Month: October 2009

Virtually assuring the election results will be contested with fraud charges, Afghani government will open more polling stations than UN recommended: Afghan Panel Overrides Warnings (Washington Post) Hosting Mustafa Barghouti and Anna Baltzer, John Stewart encounters strong pressure from the Israeli lobby: Daily Show Under Fire for Covering Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Raw Story) As Clinton squares…

“While the new law addresses some of the defects of the military commissions, it fails to bring the tribunals in line with the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions” – Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project: Obama Endorses Military Commissions for Guantánamo Detainees (Christian Science Monitor) Iranian amendments to the agreement include the…

“They will only rise against the Taliban when they are convinced the government means business… But they have never been convinced.”- said Saifullah Mehsud, director of the FATA Research Center in Islamabad: Doubts Abound Among People of S. Waziristan (Washington Post) As Palestinian’s claim discrimination makes getting building permits “virtually impossible”, more homes are destroyed…

Disenchanted by US policy, Foreign Service Officer Matthew Hoh resigned citing failure to understand the purpose of the Afghan War: U.S. Official Resigns Over Afghan War (Washington Post) “Israel is denying Palestinians adequate access to clean, safe water while allowing almost unlimited supplies to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank” – Amnesty International Israel…

Denied by US officials, the alleged incident highlights a “a strong undercurrent of anti-American sentiment” across Afghanistan: Afghans Protest Rumored Desecration of Koran by U.S. Troops (LA Times) As US forces evaluate the effect of troop increases in Afghanistan… U.S. Tested 2 Afghan Scenarios in War Game (Washington Post) … Abdullah contemplates boycotting the runoff…

At least 10 people were injured and another 15 detained as Israeli forces shut down protesters and interrupted prayers: Israeli Police Raid Aqsa Compound (Al Jazeera) Although the missed deadline is likely an attempt to negotiate better terms… Iran Nuclear Deal: How Serious is Tehran’s Balk? (CS Monitor) … Parliamentary leader Larijani believes the proposed…

As some expected, Iran is asking for changes: Iran Fails to Accept U.N.-drafted Nuclear Deal (Reuters) Government threats and intimidation have not silenced Mehdi Karroubi, emerging as the “most defiant opponent of the country’s leadership”: A Lone Cleric Is Loudly Defying Iran’s Leaders (NY Times) Michael Gerson opines that the goal of the Grand Mufti…

ElBaradei says “the big picture [is] that this agreement could pave the way for a complete normalization of relations between Iran and the international community”: Iranian Officials Accept Draft Deal on Uranium Transfer (Washington Post) As Goldstone challenges the US to investigate the “flaws” in his investigation, believing most critics of the report have not…

Although previous sentences of this nature have been commuted, the decision illustrates the state of political freedom in Iran: Scholar Who Was Held After Disputed Iranian Election Is Given at Least 12 Years (NY Times) As Israel attempts to retroactively legalize its aggression in Gaza … Israel Push to Change Laws of War (Al Jazeera)…