By Juan Cole In March of 2003, we were treated to an intensive bombardment of Iraq, which the Bush White House propagandists termed “Shock and Awe.” As usual, the US Air Force practically promised us that if only they could throw down all their fancy munitions on the target country from the air, why, you […]
Archives for June 2014
Americans’ Freedom of Speech has gone downhill since 9/11
By Peter Van Buren What We’ve Lost Since 9/11 Taking Down the First Amendment in Post-Constitutional America By Peter Van Buren America has entered its third great era: the post-constitutional one. In the first, in the colonial years, a unitary executive, the King of England, ruled without checks and balances, allowing no freedom of speech, […]
Why some Iraqis would rather try their luck under Sunni Extremists
ERBIL, Iraq — Five days after fleeing Mosul in northern Iraq, Ahmed says he’s now more nervous than ever. But it’s not the Al Qaeda-inspired extremists who took over his hometown that have him worried. No, he’s scared of what his own military might…
Wikileaks’ Manning says US public was lied to about Iraq from the start
Manning says US public lied to about Iraq from the start (via AFP) The detained US soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret documents to WikiLeaks made a rare foray into public life Saturday to warn Americans they were being lied to about Iraq once more. Chelsea Manning is serving a 35-year prison sentence […]
7 Myths about the Radical Sunni Advance in Iraq
By Juan Cole Already in the past week and a half, many assertions are becoming commonplace in the inside-the-Beltway echo chamber about Iraq’s current crisis that are poorly grounded in knowledge of the country. Here are some sudden truisms that should be rethought. 1. “The Sunni radicals of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria […]
Blair cannot duck blame for troubles in Iraq
The former prime minister tries to twist the facts of Iraq to suit his political decisions
The seven people who need to STFU about Iraq right now
We at Raw Story’s Oh God Here We Go Again desk know that we can’t be the only ones whose stomachs are turning at the thought of a renewed military engagement in Iraq. We marvel at the Big Brass Ones on some people who feel the need to offer their…
We need new Maps! That’s how much Arctic Sea Ice has melted
By Lauren McCauley A map of the Arctic from the National Geographic Atlas of the World. (Screenshot via National Geographic)Cartographers working on the latest edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World say that Arctic sea ice loss is the greatest visible change compared with previous editions of the map outside of the "breakup […]
Obama Ridicules Science Denialists on Climate Change
Obama renews climate change push (via AFP) President Barack Obama renewed his campaign to curb carbon emissions Saturday, saying the debate over climate change is over. Obama, who made the battle against climate change a core promise of his 2008 election campaign, has been stymied at the federal… ———- Related video: CNN: “Obama bashes […]