(By Alice K. Ross) The CIA director and other intelligence chiefs were urged to increase transparency over covert drone operations by members of the House intelligence committee yesterday. Adam Schiff, a Democratic Party congressman, called on CIA director John Brennan, to support an annual report detailing the number of alleged militants and civilians killed each […]
The Death of God in Iraq: 32% of Iraqis not Sure God Exists, 11% think Not
(By Mariwan Salihi) Despite its dangers and taboos in the conflict-ridden nation, some Iraqi youth are turning towards atheism. Mariwan Salihi met a few of them. One of the Iraqi capital’s most vocal young activists, who uses the pseudonym Omar Al-Baghdadi for his own security, is often described as “Baghdad’s Converter.” His mission, among others, […]
Billionaire Victimology is the Worst
(By Robert Freeman) Protesters calling for higher wages for fast-food workers stand outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Oakland, California December 5, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)The Tom Perkins “billionaires-as-victims” charade couldn’t be more surreal. It goes without saying that his comparing the 1% to victims of Hitler’s genocide is tasteless. That it is oblivious is obvious. And […]
How the Media Missed the Story of the Millennium: One Climate Blockbuster after Another
(By Tom Englehardt) Here’s the scoop: When it comes to climate change, there is no “story,” not in the normal news sense anyway. The fact that 97% of scientists who have weighed in on the issue believe that climate change is a human-caused phenomenon is not a story. That only one of 9,137 peer-reviewed papers […]
Ms. Marvel Comics a lightning Rod for Islamophobic Intolerance
(By A. David Lewis for IslamiCommentary) A. David Lewis Kamala Khan is not the first Muslim superhero. She’s neither the first American Muslim superhero, the first teenage Muslim superhero, nor the first Muslima superheroine. In fact, even as the all-new Ms. Marvel, Kamala is not the first Muslim character to inherit the mantle and legacy […]
Gaza Photo Blog: Palestinian Fishermen Idled by Israeli Policies
(By Muhamad Sabah via B’Tselem) Following are images of the fishing docks in Gaza as captured by B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah. There is no denying the colorful sight of so many boats moored in the harbor. Yet in point of fact, the picturesque sight is evidence of a grim reality, with the boats out […]
Dirty Fuel Corporations to American Public: Frack You!
(By Ellen Cantarow) For the past several years, I’ve been writing about what happens when big oil and gas corporations drill where people live. “Fracking” — high-volume hydraulic fracturing, which extracts oil and methane from deep shale — has become my beat. My interviewees live in Pennsylvania’s shale-gas fields; among Wisconsin’s hills, where corporations have […]
US Economic Policy in Afghanistan Doomed it: From Dogmatic Privatization to Neglect of Rural Sector
(By Graciana del Castillo via The Boston Review) . . . The promises made by President Bush in April 2002 to help rebuild Afghanistan in the tradition of the Marshall Plan created high expectations among the Afghan population after the rout of the Taliban and the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. But despite costly international […]
330 US drone strikes in Pakistan recorded in Leaked official document
(By Alice K. Ross) The Bureau is today publishing a leaked official document that records details of over 300 drone strikes, including their locations and an assessment of how many people died in each incident. The document is the fullest official record of drone strikes in Pakistan to have yet been published. It provides rare […]