ACLU Blasts Obama on Bush's Crimes

By Jason Leopold
December 12, 2009

Despite Barack Obama’s high-minded words about “just wars” and human rights – most recently in his Nobel Peace Prize speech – the U.S. President has shielded officials from George W. Bush’s administration from accountability for torture and other war crimes, prompting stern rebukes from leading advocates of civil liberties.

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The Land Mines Obama Won't Touch

By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
December 11, 2009

Many people are troubled that Barack Obama flew to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize so soon after escalating the war in Afghanistan. He is now more than doubling the number of troops there when George W. Bush left office.

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'Whatever Mistakes We Have Made'

By Nicolas J S Davies
December 11, 2009

The history of war has long included that of politicians who justify war in the name of peace.

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Jesus and Prometheus

By the Rev. Howard Bess
December 11, 2009

There is no story that has captured the imagination of western civilization quite like the story of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

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The Propaganda Success of the 'Surge'

By William Blum
December 10, 2009

They don't always use the word "surge," but that's what they mean.

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Being Jay Bybee

By David Swanson
December 9, 2009

It's Oct. 23, 2002, and you're Jay Bybee, the man in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel in the United States Department of Justice. John Yoo and a bunch of other lawyers -- willing to claim that absolutely anything is legal -- work for you.

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Pinochet's Mad Scientist

By Samuel Blixen
December 9, 2009 (Originally Posted January 13, 1999)

On Nov. 15, 1992, a terrified scientist -- trapped inside a white bungalow in the Uruguayan beach town of Parque del Plata -- broke a window to escape. Chubby, in his mid-40s, the man struggled through the opening.

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Why Journalist Gary Webb Died

By Robert Parry
December 9, 2009

Five years ago, a tragedy occurred in American journalism: Investigative reporter Gary Webb – who had been ostracized by his own colleagues for forcing a spotlight back onto an ugly government scandal they wanted to ignore – was driven to commit suicide. But the tragedy had a deeper meaning.

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Gates Dissembles on Afghan History

By Robert Parry
December 8, 2009

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who last week was hailed in the Washington Post as someone “incapable of dissembling,” dissembled to a gullible press corps about the history of U.S. dealings with Afghanistan while en route to that country on Monday.

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Ray McGovern's Letter to Bob Parry

By Ray McGovern
December 7, 2009

At the end of a year that began with such hope, I am struck at how easy it would be to be discouraged.

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