Posts filed under 'North America'
And so people are buying into the same sort of deception that got the US into Iraq. Or in fact every major conflict since the Spanish-American war. Will they ever learn? Larry Chin is the latest to argue, correctly in my mind, that the planning for war has already started and that this year will [...]
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February 12th, 2007
Björn Hallberg
In a blatant attempt at political manipulation, the US regime pressured the New York Times to censor an upcoming article. The Op-Ed in question can be seen here, in redacted form. You’d think it was an April Fools’ practical joke on the part of the NYT. But alas, this is the situation for journalists in [...]
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December 23rd, 2006
Björn Hallberg
Now there is a thought that will give you nightmares for years to come. (Metafilter)
The outgoing US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, is backing a call for the president of Iran to be charged with inciting genocide because of his speeches advocating the destruction of the state of Israel.
Mr Bolton will be joined [...]
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December 17th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
(AP) This is America’s war of terror rather. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the so called terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay turned out to be yoghurt salesmen after all. Which of course brings the entire rationale for what America has been saying and doing for the last five years into question. Of course, who would still be naive [...]
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December 17th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
Bit by bit …
In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President’s ability to deploy troops within the [...]
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October 29th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
We knew the number was in the thousands (14,000?), but this latest indication is surely shocking.
I’m at the Center for American Progress, listening to Sid Blumenthal and Glenn Greenwald talk about the Imperial Presidency, and one thing is important enough for me to want to live blog. Sid says that Wilkerson, Powell’s old chief of [...]
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October 25th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
Bush signs torture bill; Americans lose essential freedom
George W. Bush got what he wanted, ostensibly as a tool in his unfocused “war on terror”: By signing into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006, Bush has made it legal for the C.I.A. to continue operating torture facilities in undisclosed, foreign countries, and for the writ [...]
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October 18th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
Stephen M. Walt on Misreading the tea leaves: US missteps on foreign policy
First, officials misunderstood how other states see US primacy. Convinced that American power was a force for good, Bush thought other states would welcome US leadership as long as he acted decisively. In fact, US primacy made even longstanding allies nervous because they [...]
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October 9th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
Molly Ivins: Habeas Corpus, R.I.P. (1215 - 2006)
With a smug stroke of his pen, President Bush is set to wipe out a safeguard against illegal imprisonment that has endured as a cornerstone of legal justice since the Magna Carta.
NYT Editorial: Rushing Off a Cliff
Here’s what happens when this irresponsible Congress railroads a profoundly important bill [...]
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September 29th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
Someone is having trouble abiding by international law.
Maduro told CNN Espanol shortly after being released that he was confined to a small room and told to remove his clothes.
Maduro said that when he explained that he was the Venezuelan foreign minister and showed his diplomatic passport, he said he was threatened, pushed and yelled at [...]
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September 24th, 2006
Björn Hallberg
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