By Jason Leopold
August 23, 2009
Support for a wide-ranging criminal investigation into the Bush administration’s use of torture has grown to include a former top FBI interrogator and a career military intelligence officer with more than two decades of experience conducting interrogations.
Read on.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
CIA: Osama Helped Bush in '04
By Robert Parry
August 22, 2009 (Originally posted July 4, 2006)
On Oct. 29, 2004, just four days before the U.S. presidential election, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden released a videotape denouncing George W. Bush. Some Bush supporters quickly spun the diatribe as “Osama’s endorsement of John Kerry.” But behind the walls of the CIA, analysts had concluded the opposite: that bin Laden was trying to help Bush gain a second term.
Read on.
August 22, 2009 (Originally posted July 4, 2006)
On Oct. 29, 2004, just four days before the U.S. presidential election, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden released a videotape denouncing George W. Bush. Some Bush supporters quickly spun the diatribe as “Osama’s endorsement of John Kerry.” But behind the walls of the CIA, analysts had concluded the opposite: that bin Laden was trying to help Bush gain a second term.
Read on.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Lockerbie Doubts
By Lisa Pease
August 21, 2009
In any kind of major transnational event, there is the historical truth, what actually happened, and the political truth, what must have happened for the nations involved to continue on as before.
Read on.
August 21, 2009
In any kind of major transnational event, there is the historical truth, what actually happened, and the political truth, what must have happened for the nations involved to continue on as before.
Read on.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Blackwater's Unwritten Death Contract
By Ray McGovern
August 20, 2009
August 20, 2009
Hats off to Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times for reporting that it was after CIA Director Leon Panetta’s holdover lieutenants finally told him that, under President Bush, they had farmed out assassinations to their Blackwater subsidiary, that he abruptly stopped the project and told Congress.
Tom DeLay Stomps Woodstock Nation
By Michael Winship
August 20, 2009
A sorry state of affairs. If it wasn't for all the 40th anniversary celebrations of Woodstock, the primary cultural contribution of the month would be the announcement that former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas will be a contestant in the next round of “Dancing with the Stars.”
Read on.
August 20, 2009
A sorry state of affairs. If it wasn't for all the 40th anniversary celebrations of Woodstock, the primary cultural contribution of the month would be the announcement that former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas will be a contestant in the next round of “Dancing with the Stars.”
Read on.
The Republican Ayatollahs
By David Swanson
August 20, 2009
You gotta keep 'em separated. My colleagues over at Velvet Revolution noticed a striking resemblance between certain Republican senators here at home and certain theocrats over yonder in Iran.
Read on.
August 20, 2009
You gotta keep 'em separated. My colleagues over at Velvet Revolution noticed a striking resemblance between certain Republican senators here at home and certain theocrats over yonder in Iran.
Read on.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Robert Novak Was a Liar
By Robert Parry
August 19, 2009
Washington’s punditocracy is in mourning over the death of right-wing columnist Robert Novak, with many warm remembrances about his outsized personality and his supposed love of reporting. But Novak often served as a dishonest propagandist and would have been condemned in a healthy journalistic world.
Read on.
August 19, 2009
Washington’s punditocracy is in mourning over the death of right-wing columnist Robert Novak, with many warm remembrances about his outsized personality and his supposed love of reporting. But Novak often served as a dishonest propagandist and would have been condemned in a healthy journalistic world.
Read on.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Why the Right's Propaganda Works
By Robert Parry
August 19, 2009
August 19, 2009
Many on the Left are blaming President Barack Obama and middle-of-the-road Democrats for maneuvering health-care reform into a fast-approaching head-on collision. And some of that criticism is well deserved for foolishly letting Republicans get their hands on the wheel at all.
A Power Equal to a Thousand Words
By David Kasper
August 18, 2009
It may be that President Obama and those who surround him are fighting a losing battle in their effort to conceal and leave behind us the crimes of the Bush era.
Read on.
August 18, 2009
It may be that President Obama and those who surround him are fighting a losing battle in their effort to conceal and leave behind us the crimes of the Bush era.
Read on.
Monday, August 17, 2009
PanAm 103 Verdict: Justice or Politics?
By William Blum
August 18, 2009
The newspapers were filled with pictures of happy relatives of the victims of the 1988 bombing of PanAm 103.
Read on.
August 18, 2009
The newspapers were filled with pictures of happy relatives of the victims of the 1988 bombing of PanAm 103.
Read on.
Fromme-Peltier: Inequality of Mercy
By Dennis Bernstein and Miguel Gavalan Molina
August 18, 2009
August 18, 2009
Child protégé and Manson cheerleader Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme walked free last week, straight through the front doors of Fort Worth Federal Prison, into a brilliant Texas sun.
Iraq War's Winners and Losers
By Sherwood Ross
August 17, 2009
“On my last day in Iraq,” veteran McClatchy News correspondent Leila Fadel wrote August 9, “as on my first day in Iraq, I couldn’t see what the United States and its allies had accomplished. … I couldn’t understand what thousands of American soldiers had died for and why hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had been killed.”
Read on.
August 17, 2009
“On my last day in Iraq,” veteran McClatchy News correspondent Leila Fadel wrote August 9, “as on my first day in Iraq, I couldn’t see what the United States and its allies had accomplished. … I couldn’t understand what thousands of American soldiers had died for and why hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had been killed.”
Read on.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
WTimes' Hypocritical Obama-Nazi Slur
By Robert Parry
August 17, 2009
One of the ugly ironies in the Right’s depiction of President Barack Obama as Hitler and health reform as a plan for Nazi-style euthanasia is that the owner of the Washington Times, which has pushed this line of attack, has longstanding ties with World War II-era Nazis, neo-Nazis and rightist “death squads.”
Read on.
August 17, 2009
One of the ugly ironies in the Right’s depiction of President Barack Obama as Hitler and health reform as a plan for Nazi-style euthanasia is that the owner of the Washington Times, which has pushed this line of attack, has longstanding ties with World War II-era Nazis, neo-Nazis and rightist “death squads.”
Read on.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
A Gorilla Dust-up Over Health Care
By Michael Winship
August 15, 2009
When I was 15, my father was in a near-fatal car collision with a semi-trailer truck. At Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, he lay in a coma for two months.
Read on.
August 15, 2009
When I was 15, my father was in a near-fatal car collision with a semi-trailer truck. At Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, he lay in a coma for two months.
Read on.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Cheney's New Gambit
By Ray McGovern
August 14, 2009
The stenographers of the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) are missing the most obvious explanation for former Vice President Dick Cheney’s widely reported “disappointment” with former President George W. Bush on the issue of pardons -- self-interest.
Read on.
August 14, 2009
The stenographers of the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) are missing the most obvious explanation for former Vice President Dick Cheney’s widely reported “disappointment” with former President George W. Bush on the issue of pardons -- self-interest.
Read on.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Truth Will Not Out,, on Its Own
By Robert Parry
August 13, 2009
The right-wing fury at town hall meetings over health care and the Republican obstruction of any serious reform in Washington are not just symptoms of a complex debate on an issue packed with powerful special interests; it is a test of whether reality matters in the United States.
Read on.
August 13, 2009
The right-wing fury at town hall meetings over health care and the Republican obstruction of any serious reform in Washington are not just symptoms of a complex debate on an issue packed with powerful special interests; it is a test of whether reality matters in the United States.
Read on.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Rove Implicated in Prosecutor Firings
By Jason Leopold
August 12, 2009
Political adviser Karl Rove and other officials inside George W. Bush’s White House pushed for the firing of a key federal prosecutor because he wasn’t cooperating with Republican plans for indicting Democrats and their allies before the 2006 election, according to internal documents and depositions.
Read on.
August 12, 2009
Political adviser Karl Rove and other officials inside George W. Bush’s White House pushed for the firing of a key federal prosecutor because he wasn’t cooperating with Republican plans for indicting Democrats and their allies before the 2006 election, according to internal documents and depositions.
Read on.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Palin's 'Death Panel' and GOP Lying
By Robert Parry
August 11, 2009
False Republican claims about President Barack Obama’s health-care initiative, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s demagogic charge about a “death panel,” are part of a pattern of systematic lying that has marked the GOP’s political tactics at least since Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s.
Read on.
August 11, 2009
False Republican claims about President Barack Obama’s health-care initiative, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s demagogic charge about a “death panel,” are part of a pattern of systematic lying that has marked the GOP’s political tactics at least since Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s.
Read on.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Holder's Torture-Probe Plan Faulted
By Jason Leopold
August 10, 2009
Civil liberties advocates are criticizing an expected decision by Attorney General Eric Holder to limit a criminal probe of the Bush administration’s torture practices to CIA interrogators who exceeded Justice Department guidelines.
Read on.
August 10, 2009
Civil liberties advocates are criticizing an expected decision by Attorney General Eric Holder to limit a criminal probe of the Bush administration’s torture practices to CIA interrogators who exceeded Justice Department guidelines.
Read on.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Keeping an Eye Out for Planet Earth
By Michael Winship
August 7, 2009
August 7, 2009
For a bit of change, let's talk about a different kind of health care reform - the kind that affects the health of the planet.
Ex-CIA Analyst Criticizes State Secrets
By Melvin A. Goodman
August 7, 2009
My 24 years as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (1966-90) taught me that national security is only the ostensible reason for using the state secrets privilege in cases before the court. The real reason usually has more to do with national embarrassment and not national security.
Read on.
August 7, 2009
My 24 years as an analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (1966-90) taught me that national security is only the ostensible reason for using the state secrets privilege in cases before the court. The real reason usually has more to do with national embarrassment and not national security.
Read on.
Olbermann-O'Reilly 'Truce' Frays
By Robert Parry
August 7, 2009
The agreement between top brass at General Electric and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation – to tamp down the war of words between MSNBC host Keith Olbermann and Fox News star Bill O’Reilly – has broken down after the truce was revealed by the New York Times last weekend.
Read on.
August 7, 2009
The agreement between top brass at General Electric and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation – to tamp down the war of words between MSNBC host Keith Olbermann and Fox News star Bill O’Reilly – has broken down after the truce was revealed by the New York Times last weekend.
Read on.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Ellsberg's Hiroshima Remembrance
By Daniel Ellsberg
August 6, 2009
August 6, 2009
It was a hot August day in Detroit. I was standing on a street corner downtown, looking at the front page of The Detroit News in a news rack. I remember a streetcar rattling by on the tracks as I read the headline: A single American bomb had destroyed a Japanese city.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
GE Muzzles Olbermann about Fox
By Robert Parry
August 5, 2009
August 5, 2009
The emergence of liberal evening hosts on General Electric’s MSNBC has been welcomed by Democrats and others on the American Left as a counterweight to the right and center-right bias of much of the U.S. news media. But there is a difference between GE testing out whether this lineup will produce a ratings boost and actual independence in journalism.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Bush's Conspiracy to Riot
Robert Parry
August 5, 2009 (Originally posted August 5, 2002)
More than three decades apart, two political riots influenced the outcome of U.S. presidential elections.
Read on.
August 5, 2009 (Originally posted August 5, 2002)
More than three decades apart, two political riots influenced the outcome of U.S. presidential elections.
Read on.
Battling for Single-Payer Healthcare
By Siobhan Kolar
August 4, 2009
August 4, 2009
The people started lining up an hour early in Aurora, Illinois, 40 miles west of Chicago and not a hotbed of radical socialism, to hear Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, talk about HR 676, the single payer bill he co-authored with Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan.
Assessing Rumsfeld's Military Strategy
By Ivan Eland
August 4, 2009
In his new book, By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld, Bradley Graham argues that although ideology and arrogance played a role in the fiasco of invading and occupying Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld’s concept of transforming the military into a leaner, more deadly force also played a role.
Read on.
August 4, 2009
In his new book, By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld, Bradley Graham argues that although ideology and arrogance played a role in the fiasco of invading and occupying Iraq, Donald Rumsfeld’s concept of transforming the military into a leaner, more deadly force also played a role.
Read on.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Bashing Obama on Taxes
By Robert Parry
August 3, 2009
Across the cable TV news shows on Monday was a smirking cynicism about President Barack Obama supposedly reneging on his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on the middle-class, but this new conventional wisdom rested on a weak foundation.
Read on.
August 3, 2009
Across the cable TV news shows on Monday was a smirking cynicism about President Barack Obama supposedly reneging on his campaign pledge not to raise taxes on the middle-class, but this new conventional wisdom rested on a weak foundation.
Read on.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Panetta Pleads for No CIA Punishment
By Melvin A. Goodman
August 2, 2009
The ideological partnership between the Washington Post and the Central Intelligence Agency is becoming despicable.
Read on.
August 2, 2009
The ideological partnership between the Washington Post and the Central Intelligence Agency is becoming despicable.
Read on.
How Pay-to-Play Corrupts Washington
By Michael Winship
August 2, 2009
August 2, 2009
As we marvel over the depths of hypocrisy and greed currently plumbed in the health care reform debate, it may help to remember that even Honest Abe Lincoln had his share of tainted colleagues, one of the most notorious of whom was his first Secretary of War, Simon Cameron.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Christians Largely Mum on Torture
By Ray McGovern
July 31, 2009
Anyone harboring doubts that the institutional Church is riding shotgun for the system, even regarding heinous sin like torture, should be chastened by the results of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.
Read on.
July 31, 2009
Anyone harboring doubts that the institutional Church is riding shotgun for the system, even regarding heinous sin like torture, should be chastened by the results of a recent survey by the Pew Research Center.
Read on.
US Judge Orders Afghan Youth Freed
By Jason Leopold
July 31, 2009
Rejecting arguments from both the Bush and Obama administrations, a federal judge has ordered the release of an Afghani who may have been as young as 12 when he was detained 6 ½ years ago for allegedly wounding two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan translator by throwing a grenade at their unmarked jeep.
Read on.
July 31, 2009
Rejecting arguments from both the Bush and Obama administrations, a federal judge has ordered the release of an Afghani who may have been as young as 12 when he was detained 6 ½ years ago for allegedly wounding two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan translator by throwing a grenade at their unmarked jeep.
Read on.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Cheney's Fondness for the Dark Side
By Sherwood Ross
July 30, 2009
Some in Congress are stung by charges that former Vice President Dick Cheney ran an international assassination op from the White House without telling them about it. They say he told the CIA to withhold the facts from Congress.
Read on.
July 30, 2009
Some in Congress are stung by charges that former Vice President Dick Cheney ran an international assassination op from the White House without telling them about it. They say he told the CIA to withhold the facts from Congress.
Read on.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Holder Ponders Limited Torture Probe
By Jason Leopold
July 29, 2009
Last year, in the heat of the presidential campaign, Eric Holder was a featured speaker at the American Constitution Society’s annual convention where he told a packed crowd that the “American people are owe[d] a reckoning” as a result of the “abusive” and “unlawful” policies of the Bush administration.
Read on.
July 29, 2009
Last year, in the heat of the presidential campaign, Eric Holder was a featured speaker at the American Constitution Society’s annual convention where he told a packed crowd that the “American people are owe[d] a reckoning” as a result of the “abusive” and “unlawful” policies of the Bush administration.
Read on.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Obama Faces Carter/Clinton Parallels
By Robert Parry
July 29, 2009
After six months in office, Barack Obama’s presidency reveals striking parallels not only to Bill Clinton’s troubled first term, but to Jimmy Carter’s only term. And, how those dangers are reappearing show that the Democrats and American progressives have learned little over the past 30 years.
Read on.
July 29, 2009
After six months in office, Barack Obama’s presidency reveals striking parallels not only to Bill Clinton’s troubled first term, but to Jimmy Carter’s only term. And, how those dangers are reappearing show that the Democrats and American progressives have learned little over the past 30 years.
Read on.
Sudan's Lesson for Iraq, Mideast
By Ivan Eland
July 28, 2009
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder how the human race has avoided self-extinction and prospered on the planet.
Read on.
July 28, 2009
Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder how the human race has avoided self-extinction and prospered on the planet.
Read on.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Obama, the Great Wealth Creator?
By Robert Parry
July 27m 2009
In early March, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank to about 6,500, CNBC stock analyst Jim Cramer blamed Barack Obama for “the greatest wealth destruction” ever, citing declines in “all indices, since the inauguration of the President,” an attack theme that resonated across the right-wing and much of the mainstream U.S. news media.
Read on.
July 27m 2009
In early March, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank to about 6,500, CNBC stock analyst Jim Cramer blamed Barack Obama for “the greatest wealth destruction” ever, citing declines in “all indices, since the inauguration of the President,” an attack theme that resonated across the right-wing and much of the mainstream U.S. news media.
Read on.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Obama's Health-Care 'Waterloo'
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
July 25, 2009
July 25, 2009
Push finally came to shove in Washington this week as the battle for health care escalated from scattered sniper fire into all-out combat. If it all seems to be getting more and more confusing, join the club. It's hard to see what's happening through all the gun smoke.
Read on.US Has New Plan to Hold Afghan Youth
By Jason Leopold
July 25, 2009
Faced with impending defeat in a U.S. District Court habeas corpus case, the Obama administration devised a new strategy for continuing the detention of Mohammed Jawad, an Afghani who may have been as young as 12 in 2002 when he allegedly wounded two U.S. soldiers with a grenade.
Read on.
July 25, 2009
Faced with impending defeat in a U.S. District Court habeas corpus case, the Obama administration devised a new strategy for continuing the detention of Mohammed Jawad, an Afghani who may have been as young as 12 in 2002 when he allegedly wounded two U.S. soldiers with a grenade.
Read on.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Recalling the Downing Street Minutes
By Ray McGovern
July 24, 2009
Seven years ago this week, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair gathered his top national security advisers at 10 Downing St. to hear a report from U.K. intelligence chief Richard Dearlove, just back in London from face-to-face talks with then-CIA Director George Tenet in Washington.
Read on.
July 24, 2009
Seven years ago this week, then British Prime Minister Tony Blair gathered his top national security advisers at 10 Downing St. to hear a report from U.K. intelligence chief Richard Dearlove, just back in London from face-to-face talks with then-CIA Director George Tenet in Washington.
Read on.
Spinning Health Reform to Death
By Norman Solomon
July 24, 2009
July 24, 2009
"I want to cover everybody," President Obama said at his news conference Wednesday night. "Now, the truth is that unless you have a - what's called a single-payer system, in which everybody's automatically covered, then you're probably not going to reach every single individual ..."
Thursday, July 23, 2009
WPost Writer Weeps Again for the CIA
By Melvin A. Goodman
July 24, 2009
David Ignatius, the mainstream media’s leading apologist for the Central Intelligence Agency, has written another exculpatory brief for the CIA.
Read on.
July 24, 2009
David Ignatius, the mainstream media’s leading apologist for the Central Intelligence Agency, has written another exculpatory brief for the CIA.
Read on.
Dallas: Into the Belly of the Beast
Ray McGovern
July 23, 2009
The hellish-hot weather persuaded me that I was wise to ignore the caution expressed by a close friend who grew up in Dallas, as I set off to give talks there. Better wear a bulletproof vest, he told me.
Read on.
July 23, 2009
The hellish-hot weather persuaded me that I was wise to ignore the caution expressed by a close friend who grew up in Dallas, as I set off to give talks there. Better wear a bulletproof vest, he told me.
Read on.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Obama Lawyers Shield Cheney on Leak
By Jason Leopold
July 22, 2009
The Obama administration asserted a legal argument that a federal judge called the Jon Stewart “Daily Show exemption,” as the Justice Department continued a court fight to protect ex-Vice President Dick Cheney from disclosures about his role in the leak of a CIA officer’s identity six years ago.
Read on.
July 22, 2009
The Obama administration asserted a legal argument that a federal judge called the Jon Stewart “Daily Show exemption,” as the Justice Department continued a court fight to protect ex-Vice President Dick Cheney from disclosures about his role in the leak of a CIA officer’s identity six years ago.
Read on.
Christ's Teachings v. US Health Care
By The Rev. Howard Bess
July 21, 2009
In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John, the writer tells the story of a man that had been crippled for 38 years. Jesus asked him a simple question: “Do you want to be healed?” Jesus told him to stand up and walk, and so he did.
Read on.
July 21, 2009
In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John, the writer tells the story of a man that had been crippled for 38 years. Jesus asked him a simple question: “Do you want to be healed?” Jesus told him to stand up and walk, and so he did.
Read on.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Making Sense of Cheney's Madness
By Ivan Eland
July 21, 2009
July 21, 2009
The seeming irrationality behind the George W. Bush administration’s “against the grain” (and the law) policies on torture, warrantless domestic surveillance, and now notification of Congress about CIA covert operations was not irrational at all.
GOP & KAL007: 'The Key Is to Lie First'
By Robert Parry
July 20, 2009 (Originally posted in 1998)
It's not entirely clear when the Republican Party made disinformation a political weapon of choice.
Read on.
July 20, 2009 (Originally posted in 1998)
It's not entirely clear when the Republican Party made disinformation a political weapon of choice.
Read on.
To Save the Republic, Tax the Rich?
By Robert Parry
July 20, 2009
For all the laid-off “Joe the Plumbers” who share the Right’s fury about the “class warfare” of imposing higher taxes on millionaires, there is this hard truth: the rich don’t need as many of you as they once did – and taxing the rich may be the only way to make the economic system work for you.
Read on.
July 20, 2009
For all the laid-off “Joe the Plumbers” who share the Right’s fury about the “class warfare” of imposing higher taxes on millionaires, there is this hard truth: the rich don’t need as many of you as they once did – and taxing the rich may be the only way to make the economic system work for you.
Read on.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Cronkite's Unintended Legacy
By Robert Parry
July 19, 2009
With his measured calm and seriousness of purpose, Walter Cronkite set a high standard for television journalism that has rarely been met since his retirement in 1981. But the legendary CBS anchorman who died Friday also may have unintentionally contributed to the American Left’s dangerous complacency about media.
Read on.
July 19, 2009
With his measured calm and seriousness of purpose, Walter Cronkite set a high standard for television journalism that has rarely been met since his retirement in 1981. But the legendary CBS anchorman who died Friday also may have unintentionally contributed to the American Left’s dangerous complacency about media.
Read on.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Cronkite and the Tet Turning Point
By Don North
July 18, 2009
At midnight, heading into the fateful day of Jan. 31, 1968, 15 Vietcong gathered at a greasy car repair garage at 59 Phan Thanh Gian Street in Saigon.
Read on.
July 18, 2009
At midnight, heading into the fateful day of Jan. 31, 1968, 15 Vietcong gathered at a greasy car repair garage at 59 Phan Thanh Gian Street in Saigon.
Read on.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Oysters (or Profits) for Health Care
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
July 17, 2009
This is a story of health care and two Americans; a tale of two citizens, if you will.
Read on.
July 17, 2009
This is a story of health care and two Americans; a tale of two citizens, if you will.
Read on.
WPost's Ignatius Defends CIA Crimes
By Melvin A. Goodman
July 17, 2009
The Washington Post’s David Ignatius has become the mainstream media’s apologist for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Read on.
July 17, 2009
The Washington Post’s David Ignatius has become the mainstream media’s apologist for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Read on.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
The Wedding (From the Archives)
By Robert Parry
July 15, 2009 (Originally posted Oct. 3, 2007)
The light from the setting sun streamed through the windows of the East Room after the first White House wedding in more than two decades. Guests were picking desserts from a buffet table and conversing, some gesturing with crystal champagne flutes in hand.
Read on.
July 15, 2009 (Originally posted Oct. 3, 2007)
The light from the setting sun streamed through the windows of the East Room after the first White House wedding in more than two decades. Guests were picking desserts from a buffet table and conversing, some gesturing with crystal champagne flutes in hand.
Read on.
Bush's Hit Teams
By Robert Parry
July 15, 2009
July 15, 2009
Despite the new controversy over whether a global CIA “hit team” ever went operational, there has been public evidence for years that the Bush administration approved “rules of engagement” that permitted executions and targeted killings of suspected insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Cheney Sweats Out the Summer
By Ray McGovern
July 14, 2009
So far the summer has been mild in the Washington, D.C., area. But for former Vice President Dick Cheney the temperature is well over 100 degrees. He is sweating profusely, and it is becoming increasingly clear why.
Read on.
July 14, 2009
So far the summer has been mild in the Washington, D.C., area. But for former Vice President Dick Cheney the temperature is well over 100 degrees. He is sweating profusely, and it is becoming increasingly clear why.
Read on.
The CIA's Ghosts of Tegucigalpa
By Jerry Meldon
July 14, 2009
Billy Joya, security adviser to Honduras’s post-coup-d’etat President Roberto Micheletti, offered the following explanation for the armed forces’ June 28 insurrection ousting democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya:
Read on.
July 14, 2009
Billy Joya, security adviser to Honduras’s post-coup-d’etat President Roberto Micheletti, offered the following explanation for the armed forces’ June 28 insurrection ousting democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya:
Read on.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Bush Spying Relied on Faulty Theories
By Jason Leopold
July 12, 2009
George W. Bush justified his warrantless wiretapping by relying on Justice Department attorney John Yoo’s theories of unlimited presidential wartime powers, and started the spying operation even before Yoo issued a formal opinion, a government investigation discovered.
Read on.
July 12, 2009
George W. Bush justified his warrantless wiretapping by relying on Justice Department attorney John Yoo’s theories of unlimited presidential wartime powers, and started the spying operation even before Yoo issued a formal opinion, a government investigation discovered.
Read on.
Honduran Coup Blamed on Militarism
By Sherwood Ross
July 12, 2009
Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica and the man who will serve as mediator of the crisis in Honduras, wrote in a July 10 op-ed in the Miami Herald, “This coup demonstrates, once more, that the combination of powerful militaries and fragile democracies creates a terrible risk.”
Read on.
July 12, 2009
Oscar Arias, the president of Costa Rica and the man who will serve as mediator of the crisis in Honduras, wrote in a July 10 op-ed in the Miami Herald, “This coup demonstrates, once more, that the combination of powerful militaries and fragile democracies creates a terrible risk.”
Read on.
WPost's 'Select Few' Dine on Health Bill
By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship
July 11, 2009
July 11, 2009
If you want to know what really matters in Washington, don't go to Capitol Hill for one of those hearings, or pay attention to those staged White House "town meetings." They're just for show.
Read on.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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Declaration of Indictment
By David Swanson
July 4, 2009
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 2009
The unanimous Declaration of the fifty united States of America
Read on.
July 4, 2009
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 2009
The unanimous Declaration of the fifty united States of America
Read on.
Wealth Inequality Destroys US Ideals
By Don Monkerud
July 4, 2009
In June 2009, the U.S. economy saw its second steepest decline in 27 years. New jobless claims increased, business inventories fell and exports plunged as bad economic news persisted.
Read on.
July 4, 2009
In June 2009, the U.S. economy saw its second steepest decline in 27 years. New jobless claims increased, business inventories fell and exports plunged as bad economic news persisted.
Read on.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Bush-Cheney Linked to CIA Leak Case
By Jason Leopold
July 3, 2009
In early fall 2003, as the scandal over leaking a covert CIA officer’s identity was exploding, President George W. Bush claimed not to know anything about the leak and called on anyone in his administration who had knowledge to come “forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true.”
Read on.
July 3, 2009
In early fall 2003, as the scandal over leaking a covert CIA officer’s identity was exploding, President George W. Bush claimed not to know anything about the leak and called on anyone in his administration who had knowledge to come “forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true.”
Read on.
A Buy-Democracy Independence Day
By Graham Rankin
July 3, 2009
The recession is making clearer every day, especially with the latest job loss figures of almost half a million in the US in June alone, how difficult rebuilding Western manufacturing industry is going to be. It would be bad enough in a boom, but in a bust when weaker sales can drive even big firms under, we need to look long and hard at consumerism itself.
Read on.
July 3, 2009
The recession is making clearer every day, especially with the latest job loss figures of almost half a million in the US in June alone, how difficult rebuilding Western manufacturing industry is going to be. It would be bad enough in a boom, but in a bust when weaker sales can drive even big firms under, we need to look long and hard at consumerism itself.
Read on.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Coast-to-Coast Political Gridlock
By Michael Winship
July 2, 2009
California should just be done with it and rename the entire state "Neverland Ranch."
Read on.
July 2, 2009
California should just be done with it and rename the entire state "Neverland Ranch."
Read on.
FBI Ignored Bush-Hussein Ties
By Robert Parry
July 2, 2009
The FBI has released reports on 20 interviews and five conversations conducted with Iraq’s deposed dictator Saddam Hussein before he was put to death, but none of the disclosed Q and A deals with the role of the Reagan administration in delivering key components for Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons in the 1980s.
Read on.
July 2, 2009
The FBI has released reports on 20 interviews and five conversations conducted with Iraq’s deposed dictator Saddam Hussein before he was put to death, but none of the disclosed Q and A deals with the role of the Reagan administration in delivering key components for Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons in the 1980s.
Read on.
The Bible's Odd Idea of Marriage
By the Rev. Howard Bess
July 2, 2009
“Marriage is a cultural thing.” So began a very good sermon that I recently heard by the Rev. Diane O’Connell at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Anchorage, Alaska.
Read on.
July 2, 2009
“Marriage is a cultural thing.” So began a very good sermon that I recently heard by the Rev. Diane O’Connell at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Anchorage, Alaska.
Read on.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Who Sits at the Health-Reform Table?
By Tom Klammer
July 1, 2009
President Obama held a town hall on Health Care Reform last week, broadcast nationwide on ABC with Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer. Once again, even though a majority of the public and now even a majority of doctors in the US favor a single-payer system, single payer was still off the table.Read on.
July 1, 2009
President Obama held a town hall on Health Care Reform last week, broadcast nationwide on ABC with Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer. Once again, even though a majority of the public and now even a majority of doctors in the US favor a single-payer system, single payer was still off the table.Read on.
America's Matrix
By Robert Parry
July 1, 1009 (Originally posted June 2, 2003)
“The Matrix” and its sequel, “The Matrix Reloaded,” offer a useful analogy for anyone trying to make sense of the chasm that has opened between what’s real and what Americans perceive is real.
Read on.
July 1, 1009 (Originally posted June 2, 2003)
“The Matrix” and its sequel, “The Matrix Reloaded,” offer a useful analogy for anyone trying to make sense of the chasm that has opened between what’s real and what Americans perceive is real.
Read on.
Iraq: A Bitter Strategic Failure
By Robert Parry
July 1, 2009
President Barack Obama and Iraqi leaders may try to sugarcoat the bitter pill for the United States by talking up the achievements of the six-year occupation, but the public celebrations by Iraqis marking the American pullout from Iraq’s cities tell the painful story of a U.S. strategic failure.
Read on.
July 1, 2009
President Barack Obama and Iraqi leaders may try to sugarcoat the bitter pill for the United States by talking up the achievements of the six-year occupation, but the public celebrations by Iraqis marking the American pullout from Iraq’s cities tell the painful story of a U.S. strategic failure.
Read on.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Key Bush Torture Lawyers Still at Work
By David Swanson
June 30, 2009
We've heard of John Yoo and Alberto Gonzales, and maybe even Jay Bybee. Some of us recall John Ashcroft, Michael Mukasey and even David Addington. Michael Haynes, Stephen Bradbury, and Douglas Feith occasionally make the news.
Read on.
June 30, 2009
We've heard of John Yoo and Alberto Gonzales, and maybe even Jay Bybee. Some of us recall John Ashcroft, Michael Mukasey and even David Addington. Michael Haynes, Stephen Bradbury, and Douglas Feith occasionally make the news.
Read on.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Obama's 'Realism' on Iran
By Ivan Eland
June 30, 2009
Barack Obama’s reaction to the mass protests and violence in Iran shows he is following through on his pledge to be more like George H.W. Bush rather than his son, George W. Bush.
Read on.
June 30, 2009
Barack Obama’s reaction to the mass protests and violence in Iran shows he is following through on his pledge to be more like George H.W. Bush rather than his son, George W. Bush.
Read on.
Obama's Torture Hypocrisy
By Jason Leopold
June 29, 2009
President Barack Obama just announced that the U.S. government "must stand against torture wherever it takes place," but it’s clear that his pledge does not apply to torture committed by officials from the Bush administration.
Read on.
June 29, 2009
President Barack Obama just announced that the U.S. government "must stand against torture wherever it takes place," but it’s clear that his pledge does not apply to torture committed by officials from the Bush administration.
Read on.
Giving Diplomacy a Chance
By Haviland Smith
June 29, 2009
Since the Second World War, the Republicans have said consistently that the Democrats’ main foreign policy problem is that they are either unable or unwilling to successfully and purposefully project American power abroad.
Read on.
June 29, 2009
Since the Second World War, the Republicans have said consistently that the Democrats’ main foreign policy problem is that they are either unable or unwilling to successfully and purposefully project American power abroad.
Read on.
Obama's Troubling Caution on Torture
By Diana Gibson and Ray McGovern
June 29, 2009
Anniversaries can be important. Last Friday marked the 22nd anniversary of the U.N. Convention against Torture, ratified and signed under President Reagan.
Read on.
June 29, 2009
Anniversaries can be important. Last Friday marked the 22nd anniversary of the U.N. Convention against Torture, ratified and signed under President Reagan.
Read on.
Obama, They Want You to Fail
By Robert Parry
June 29, 2009
After last year’s elections, a Democratic operative told me that if the Democrats got to 59 seats in the Senate, it would be easy to peel off one or two Republicans to pass key legislation like serious health care reform. I was left wondering what political planet he'd been living on for the past three decades.
Read on.
June 29, 2009
After last year’s elections, a Democratic operative told me that if the Democrats got to 59 seats in the Senate, it would be easy to peel off one or two Republicans to pass key legislation like serious health care reform. I was left wondering what political planet he'd been living on for the past three decades.
Read on.
WP's Connolly Back, on Health Reform
By Robert Parry
June 29, 2009
Ceci Connolly, the Washington Post reporter whose snide (and erroneous) coverage of Al Gore’s 2000 campaign contributed to George W. Bush becoming President, is back with more snarky coverage of “liberal activists” pushing for a “public option” on health-care reform.
Read on.
June 29, 2009
Ceci Connolly, the Washington Post reporter whose snide (and erroneous) coverage of Al Gore’s 2000 campaign contributed to George W. Bush becoming President, is back with more snarky coverage of “liberal activists” pushing for a “public option” on health-care reform.
Read on.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Waking Up Is Hard to Do
By Pablo Ouziel
June 28, 2009
We wake up in the morning to hear and watch the newest tragedy that has swept the world¹s media attention.
Read on.
June 28, 2009
We wake up in the morning to hear and watch the newest tragedy that has swept the world¹s media attention.
Read on.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Dissent as 'Low-Level Terrorism'
By Emily Spence
June 26, 2009
Recently, an American Civil Liberties Union report pointed out, "Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as ‘low level terrorism’.”
Read on.
June 26, 2009
Recently, an American Civil Liberties Union report pointed out, "Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as ‘low level terrorism’.”
Read on.
Who to Trust on a Truth Commission?
By Robert Parry
June 26, 2009
While a truth commission to examine the crimes of the Bush administration has a certain appeal – especially if there’s not going to be a tough special prosecutor bringing criminal charges – there still would be the issue of who could fill the job of getting at the truth.
Read on.
June 26, 2009
While a truth commission to examine the crimes of the Bush administration has a certain appeal – especially if there’s not going to be a tough special prosecutor bringing criminal charges – there still would be the issue of who could fill the job of getting at the truth.
Read on.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
False Health-Scare Ad on CNN
By Robert Parry
June 25, 2009
A right-wing group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights is airing a political attack ad against the idea of a public option for health insurance by turning upside down an analysis showing that 119 million Americans would jump from their private health insurer to a government plan if one existed.
Read on.
June 25, 2009
A right-wing group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights is airing a political attack ad against the idea of a public option for health insurance by turning upside down an analysis showing that 119 million Americans would jump from their private health insurer to a government plan if one existed.
Read on.
Treading Softly with the CIA's PanettaT
By Melvin A. Goodman
June 25, 2009
For the past several years, we have been indebted to tough-minded reporters such as Jane Mayer, whose articles in the New Yorker and her excellent book The Dark Side have provided us with the necessary details of the transgressions of the Bush administration and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Read on.
June 25, 2009
For the past several years, we have been indebted to tough-minded reporters such as Jane Mayer, whose articles in the New Yorker and her excellent book The Dark Side have provided us with the necessary details of the transgressions of the Bush administration and the Central Intelligence Agency.
Read on.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Divided Iran & the 'October Surprise'
By Robert Parry
June 24, 2009
Iran’s current political divisions can be traced back to a controversy nearly three decades ago when Iran faced war with Iraq and became entwined with U.S. and Israeli political maneuvers that set all three countries on a dangerous course that continues to this day.
Read on.
June 24, 2009
Iran’s current political divisions can be traced back to a controversy nearly three decades ago when Iran faced war with Iraq and became entwined with U.S. and Israeli political maneuvers that set all three countries on a dangerous course that continues to this day.
Read on.
El Salvador: Ghosts at the Polls
By Don North
June 24, 2009
“If they kill me, I shall arise again in the Salvadoran people,” said Archbishop Oscar Romero 29 years ago, just two weeks before he was gunned down by a sniper while saying mass.
Read on.
June 24, 2009
“If they kill me, I shall arise again in the Salvadoran people,” said Archbishop Oscar Romero 29 years ago, just two weeks before he was gunned down by a sniper while saying mass.
Read on.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Pushing Obama to Confront Iran
By Ivan Eland
June 22, 2009
When massive turmoil occurs in an important country, U.S. policymakers struggle to make heads or tails of it and arrive at an appropriate reaction. Kibitzers and pundits, however, have no trouble reaching immediate and sweeping conclusions and egging on the policymakers to further their own agendas.
Read on.
June 22, 2009
When massive turmoil occurs in an important country, U.S. policymakers struggle to make heads or tails of it and arrive at an appropriate reaction. Kibitzers and pundits, however, have no trouble reaching immediate and sweeping conclusions and egging on the policymakers to further their own agendas.
Read on.
Serving the Medical-Industrial Complex
By Robert Parry
June 22, 2009
The usual knock on government programs is that they’re not as efficient as the private sector, which we’re told can provide the same product for less money and with higher quality. Thus, it should be no big deal when the public and private collide because the private sector should prevail.
Read on.
June 22, 2009
The usual knock on government programs is that they’re not as efficient as the private sector, which we’re told can provide the same product for less money and with higher quality. Thus, it should be no big deal when the public and private collide because the private sector should prevail.
Read on.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Obama Opposes Plame-gate Release
By Jason Leopold
June 20, 2009
In another case of protecting Bush administration secrets, Barack Obama’s Justice Department is opposing the release of a transcript of Vice President Dick Cheney explaining his role in blowing the cover of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson in 2003 while the White House was seeking to discredit her husband, a critic of the Iraq invasion.
Read on.
June 20, 2009
In another case of protecting Bush administration secrets, Barack Obama’s Justice Department is opposing the release of a transcript of Vice President Dick Cheney explaining his role in blowing the cover of CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson in 2003 while the White House was seeking to discredit her husband, a critic of the Iraq invasion.
Read on.
Should the Airbus Be Grounded?
By William John Cox
June 20, 2009
Since entering service in 1974 with many technological innovations, such as computerized fly-by-wire control systems, user-friendly cockpits and extended use of composite materials, 5,717 aircraft have been manufactured by Airbus, an European aerospace company. More than 5,100 Airbuses remain in service.
Read on.
June 20, 2009
Since entering service in 1974 with many technological innovations, such as computerized fly-by-wire control systems, user-friendly cockpits and extended use of composite materials, 5,717 aircraft have been manufactured by Airbus, an European aerospace company. More than 5,100 Airbuses remain in service.
Read on.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Ray McGovern on Illness and Health
By Ray McGovern
June 18, 2009
At first I thought the BEFORE picture of the arteries around my heart may have been doctored. There it was big as life...or imminent death — the circumflex artery was 90 to 99 percent blocked.
Read on.
June 18, 2009
At first I thought the BEFORE picture of the arteries around my heart may have been doctored. There it was big as life...or imminent death — the circumflex artery was 90 to 99 percent blocked.
Read on.
Taking Sides in Iran
By Robert Parry
June 18, 2009
There are lots of good reasons for wishing that the bombastic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be toppled by the political struggle playing out on the streets of Tehran, but there is still that troubling question of whether he actually won the election.
Read on.
June 18, 2009
There are lots of good reasons for wishing that the bombastic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be toppled by the political struggle playing out on the streets of Tehran, but there is still that troubling question of whether he actually won the election.
Read on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)