Iran commentary in the United States generates more heat than light for the most part, and much of it is frankly driven by ignorance. Veteran journalist and Iran expert Robin Wright has attempted to redress this problem with an Iran Primer, 50 short entries by experts on key themes. I contributed a brief section on […]
Recommended Reading at Tomdispatch.com
Tomdispatch.com has been on a tear in the past two weeks. From Bacevich on the US military as quagmire specialists to Pepe Escobar on central Asian pipelines as the new silk road, and from Nick Turse on how oddly boosterist the books on the Afghanistan War have been to Tom Engelhardt’s poignant essay to young […]
Clinton Cabinet Member Sought Iraq Provocation
But W. Himself Proposed Ruse
Retired Gen. Hugh Shelton reveals in his new book that in the late 1990s a Clinton cabinet member asked him if was possible to fly a U2 spy plane low enough over Iraq to get it shot down, thus creating a pretext for the US to take out Saddam Hussein. The general says he was […]
Thousands Demonstrate in Tel Aviv against Racist Loyalty Oath
Could the Netanyahu Government Fall over New Settlements?
Several thousand Jews and Arabs marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday to protest the loyalty oath recently approved by the Israeli cabinet, which would force new candidates for Israeli citizenship to affirm their commitment to a “Jewish and Democratic” state. The measure was pushed by Avigdor Lieberman, the far, far rightwing leader of Yisrael Beitenu, […]
Ahmadinejad Promises to Protect Qana in South Lebanon
The USG Open Source Center translates from Persian the speech of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Qana in South Lebanon on Friday (See below). Qana is significant as the site of several Israeli attacks and atrocities, most recently in summer 2006, in which Israeli bombing killed innocent non-combatants. Lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammad Atta was incensed […]
Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar Walk out on O’Reilly’s Muslim-Baiting
The View stars Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walked out on Bill O’Reilly Thursday when the right wing pundit insisted on blaming all Muslims for the September 11 attacks. They pointed out that a small group of extremists carried them out, not “Muslims” as O’Reilly was insisting. When he kept repeating his smear of the […]
Top Ten Questions about Chile Mine Collapse: Was it Nixon-Kissinger’s Fault?
The corporate mass media (especially television) did not treat the Chilean mine collapse as a labor story but rather as a feel-good human interest story. It not only avoided asking hard questions about why the near-disaster occurred and why the mine workers could be treated like guinea pigs by their employers, it actively obscured these […]
Ahmadinejad Pledges to Protect Lebanon
On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed large and adoring crowds in the southern Shiite suburbs of Beirut, which had been intensively bombed by Israeli fighter jets in summer 2006, and then subsequently rebuilt, in part with Iranian aid. Ahmadinejad pledged that Iran will support Lebanon in any future case of aggression against the small […]
Palin Fear-Mongers on Iran, Sharia
Republican gadfly Sarah Palin said in an interview with Newsmax Tuesday that Russia should be warned against helping Iran because if Iran got a nuclear weapon it would bring about Armageddon. She also warned against the imposition of what she called Muslim sharia law on Americans and said they would never put up with it. […]
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