On the issue of Iranian nuclear arms, the U.S. imperils its own national security by continuing to function in a dreamworld, denying the unfairness of its position, which is based on Likudnik propaganda rather than reality. Only after opening its eyes will Washington be able to devise a negotiating position that will attract the serious attention of Tehran.
When Will Obama See Afghan's Daughters as His Own?
Society + Culture
By Sherwood Ross
Saturday, 05 September 2009
The war in Afghanistan today hangs like some cloud of poison gas over Washington that won’t blow away. It sickens everything as it spreads. It continues to suck precious tax dollars out of the Treasury, money this country cannot afford to squander, especially as millions of Americans are sinking into poverty and joblessness exceeds ten percent.
Afghan president, Mr. Hamid Karzai has many faces, like the colors of his trademark billowing chapan (cloak). One shines in his antipathy towards Afghan intelligentsia and another in his indissoluble bond with the Afghan warlords. His election campaign exposes this rancor more explicitly nowadays when he is using his usual tactics— intimidation, bribery and back door dealings—to secure himself a second term in the upcoming election and help warlords and his siblings hold on to ill-gotten wealth and power.
As Americans are gradually discovering, the 8-year occupation of Afghanistan is about opposing the Taliban’s attempt to regain political power, not about capturing or killing Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda.
Finance ministers from the world's largest and fastest-emerging economies have met to map out post-crisis exit strategies and tackle sharp differences over bankers' bonuses.
Iraq has begun stationing thousands of extra police on the border with Syria, saying they will prevent foreign fighters from entering the country to carry out attacks.
A British government minister has admitted that trade deals with Libya played a "very big part" in London's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prison transfer.
The US embassy in Afghanistan says it has fired eight security guards who were photographed taking part in lewd acts during alcohol-fuelled parties at their living quarters in Kabul.
Canada's supreme court has agreed to hear an appeal by the government against a lower court order to ask the United States to repatriate a Canadian man held at the Guantanamo Bay military prison.
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