Month: May 2008

Israel uses gunfire and teargas on protestors against the siege, while U.S. caves to Israeli interference on scholarship students: Israel Uses Gunfire to Repel Hamas Border Rally (Reuters) U.S. Withdraws Fulbright Grants to Gaza (NY Times) U.S., Russia, Pakistan, India, China and Israel reject ban on weapon used by last when it dropped one million…

Foreign aid offered as a substitute for justice raises concerns that “The worst thing that could happen in Paris is an effort that essentially subsidizes the status quo” … International Donors are Cautiously Optimistic on Eve of Palestinian Aid Meeting (Christian Science Monitor) … but a U.S. Scientist will donate part of his Israeli Math…

Commerce is the key to peace, but Israel refuses to comment on its year-od continuing delay in the release of Palestinian telecomm frequencies: Palestinian Cell Service Still on Hold (Christian Science Monitor) McClellan writes that while Iraq was a “serious strategic blunder,” the “biggest mistake the Bush White House made … was ‘a decision to…

Zbignew Brzezinski and William Odom map out  a better way to deal with Iran … A Sensible Path on Iran (Washington Post) … as the credibility of the Bush administration continues to be strained by its shunning of Iran while engaging with a country it accuses of genocide … Bush Straddles His Hard Line in…

By trading with all sides Qatar enabled Qatar to mediate the Lebanese crisis: Why Qatar is Emerging as Middle East Peacemaker (Christian Science Monitor) Lebanon’s Suleiman Set to Become President (Reuters) Add the global food crisis to complications in Afghanistan: Afghanistan Adds Hunger to Its Worries (Washington Post) With the improved security situation the U.S.…

Content to keeping his opposition to the occupation private in the past, Ayatollah Sistani, is increasingly voicing his opinion publicly… Powerful Iraqi Cleric Flirting With Shiite Militant Message (Associated Press/Wiredispatch) … while a recent Pentagon financial audit shows the lack of accountability in contractor spending adds more costs to the occupation: Iraq Spending Ignored Rules,…

A NY Times editorial demands a full congressional inquiry over why the concerns from FBI agents and career DoJ officials about torture did not register with the White House… What the F.B.I. Agents Saw (New York Times) Interrogation Tactics Were Challenged at White House (Washington Post) …just as former detainee Mura Kurnaz tells of his…

Violence and tensions in the Levant ebbing? Lebanon appears to be getting its house back in order, ending eighteen months of political deadlock… Lebanese Political Factions Reach Agreement (Washington Post) …meanwhile Hamas and Israel look to be nearing a ceasefire agreement… Hamas, Israel Appear on Brink of Cease-Fire (Christian Science Monitor) …and Syria and Israel…

Drawdown of troops in Iraq reverts back to pre-“surge” number at which it is expected to remain until at least the end of Bush’s term… New Troops in Iraq Will Keep Number at 140,000 (Washington Post) …meanwhile US support for Sunni militias temporarily reduces overall violence, but also opens the door for armed criminal extortion…

In statements pregnant with hypocrisy, both Bush and Bin Laden slam Arab governments for their authoritarian policies and Israel’s violent repression Muslim Palestinians repectively … Bush’s Speech Prods Middle East Leaders (New York Times) …meanwhile Americans of various political orientations continue to fight Bush’s erosion of domestic civil liberties… NBC’s Lauer Falsely Suggested Only “The…