Clear, concise, intelligent analysis of why Obama’s escalation will fail – a must read. Obama’s War, Editorial, The Nation, Dec 2, 2009 At a time when the continuing economic crisis is creating ever more hardship for the vast majority of … Continue reading →

PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have … Continue reading →

The occupied government of Afghanistan and the United Nations have both concluded that U.S.-led troops recently dragged eight sleeping children out of their beds, handcuffed some of them, and shot them all dead. Full article.

Almost a year ago the inauguration of President Barack Obama was hailed as a turning point in US race relations. The country was said to be entering a new era of post-racial politics, on the path to a future of … Continue reading →

Over the past several weeks, thousands of people have visited New York City’s International Center of Photography (ICP) for the restaging of an exhibition that the museum presented two decades ago, but which has taken on fresh urgency in the … Continue reading →

War’s effects are what the state and the press, the handmaiden of the war makers, work hard to keep hidden. If we really saw war, what war does to young minds and bodies, it would be harder to embrace the … Continue reading →

some perspective: “Of the 44 predator strikes carried out by US drones in the tribal areas of Pakistan over the past 12 months, only five were able to hit their actual targets, killing five key Al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders, but … Continue reading →

US President Barack Obama personally issued the order for US air strikes in Yemen last Thursday which killed scores of civilians, including women and children. Local officials and witnesses in the area of Mahsad, the site of the heaviest US … Continue reading →

To: Un Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Amnesty International USA, Islamic Human Rights Commission Appeal for the Release of Dr. Afia Siddiqui & Her 3 Children Sign petition here.

According to the BBC Urdu, the FBI has conceded that Dr. Afia Siddiqi who had vanished from Karachi over five years ago in March 2003 along with her children is in the custody of American forces in Afghanistan but sadly … Continue reading →

The Obama administration has sharply escalated the drone attacks, launching more than twice as many over the past year as the Bush administration carried out in its last year in office. The secretive nature of the CIA program is designed … Continue reading →

At least 10 Afghan civilians, including eight schoolchildren, have been killed in fighting involving Western troops, President Hamid Karzai has said. Full article.

US special forces have also been active along the border, in the tribal belt east of Balochistan. The source said US commando units had conducted four cross-border raids into Pakistan since 2003. Only one, in September 2008, was reported. The … Continue reading →

My personal breaking point, after months of jaw-dropping astonishment at Obama’s betrayals, was his refusal almost alone of the world’s leaders to ban child-killing landmines and cluster bombs. His state department announced this shameful policy on Thanksgiving eve, as if … Continue reading →

Thus the bewildering continuities between Obama’s policies and those of George Bush, his predecessor, emerge: the continued presence in Iraq – which is not close to “winding down” as the president described it, the deepening footprint in Afghanistan, the refusal … Continue reading →

Obama’s rejection of negotiations as a possible solution to terrorism also doesn’t square with the evidence. After analyzing hundreds of terrorist groups that have operated over the last 40 years, a RAND corporation study published last year concluded that military … Continue reading →

greenwald on thomas-friedman-the-moron: The person who has spent weeks depicting Afghanistan as a “special needs baby” is now lecturing us about the “corrosive mind-set” of “infantilizing” Muslims. And the person who is now inveighing against seeing ourselves as “subjects” and … Continue reading →

Calling military contractor activity an “accountability free zone,” Scahill argues that Obama has “paid lip service to oversight and cracking down” while he’s actually expanding the use of contractors. “Without the draft, these wars wouldn’t be possible but for hiring … Continue reading →

i usually like hendrik hertzberg. in this piece he is way too soft on obama. maybe coz he’s quite misguided about the war. what struck me however was his astute understanding of why obama is calling for an escalation. the … Continue reading →

most interesting article. state machinations and outlandish geo-political strategies r not just “conspiracies” – they’re v real. we only have to look at history: “I was the head of the KGB’s foreign counterintelligence branch when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan … Continue reading →

The winners in this health care reform bill are insurance companies; the American taxpayer is about to be fleeced with a bailout in a situation that dwarfs even what happened at AIG. Full article.

The Barack Obama administration is refusing to acknowledge an offer by the leadership of the Taliban in early December to give “legal guarantees” that they will not allow Afghanistan to be used for attacks on other countries. Full article.

Four presidential candidates join Afghan war protest: Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, Cynthia McKinney speak out against the wars. Watch here.

“Although Obama declared that success in Afghanistan is “inextricably linked” to our “partnership” with Pakistan, he has turned reality on its head by embracing the Pakistan myth: that stabilizing Afghanistan is the key to stabilizing Pakistan. But US pressure on … Continue reading →

THIS GROUNDWORK paid off for the U.S. in the aftermath of 9/11. The U.S. immediately set up military “facilities” in the five Central Asian states formerly part of the USSR that would play an important role in the invasion and … Continue reading →

Speaking before a packed audience at Hampshire College, Tariq Ali argues that an immediate exit strategy from Afghanistan and Pakistan is vital both for the region and for the United States. Watch here.

“If democracy were to be given any meaning, if it were to go beyond the limits of capitalism and nationalism, this would not come, if history were any guide, from the top. It would come through citizen’s movements, educating, organizing, … Continue reading →

It has been more than three months since Attorney General Eric Holder announced his probe into torture under the Bush administration, an investigation which seems to quickly be going nowhere. He may be inspired by how some Latin countries have … Continue reading →