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Syria: Testing Time
Syria remains relatively calm as efforts to destabilise its government through orchestrated attacks by rebels fail. Life in the Syrian capital, Damascus, seems to be continuing as normal. The streets and the mosques are crowded after the devout break their Ramazan fast in the evening. The security presence is minimal. In fact, there are […]
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Modern-Day Cowboy
Riding “Breaking News” to lasso a new cash cow . . . Hamid Karout is a Syrian cartoonist. This cartoon was first published in Tishreen on 17 July 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes. See, also, Syrian Electronic Army, “Blood Channels” (MRZine, 14 July 2011); Hamid Karout, “Still Trying to Detonate a […]
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The Neocolonization of Libya: Interview with Aijaz Ahmad
Aijaz Ahmad: . . . Europeans, and Italians in particular, are celebrating the 100th anniversary of their first aerial bombing ever done in the world. The Italians bombed in Libya in 1911. Now, of course, with 100 years of development of the technology, there have been 20,000 aerial attacks on Libya. . . . They […]
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Gene Bruskin of USLAW, Live Radio Interview on Tuesday, September 6, 2011, 6-8 PM Central Time
Folks, As many of you know, I’m a veteran of the US Marine Corps, who turned around while on active duty (1969-73). I work with some Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at our university, Purdue University North Central in Westville, IN, in the northwest part of Indiana, just below Lake Michigan. One of the young vets […]
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Cuba Refuses to Recognize the Transitional National Council in Libya
The Foreign Ministry of Cuba has withdrawn its diplomatic staff from Libya, where foreign intervention and NATO military aggression has exacerbated the conflict and prevented the Libyan people from advancing toward a peaceful negotiated solution, in full exercise of their self-determination. The Republic of Cuba does not recognize the Transitional National Council, nor any […]
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UN Troops in Haiti Accused of Sexual Assault
The video is profoundly disturbing. It shows four men, identified as Uruguayan troops from the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), apparently raping an 18-year old Haitian youth. Two of them have the victim pinned down on a mattress, with his hands twisted high up his back so that he cannot move. Perhaps the most unnerving […]
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George Monbiot and the Guardian on “Genocide Denial” and “Revisionism”
On Tuesday, June 14, the Guardian of London published “Left and Libertarian Right Cohabit in the Weird World of the Genocide Belittlers.”1 In this nearly 1,100-word commentary, the British writer George Monbiot attacked the two of us (among others) as “genocide deniers” and “revisionists” for our writings on the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Monbiot also […]
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Libya, Africa, and the New World Order
“The letter was signed by more than 200 prominent Africans, including ANC national executive member Jesse Duarte, political analyst Willie Esterhuyse of the University of Stellenbosch, former intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils, lawyer Christine Qunta, former deputy foreign affairs minister Aziz Pahad, former minister in the presidency Essop Pahad, Sam Moyo of the African Institute […]
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Abdulhakim Bashar of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria: “The Kurdish Parties of Syria Don’t Want Blood Spilled between Us and the Syrian Regime”
Rudaw: The situation in Syria is turning increasingly violent and the western world has called on President Bashar al-Assad to step down. Where do you think things will go from here?
Abdulhakim Bashar: The Syrian regime will not fall merely based on the words and pleas of the west. The regime has made up its mind. Sanctions and international pressure will make things difficult, but the regime won’t collapse. We saw this in Iraq where 13 years of sanctions did not end Saddam Hussein’s regime until it was invaded. Syria is complicated. International pressure may encourage the protesters, but it will not be decisive.
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Washington’s Syria Policy Battle: Interventionists versus Non-Interventionists
Two distinct camps are forming to battle over Syria policy in Washington. The first is made up of the neocons, who are busy fitting the Arab Spring into US strategic interests as they see them. John Bolton, Michael Doran, and Elliott Abrams have been leading the charge in articulating this argument. The second group are […]
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The Morality of the Other Side in the Class War
The Washington Post and Robert Samuelson did their part in publicly passing along the marching orders from the rich and powerful to Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Board. The word from these folks is “No Inflation!” If that means millions more people will suffer unemployment for a few more years, that’s a price that […]
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The Rise and Fall of Libya
Upon the US capturing Saddam Hussein out of a “spider hole” and parading his abject person on TV, Tariq Ali wrote: “My first reaction to the capture of Saddam Hussein was both anger and disgust. Anger with the old dictator who could not even die honourably. He preferred to be captured by his old friends […]
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Libyan Rebels’ Pyrrhic Victory
Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela. His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites. Cf. “Speaking from outside Britain, a senior official told me that — after the fall of the Qaddafi regime — NATO air patrols and a no-fly zone would certainly have to remain in place as a deterrent […]
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Libya News Roundup
Richard Seymour (20 August 2011): “I think we would see a recomposition of the old regime, without Qadhafi but with the basic state structures intact. The former regime elements would become regime elements, within a pro-US, neoliberal state with some limited political democracy. In addition, those calling for intervention in Syria would be strengthened, as […]
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Brazilian Defense Minister Amorim Supports Withdrawal of Troops from Haiti — But When?
One month ago I argued in this space that Brazil should set a timetable for getting its troops out of Haiti, since there is no war in Haiti and no legitimate reason — nor legal justification — for the UN military force (MINUSTAH) to be there. Now Brazil’s new Defense Minister, Celso Amorim — who […]
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FlagMan: The Man Who Removed the Israeli Flag from the Israeli Embassy in Egypt
“#flagman the brave man that removed the Israeli flag from Israel Embassy in Cairo. His name is Ahmed Shehata #Israel #Egypt.” — Mohamed Aboelkhier Video by Jonathan Rashad Cartoon by Carlos Latuff Jonathan Rashad is a young Egyptian freelance photographer, who started his career in 2008 at the age of 16. Carlos Latuff is […]
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Alaeddin Boroujerdi and Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh on What Iran Wants from Russia
Russia Should Pressure U.S. to Lift Anti-Iran Sanctions: MP Russia should pressure the United States to lift the sanctions imposed on Iran, Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Friday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has so far taken important steps in order to create transparency concerning its peaceful […]
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The Key to Progress in Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran
We have long argued that there will not be a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue without explicit recognition — from the United States and other Western countries, first of all — of the Islamic Republic’s right to the full range of civil nuclear technologies and activities, including uranium enrichment. Two recent developments affirm […]
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Who Defends Syria’s Sovereignty?
NPR’s “The Diane Rehm Show” is an excellent barometer. Each day Ms. Rehm interviews figures from the commanding heights of the Washington establishment. Elected officials, Pentagon officers, foundation grunts, academics, media personalities and reporters, and the diplomatic corps all pass through her studio. Syria was the focus of Ms. Rehm’s first hour on 17 August. […]
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Regarding the Situation in Syria: “We Do Not Share the US and EU Point of View concerning President Bashar al-Assad”
Comment by Press and Information Department of Russian Foreign Ministry on a Question from Interfax News Agency Regarding the Situation in Syria Question: Please comment on the calls of US President Barack Obama and EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. Answer: Our position on the […]