Author: Alejandro

Scion of Pakistan’s resistance to Musharraf’s authoritarian rule, Iftikhar Chaudry, exhorts fellow lawyers and other opposition activists to continue their protests, meanwhile Bush continues to criticize the general over martial law, but stops short of saying he’ll cut military aid to the general and is likely to continue this stance: Ousted Pakistani Chief Justice Urges…

CBS investigation reveals that a key human intelligence source of fabricated and exaggerated claims about Iraqi biological weapons capabilities used to justify the 2003 invasion was a scientist with poor academic record and an arrest record for theft who simply wanted asylum in Germany: Faulty Intel Source “Curve Ball” Revealed (CBS News) Seen as too…

Under the pretext of security interests, Musharraf invokes “Emergency Rule”, but uses his de-facto martial law powers to crackdown on the political opposition instead: Musharraf Cracks Down On Opposition (Al-Jazeera International) As part of a move to avoid further legal setbacks and perhaps finally close the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison, the Bush administration decides it…

“At the end of the war, Albania was the only European country with a larger Jewish population than before the war.” Jewish holocaust survivors themselves oversee opening of new photo exhibition detailing Muslims’ efforts to save Jews from Nazi extermination during WWII: Exhibition Honors Muslims Who Saved Jews (Washington Post/Associated Press) Georgetown journalism professor Asra…

Mukasey’s refusal to take a stand on waterboarding as torture wins him praise from President Bush… meanwhile a former Federal district court judge argues, unlike Mukasey, that the Federal judiciary still has a strong role to play in the war on terror, without compromising national security: Bush Backs Attorney General Nominee (Washington Post) How to…

Mukasey continues his ambiguities as he states in a letter to Congressmen and women that waterboarding “is repugnant” but fails to clarify his legal stance on the matter: Mukasey Losing Democrats’ Backing (Washington Post) NY Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman slams neo-conservatives and some presidential candidates for letting fear substitute for facts when discussing foreign…

Washington Post editorial agrees that some Senators are right to push attorney general nominee Mike Mukasey to clarify his stance on waterboarding and other forms of torture, but also argues that the Bush administration and Congress share the blame because the former “condoned torture” and the latter “did too little to stop it”: The Waterboarding…

“This was not only about demanding justice as an outcome, but more importantly, justice as a process. American Muslims increasingly worry that the word ‘terrorism,’ even when uttered as an allegation, is sufficient to trump the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ axiom that is a cornerstone of our justice system.”—Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director CAIR-Chicago Fighting Imaginary…