Philip Giraldi on the nation which dispenses

RAMALLAH — Iran and Israel appear to be spoiling for a fight, going by recent belligerent statements emanating from several regional capitals. Military movement on the ground is also lending credence to the idea that the mutual loathing and major ideological differences between the two countries could lead to a vortex of violence capable of sucking [...]

Seven years after Rachel Corrie, a US peace activist, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza, her family was to put the Israeli government in the dock today.  A judge in the northern Israeli city of Haifa was due to be presented with evidence that 23-year-old Corrie was killed unlawfully as she stood in [...]

Tom Engelhardt on Washington's cult of narcissism

Half a dozen dead is mass destruction? asks Alan Reynolds

Updated at 8:04 p.m. EST, March 10, 2010 At least eight Iraqis were wounded in light violence. Attacks are perhaps on hold until election results, which are expected tomorrow at the earliest, are released. In the north, U.N. figures show that at least 800 Christians have left Mosul since the beginning of March.

Citizens on both sides of the political divide are outraged at the recently released Department of Justice report on the Bush administration’s torture memos and what it shows about the lawyers who compiled those legal weapons and subverted the law. But while debate rages over whether or [...]

In a message to US troops in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates praised the soldiers who fought in the recent Marjah offensive, averring: " “You all have had a very tough time. You came into an area totally controlled by the Taliban. You fought for a critical battle space, you bled for [...]

DOHA, Qatar – Internationally speaking, there are only two subjects to talk about in the Middle East. These are Israel, the Palestinians, and the Americans; and Iran and Israel. The two subjects dominated the annual meeting here of the Institute for Mediterranean Political Studies, a group of senior or [...]

Individuals in the upper level of the Pentagon and media polloi are beginning to commit a cardinal sin. They’re blurting the truth – sort of. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the military’s senior spin surgeon (his father was a Hollywood publicity agent), says [...]

President Obama has been so chastened by his failure to meet the pledge of closing Guantánamo prison within a year that Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, is trying to negotiate with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to gain Republican support for doing so. In exchange, Graham wants Khalid Sheikh [...]

Light violence left at least 10 Iraqis dead and four wounded today. More casualties were reported in an attack in Duluiya. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in a vehicular accident aw well. Also, British authorities opened an inquiry into allegations that British troops tortured and killed Iraqi civilians. Meanwhile, the two largest Iraqi parties are both claiming to lead in vote counts.

For weeks, the U.S. public followed the biggest offensive of the Afghanistan War against what it was told was a "city of 80,000 people" as well as the logistical hub of the Taliban in that part of Helmand. That idea was a central element in the overall impression built [...]

Kelley Vlahos on Dick 2.0

An exclusive club of the world’s most developed countries is poised to admit Israel as a member even though, a confidential internal document indicates, doing so will amount to endorsing Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territories. Israel has been told that its accession to the Organization for Economic [...]

Civil libertarians hit back hard Sunday at reports indicating that the Barack Obama administration is about to cave in to pressure from Congress and local groups in New York City and is not only considering transferring the cases of suspected terrorists to another federal court, but even moving them [...]

After yesterday's spasm of violence, Iraq was unusually quiet. Only six people were wounded in overnight violence.

Author’s note: It now looks like the subject of this column, the “top al-Qaeda commander” arrested in Pakistan, is not Adam Gadahn: CBS News is reporting that the original story was “false.” Instead, the man arrested has been tentatively identified as Abu Yahya Mujahdeen al-Adam – also [...]

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came home with sweaty palms from his mid-February visit to Israel. He has been worrying aloud that Israel will mousetrap the U.S. into war with Iran. This is of particular concern because Mullen has had considerable experience in putting the [...]

Updated at 9:46 p.m. EST, March 7, 2010 As predicted Iraq suffered a barrage attacks during the election day, particularly in Baghdad where scores of blasts were heard across the city. At least 54 Iraqis were killed and 140 more were wounded. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates claimed he saw very little election-related violence, but the reports coming from Iraq itself indicate otherwise. Meanwhile, U.S. President Obama congratulated Iraqis on their national vote.