Month: April 2010

“I would rather [have] Palestinians as citizens of this country over dividing the land up,” – Reuven Rivlin, the speaker of Israel’s Knesset: Knesset Speaker Hints at One-State (Al Jazeera) Obama indicates he would not veto UN resolutions condemning Israeli settlement building in an attempt to reignite indirect peace negotiations: US Gives Abbas Private Assurances Over…

“The report…portrays an insurgency with deep roots and broad reach, able to withstand repeated U.S. onslaughts and to reestablish its influence, while discrediting and undermining the country’s Western-backed government”: Afghan Taliban Getting Stronger, Pentagon Says (LA Times) Video footage illustrates a relatively peaceful crowd take by surprise by a gunshot from across a barrier fence fired…

“The Iranians have to some extent succeeded in recasting the terms of the debate,” that it is “more about  … who has the right to control access to advanced nuclear technology” than about nuclear weapons: Why Tehran Courts UN Members from Brazil to Bosnia on Iran Nuclear Issue (Christian Science Monitor) “A network of private…

52 candidates have been disqualified as US Ambassador Hill begins to apply pressure to the Iraqi government US Expresses First Concerns Over Iraq Election Results (Christian Science Monitor) Abbas calls for an international boycott of Israeli settlement goods totaling up to $500 million in revenue: Palestinians Ban Settlement Goods (Al Jazeera) “Everyone feels safer now,” says a tribal elder.…

The parallels between the 2002 push for into a disastrous and unnecessary one-trillion-dollar war in Iraq and our current conflict with Iran are “astonishing”: Sanctioning Iran Is an Act of War (Anti-War) The sectarian system imposed on Lebanon by the French was slightly reformed after the civil war, but some think it is time to scrap…

Sadr says he is “ready to provide hundreds of believers … to be official detachments in the Iraqi army or police to defend the holy shrines, mosques, praying houses and their cities ” with the consent of the government … Iraq’s Sadr Clarifies Stance on Militia’s Use (LA Times) … Meanwhile, the increasingly drawn-out process…

In what could open up the flood gates for routinely removing Palestinians from Israel and the West Bank and deporting them to the Gaza strip: Palestinians Deported to Gaza (Al Jazeera) Boasts of the end of sectarian violence in Iraq are clearly premature: Series of Explosions Kill at Least 58 in Iraq (AP / Yahoo)…

A consequence of no applicable military justice system and that courts civilian officials concede are not up to the task of handling a high volume of complex terrorism cases: Pakistan Holding Thousands in Indefinite Detention, Officials Say (Washington Post) “[I]n 2002 and 2003, .the Census Bureau turned over information it had collected about Arab-Americans to Homeland…

“The real issue raised by the Gates memo is that the presumptive future status of Iran as ‘virtual’ nuclear power, without actually violating the nuclear NPT in any way or doing anything but continuing their civilian nuclear program, would be sufficient justification for a military attack”: Gates Memo Sought ‘Military Options’ Against Iran (Anti War)…

Less than enthusiastic about the news, an Iraqi shopkeeper says, “Al-Qaeda can replace their leaders, and terrorism and violence will not end in Iraq….. We care about job opportunities and a new government forming soon that won’t be as greedy” … Two Top Leaders of the Insurgent Group al-Qaeda in Iraq are Killed in Raid…