Between 4 and 12 civilians were killed by US troops in a nighttime raid in Nangarhar province on Wednesday, NATO admitted today. Nangarhar has repeatedly been the scene of public protests against the foreign troop presence. In fact, the wikileaks Pentagon documents show that local protests against US and NATO troops have been widespread, routine, […]
Mosque Building and Gay Marriage vs. Mob Rule by the Right
The decision of a US district court to strike down Proposition 8, the California referendum item that made gay marriage illegal after it had earlier been legalized by the state assembly, was a blow for individual rights over a tyranny of the majority. In its form, it resembles the decision of the New York authorities […]
Would an Assassination of Iran’s Ahmadinejad Have Really Mattered?
Although the Iranian government denies it, it seems likely that someone attempted to assassinate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, while he was being driven to Hamadan to give a speech on Iran’s nuclear energy research program. Ahmadinejad recently faced strikes by the artisans, merchants, money-changers and shopkeepers of the bazaar or traditional marketplace. In some ways, […]
Israeli and Lebanese Armies Trade Fire; at least 4 Dead
There is one sad thing and there are several surprising things about the border clash on Tuesday between Israel and Lebanon. The sad thing is that the firefight broke out over the removal of a tree. The Israeli army says it was their tree, which they wanted to remove to get a better view of […]
Jiyad: The Da`wa Party Dilemma and Gridlock in Iraq
Sajad Jiyad writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: The dilemma for Hizb al-Da’wa: A commentary on the issue of leadership in Iraq A friend recently said to me that the Iraqi mentality is to only respect the leader and to be outside the spotlight is to be outside full stop. This, according to […]
US Military Mission in Iraq ends not with a Bang but a Whimper
President Obama reaffirmed on Monday that the US would have all combat troops out of Iraq by the end of August. He said that the final 50,000 would all be out of Iraq within 18 months, in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) negotiated by the Iraq parliament with the Bush administration in […]
Take that, Dennis Miller; Climate Change is Real and Dangerous
I have a bone to pick with comic Dennis Miller. We all know about his famous shift to the political right after the September 11 attacks. Although I can remember an interview in which he said it went back further, to when he used to hear liberals complain about Mayor Rudolph Giuliani´s law and order […]
Taliban influence Spreading in Afghanistan
A former Afghan warlord who turned to supporting President Hamid Karzai and two others were blown up at a soccer match in the northern city of Qunduz by Taliban. A bus full of civilians on its way between Helmand and Qandahar provinces in the Pashtun south hit a roadside bomb, which killed 6 and wounded […]
Burning the Qur’an? ‘Wherever they burn books, they will in the end Burn Human Beings’
A tiny, fringe fundamentalist cult in Florida, of the sort that American popular Christianity specializes in producing, has announced that it will burn the Qur’an on the anniversary of September 11 because it considers Islam an evil religion. The group also targets gays and the Wicca worship of the Goddess. This is more cult-like thinking, […]
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