Hezbollah, denouncing Israel and the United [...]
Continue reading about 100,000 March Against U.S. and Israel in Baghdad
I wouldn’t want to give the impression I do not feel for the Israelis who have been living in fear for the last fifty years, give or take a few millennia. The BBC, being the journalistic demigods with far reach that they are, have this quite touching story about how the inhabitants of Haifa, Israel, [...]
British PM Tony Blair joins Israel, Bush in blaming Iran:
Tony Blair has accused Iran of supplying weapons to attack UK troops in Iraq, and of giving arms to Hezbollah so it could target Israel.
In a statement, he told MPs it was important to implement a 2004 UN resolution calling for Hezbollah to be disbanded and [...]
Continue reading about Blair accuses Iran of arms supply to Hezbollah
How could the “crisis” in Israel/Lebanon/Gaza get any worse? President Bush accused Iran of orchestrating Hezbollah through its contacts in Syria, thereby being the Big Bad behind it all:
“Syria is trying to get back into Lebanon, it looks like to me. We passed the United Nations Resolution 1559 and finally this young democracy became whole [...]
General Casey demontrates how close we are to go to war with Iran:
The BBC has more saber rattling here.
In the days immediately following the attacks of Sept. 11, the world overwhelmingly stood with the United States. The French newspaper Le Monde even wrote on Sept. 12, “Today we are all Americans,” to express a sentiment felt throughout the world: If America’s freedom was being attacked, so was the freedom of anyone in the [...]
President Bush in a press conference this afternoon:
The doctrine of prevention is to work together to prevent the Iranians from having a nuclear weapon. I know — I know here in Washington prevention means force. It doesn’t mean force, necessarily. In this case, it means diplomacy. And by the way, I read the articles in [...]
At first I thought I was seeing an early April Fools’ joke - after all, admitting mistakes is the last thing I expect a member of President George W. Bush’s Cabinet to do. But the headline on the BBC’s Web site, “Rice admits multiple Iraq errors,” was not meant to be funny, even though everything [...]
Continue reading about Secretary of state will not cure ills caused by president
Just saw this caption under a photo depicting the mauhem and protests surrounding President Bush’s trip to India in the St. Petersburg Times:
As the president tries diplomacy, protesters chant “Death to Bush” and hold a mock funeral.
I know what you are thinking: He is trying diplomacy?
You’d think a self-proclaimed fan of freedom such as President George W. Bush would be onboard when it came to banning torture. But his recent threat to veto a bill that would effectively ban U.S. personnel from engaging in torture is proof that the president is trying to keep doors open that should never have [...]
“The use of force is the last option for any president. You know we have used force in the recent past to secure our country,” (President Bush) said in a clear reference to Iraq, which the United States invaded in March 2003. AFP
Oh the irony… First we are told that Iraq has weapons of mass [...]
Continue reading about Bush refuses to rule out force against Iran
Earlier this week, Newsweek retracted a story in which it claimed that the Koran had been desecrated by U.S. officials to pressure inmates at Guantanamo Bay. Bush administration officials were quick to blame Newsweek for the international backlash against the United States and claimed the ill will such nations harbor is the fault of the [...]
The situation in Iraq can be best characterized by telling the tale of Ahmed Chalabi. After being one of the main lobbyists for the war and a main source for the claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Chalabi had a falling out with the U.S. administration, only to become one of the big [...]
Continue reading about The amazing adventures of Ahmed Chalabi
“I have told our European friends who are handling the negotiations on behalf of the rest of the world that we want to help make sure the process goes forward, and we’re looking at ways [to do this],” President Bush after meeting with the IAEA, Tursday. BBC
Seems like the only choice, since invasion apparently is [...]
Is Syria trying to play nice now? (emphasis added)
The Iraqi government said today that it had imprisoned a half-brother of Saddam Hussein, a suspected major financier of the insurgency and for several years the head of the country’s domestic intelligence and security service, once the most feared agency in Iraq.
The half-brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, [...]
Continue reading about Syria hands over Saddam’ s half-brother
Israel is officially blaming Syria for the suicide bombing that occurred in Tel Aviv on Friday, killing five.
The U.S. ambassador to Syria was already recalled after the attack that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Iran soon thereafter vowed it would back Syria if the U.S. showed any plans to take on Syria.
Last Sunday [...]
