Some 2000 protesters came out in Qandahar on Friday, meeting police fire that left 9 dead and 73 injured, when they protested the burning of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, by a crazed American pastor. In the northern city of Mazar-i Sharif, thousands demonstrated, and a mob attacked a UN outpost and killed 5, […]
7 Dead in Syria Unrest
Smaller than expected protests were held in Syria on Friday that were nevertheless met with deadly force that left between 7 and 10 dead. An alleged 5000 come out in the southern city of Deraa and some 2000 in the Duma suburb of Damascus. Al-Sharq al-Awsat says that for the first time there were also […]
Libya Rebels: Reject Violence, Terrorism, Give Rights to Minorities
The USG Open Source Center in conjunction with the BBC translates a broadcast of the Libyan liberation movement in Benghazi on Friday that emphasizes the rebels’ commitment to religious and ethnic tolerance: The Interim National Committee said in a communique, “The state we want rejects violence, terrorism and fanaticism, and respects human rights and the […]
Defections, US Withdrawal Point to Political Solution in Libya
The United States is ending its active involvement in the UN-authorized air raids to stop dictator Muammar Qaddafi from massacring dissidents. NATO says it is against arming the rebels or fomenting a civil war. The slow, cautious war of attrition from the air against Qaddafi’s forces that undertake attacks on civilians in rebel-held cities will […]
Torpey: Support the Libyans but Don’t Arm Them!
John Torpey writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: Looking After the Neighborhood in Libya John Torpey After much mischief and brutal behavior, the police have finally moved against a vicious druglord and troublemaker in a notoriously rough neighborhood. The beleaguered residents of the neighborhood have been gamely fighting back of late, but they […]
Asad’s Speech Falls Flat in Syria
Syrian President Bashar al-Asad gave a major speech to the nation before his parliament on Wednesday, which largely disappointed the hopes of reformers . He declined to lift the state of emergency curbing basic civil and human rights that has been in place since 1963. He announced no specific reforms, but just talked about the […]
Answer to Glenn Greenwald
Answer for Glenn Greenwald, for whom I have enormous respect: Yes. Iraq was an illegal war, for no pressing national interest & with no UNSC authorization. The Libya intervention is legal and was necessary to prevent further massacres and to forestall a threat to democratization in Tunisia and Egypt, and if it succeeds in getting […]
Cole/ Van den Heuvel on Libya: Nation Podcast
My conversation with Katrina van den Heuvel, the editor of the Nation, “Do we belong in Libya?” is available at the Nation’s web site. . They also kindly reprinted my open letter to the Left on Libya. Here is the embedded podcast: It looks like you don’t have Adobe Flash Player installed. Get it now. […]
Qaddafi Forces Advance on All Fronts Despite Bombardment
Leaders of much of the world agreed that Qaddafi must go on Wednesday morning at a conference in Europe. Canadian jets pounded an ammunition dump on Wednesday morning near the beleaguered city of Misrata. US naval vessels launched Tomahawks at munitions storage points in Tripoli. And US ships fired on and chased away ships of […]
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