I spent the summer going to rallies and demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, and was even in Barcelona during their protest. (Nighttime Protest at Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, July 2011) I was in New York city to give at talk at NYU on Wednesday, and I wanted to follow up on the impact of this […]
What should have been Headlines in the Corporate Media: Today’s Best of the Blogosphere
Talking Points Memo: Michele Bachmann’s latest batsh*t crazy conspiracy theory has Lebanon’s Shiite Hizbullah hooking up with Castro’s Communist Cuba. Tomdispatch: A State Department official is being threatened with losing his job for linking to a Wikileaks cable at his blog. Perhaps not coincidentally, he blew the whistle on the SNAFU that was the American […]
Palestine UN Vote and American Decline (Cole at Truthdig)
My column, “Palestine Vote Showcases the Decline of American Power,”, is out at Truthdig. Excerpt: “The United States, castigated by its critics as recently as a decade ago as a “hyper-power,” is now so weak and isolated on the world stage that it may cast an embarrassing and self-defeating veto of Palestinian membership in the […]
Pakistani Newspapers Respond to US Threats, call for War Readiness
The USG Open Source Center translates or paraphrases Pakistani Urdu newspaper editorials responding to the US threats against Pakistan should it not curb the Haqqani Network (Pashtun Mujahidin based in North Waziristan). The US is convinced that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence is running the Haqqani Network to project Pakistani power into Afghanistan. Some newspapers urge that […]
Lindsey “Dr. Strangelove” Graham & War with Pakistan
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a major proponent of the idea of a US perpetual war, now wants conflict with Pakistan. He told Fox News Sunday, “The sovereign nation of Pakistan is engaging in hostile acts against the United States and our ally Afghanistan that must cease. I will leave it up to the experts, but if […]
Saudi Women’s Vote: Does it Go Far Enough?
The surprise announcement on Sunday by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia that women will be allowed to vote in and run for office in the municipal elections scheduled in four years is another sign of the pressure the kingdom is under to reform. Although this announcement wasn’t anticipated, it comes as a result in part […]
Greater Middle East Turns More Dangerous for US
Here are some troubling reports suggesting trouble ahead for the United States in the Greater Middle East, and, indeed, trouble for the region internally: 1. The surprise return to Yemen on Friday of President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been followed by a bloody Saturday. Some 40 persons were killed yesterday in Sanaa, as forces loyal […]
Palestine, Bahrain and US Hyprocrisy
Brazen hypocrisy most often deeply damages the reputation, whether of a person or of a country. President Barack Obama appears to have thought that he could go to the UN with a liberation of Libya and a further postponement of Palestinian rights to boast of, and that these stances would make him popular in the […]
Strange Satellite Craze
The NASA satellite re-entering earth orbit late Friday has caused a sensation for some strange reason. Maybe because people have heard that it is 6 tons, about the weight of a mail truck, or because of the danger that someone might be hit by it. But the six or seven tons won’t stay together. Most […]