The capture of Saif al-Islam Qaddafi on Saturday has created a knotty set of political and judicial issues. Aljazeera English has video: Saif was indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. At one time the most reform-minded of Qaddafi’s sons, Saif faced a moral test from February 17 when the protest movement took […]
Muslim Brotherhood and Liberals Confront Military Rule in Egypt
Al-Ahram reports in Arabic that hundreds of thousands of Egyptians all around the country protested on Friday against the military remaining in power. The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi fundamentalists took the lead on the rallies, especially in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo. But some liberal, leftist and youth organizations also joined in the demonstrations. […]
OWS under Pressure: Banks Bailed out, People Sold Out
The Occupy Wall Street held a series of rallies around the country on Thursday, in response to the attempt of Mayor Michael Bloomberg to remove their tents and other camping equipment from Zucotti Park. Some 300 were arrested, mostly because they chose to engage in some form of civil disobedience. One central issue for the […]
Serri: Iran’s UN Inspectors are Repeating the Iraq Mistakes
Hamid Serri of Florida International University writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency under Yukiya Amano is adopting toward Iran the same approach as the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and Hans Blix chose with regard to Iraq. The methods and arguments are very similar […]
Gingrich Called for Jail for Politicians with Freddie Mac Ties
Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff on Wednesday accused Newt Gingrich of “corruption” for taking roughly $1.6 million from private/public mortgage company Freddie Mac. When pressed, Gingrich minimized the affair, admitting only to taking $300,000, and insisting that he did no lobbying but rather was paid to give advice. Abramoff insisted that it is clear that […]
Arab League Suspends Syria as Israeli Warns of “Islamic Empire”
The Arab League suspended Syria on Wednesday at its meeting in Rabat, Morocco, and gave the Baath government three days to cease shooting protesters or else threatened economic sanctions would kick in. Aljazeera English has a video report, which came out before AL officials confirmed that the suspension was in effect. Meanwhile, violence continues to […]
Police Crackdowns on OWS Coordinated among Mayors, FBI, DHS
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan let slip in an interview with the BBC that she had been on a conference call with the mayors of 18 cities about how to deal with the Occupy Wall Street movement. That is, municipal authorities appear to have been conspiring to deprive Americans of their first amendment rights to freedom […]
McCain Plays Politics with Obama’s Iraq Withdrawal
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) played shameless politics during a hearing on Tuesday on the US withdrawal from Iraq. McCain more or less called Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta a liar to his face when Panetta explained that negotiations with the Iraqi government to keep some US troops in that country faltered on the issue of […]
Tomgram: Bill McKibben, Puncturing the Pipeline
Conventional wisdom has it that the next election will be fought exclusively on the topic of jobs…