Friday, July 10, 2009

CIA's History of Lying to Congress

By Lisa Pease
July 10, 2009

On TV this week, with a measure of disbelief in their voices, the pundits ask, did the CIA lie to or deliberately mislead Congress? How is that not a rhetorical question?

Read on.

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Ancient Israeli Myths Deter Peace

By Robert Parry
July 9, 2009

The rationale for formally designating Israel a Jewish state – as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now demands – rests on three religious-political pillars: God’s purported covenant with Moses instructing the ancient Israelites to conquer the land, the injustice of the Roman-era Diaspora that supposedly removed them centuries later, and the brutal persecution of European Jews in the Holocaust.

Read on.

Confronting a Torture Judge

By Cynthia Papermaster and Susan Harman
July 8, 2009

It's a problem that Jay Bybee is a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. How can he serve as a judge when he seriously violated the laws against inhumane treatment of detainees and gave legal approval to interrogation techniques that amount to torture.

Read on.

Inviting George Bush to Talk Torture

By Ray McGovern
July 8, 2009 (Letter was sent July 2, 2009)

Dear President Bush,

With this note I hope to make sure you know that I have been invited by the Dallas Peace Center to lecture next Thursday evening, July 9, at a dinner at FunAsia in Richardson. You and Mrs. Bush are cordially invited.

Read on.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Is Texas Harboring Torture Decider?

By Ray McGovern
July 7, 2009

Seldom does a crime scene have so clear a smoking gun. A two-page presidential memorandum of Feb. 7, 2002, leaves no room for uncertainty regarding the “decider” on torture. His broad-stroke signature made torture official policy.

Read on.

Obama's Iran Peace Talk Dilemma

By Robert Parry
July 7, 2009

Before the disputed June 12 election, Iran’s senior leadership – speaking through backchannel intermediaries – outlined a possible framework for Middle East peace that foresaw a significant role for Russia and that raised hopes within the Obama administration.

Read on.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Iraq Still Facing the Abyss

By Ivan Eland
July 7, 2009

The Iraq War has been long forgotten and treated as a “mission abolished” after the new President pledged to withdraw U.S. forces and the American media, public and Congress turned their attention back to a war even liberals could love (or at least support) — Afghanistan.

Read on.

Judging the Iranian Election

By William Blum
July 6, 2009

What is there about the Iranian election of June 12 that has led to it being one of the leading stories in media around the world every day since? Elections whose results are seriously challenged have taken place in most countries at one time or another in recent decades.

Read on.

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Republicans, a Threat to the Republic?

By Robert Parry
July 5, 2009

Sarah Palin’s abrupt decision to resign as Alaska’s governor – and her rambling explanation – underscore again how the Republican Party over the past dozen years has put up candidates for top national offices who are unqualified or ill-suited for those sensitive positions.

Read on.