Prospective White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel called Rose Oakar, the executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, to apologize for remarks of his father, Benjamin Emanuel. The elder Emanuel had replied to Maariv when asked whether his son would influence Obama to be pro-Israel, ““Obviously he’ll influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why […]
Al-Maliki Backs Security Pact; Muqtada Calls for ‘Universal Demonstration’, Threatens Guerrilla Strikes; Sistani Warns he May Intervene;
McClatchy reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has decided to back the draft security agreement between Iraq and the Bush administration. The LAT stresses what al-Maliki did not get from the Americans everything he demanded, especially with regard to exposure of US troops to prosecution in Iraqi courts for crimes committed in Iraq. AP […]
Al-Maliki Backs Security Pact; Muqtada Calls for ‘Universal Demonstration’, Threatens Guerrilla Strikes; Sistani Warns he May Intervene;
McClatchy reports that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has decided to back the draft security agreement between Iraq and the Bush administration. The LAT stresses what al-Maliki did not get from the Americans everything he demanded, especially with regard to exposure of US troops to prosecution in Iraqi courts for crimes committed in Iraq. AP […]
Dubai Goes Bust; Is there a Silver Lining?
IHT reports on the way the economic slowdown is affecting Dubai (which unlike other members of the United Arab Emirates does not have much petroleum). Some citizens of the emirate see the end of excess as a good thing and a time to recover some authenticity. The Dubai property boom has had its bubble burst.
How Now Brown Cloud
“Atmospheric brown clouds” stretch from Dubai to Shanghai; they reduce crop yields by blocking sunlight,and contribute to extreme weather that also hurts agriculture. The polluted clouds come from burning fossil fuels. USA Today says, “The huge plumes have darkened 13 megacities in Asia — including Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Cairo, Mumbai and New Delhi — sharply […]
Schneider on Obama and Afghanistan: Bombings in Jalalabad, Qandahar, Kill 27, wound 109; Acid Thrown in Schoolgirls Faces
A suicide car bomber hit a US convoy near the eastern Pushtun city of Jalalabad, killing one US soldier and at least 20 civilians and wounding 67 other persons. Earlier, another suicide bomber had attacked a government intelligence office in the southwestern Pushtun city of Qandahar, killing 6 and wounding 42. There is a special […]
Obama Faces Major Challenge in Afghanistan/ Pakistan
Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post reports that Obama is considering a regional approach to the Afghanistan war that would extend to negotiating with Iran and with “reconcilable” elements of the Taliban. Certainly, some new policies are desperately needed, and whatever Bush was doing over there was just making things worse over time. Afghans are […]
Abnormality Besieges Palestinians
The UN warns that it is running out of food to distribute in Gaza, putting the civilian population there at severe risk, as a direct result of an Israeli food blockade. A food blockade? That is a war crime! Why aren’t the people ordering the malnourishment of a civilian population under foreign military occupation being […]
Standing up for Max Cleland on Veteran’s Day
More on Veterans Day: Someone alerted me to the good work that Survivor Corps is doing for Vets. And, This letter from Iraq Veteran Paul Hackett came to me in the mail on Veterans Day, and I thought it worth reprinting: “Juan, Ninety years ago today, the Great World War came to an end on […]
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