By Charles Recknagel via RFE/RL As Sunni insurgents have swept across northern Iraq, they have sought to win support by portraying themselves as the liberators of the country’s Sunni population. One of their first acts after routing the Iraqi Army from Mosul on June 6-9 was to open up the gates of the city’s prison. […]
Fox’s Cavuto slams Bachmann on suing Obama: “There’s so much Wrong Here”
It’s not often that a FOXNews host takes a Tea Party “darling” like Michelle Bachmann to task for her Obama-Derangement-Syndrome, but that’s exactly what happened earlier today when Neil Cavuto got into a shouting match with Bachmann regarding her support for House Speaker John Boehner’s pathetic push to file suit against President Obama for having […]
Supreme Court Requires Warrants for Cell Searches, But won’t Protect Internet Streaming
Via Electronic Frontier Foundation Justices Rule Changing Technology Demands Limits for Police but Requires Permission from TV Broadcasters San Francisco – The U.S. Supreme Court issued two big rulings in important technology cases today. In a groundbreaking decision on cell phone privacy, the court set powerful limits for police searches of cell phones, ruling in […]
Elizabeth Warren Crushes Chris Matthews, And A Word On Cement
By Sandy Dechert Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, met more than his match last Thursday when he took on lively freshman Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Looked as if Matthews got a bit more than he expected, in the form of a very well-reasoned and remarkably civil tongue-lashing from the Massachusetts people’s choice. A […]
Iraq Crisis: It’s the Oil, Stupid!
By Michael Schwartz via Tomdispatch Events in Iraq are headline news everywhere, and once again, there is no mention of the issue that underlies much of the violence: control of Iraqi oil. Instead, the media is flooded with debate about, horror over, and extensive analysis of a not-exactly-brand-new terrorist threat, the Islamic State of Iraq […]
Cheney’s Blame Game on Iraq: Mess O’Potamia – 300 (Jon Stewart)
Jon Stewart of the Daily Show: “The militant group ISIS quickly gains control of much of Iraq, giving Dick Cheney an opportunity to place blame for the crisis on everyone but himself.” The Daily ShowGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook —-
Obama’s Drone Memo Revealed: US Gov’t can over-rule 4th Amendment
By Sarah Lazare The U.S. government on Monday partially released the formerly-classified Department of Justice "drone memo," dated 2010, in which Obama administration lawyers argue they have the right to extra-judicially kill U.S. citizen Anwar al-Aulaqi in Yemen. Anwar Al Aulaqi, who had been placed on a "kill list," died by U.S. drone strikes in […]
“Ready, Fire, Aim!” Are We Stumbling into another War?
By William R. Polk Analysis of foreign affairs problems often ends in a mental block. As we have seen in each of our recent crises — Somalia, Mali, Libya, Syria, Iraq, the Ukraine and Iran — “practical” men of affairs want quick answers: they say in effect, ‘don’t bother us with talk about how we […]
How WW I, British Greed, and Oil Distorted Modern Iran
By Farhad Malekafzali With one hundredth anniversary of the start of WWI fast approaching, the consequences of the war for Iran deserves attention. When it comes to European role in shaping Middle East, the better-known story is what happened in the Arab parts of that region. There the Anglo-French machinations planted the seeds of instability […]