Month: March 2013

John Brennan’s Heavy Baggage

Exclusive: After a messy confirmation — which asked new questions about drone assassinations and old questions about enhanced interrogations — John Brennan has taken over at CIA. But his past may not be so easily forgotten in a world looking for accountability, writes ex-CIA…

Pushing Back Our ‘Doomsday Clock’

From Editor Robert Parry: Thanks to the generosity of our readers, the “doomsday clock” of Consortiumnews’ financial crisis has been pushed back. We were down to two weeks of funding. We now have a little more breathing room.

Reminder About Comment Rules

From Editor Robert Parry: At Consortiumnews, we welcome substantive comments about our articles. But we don’t welcome insulting, racist, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic or other bigoted remarks. Violators can expect such comments to be removed and chronic violators will be put on a…

Hagel Struggles to Calm Afghan Dispute

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel traveled to Afghanistan seeking to reduce tensions between the Afghan government and U.S. Special Forces who face allegations of supporting armed men accused of abusing civilians, as Gareth Porter writes at Inter Press Service.

South Africa’s Troubled Times

Though South Africa emerged from the cruel injustice of Apartheid to create a multiracial democracy, the country never addressed the residual inequality of wealth and property, contributing now to social unrest and political turmoil, as Danny Schechter reports from Durban.

Rethinking Watergate/Iran-Contra

Special Report: New evidence continues to accumulate showing how Official Washington got key elements of the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals wrong, especially how these two crimes of state originated in treacherous actions to secure the powers of the presidency, writes Robert Parry.

Woodward Blasts Obama on Iran Move

In recent decades, Watergate reporter Bob Woodward has blundered in fawning books on Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and President George W. Bush and now finds a threat in a routine exchange with a White House official. But overlooked is his war-mongering, says…

Jack Lew’s Footprints in Cayman Sand

Jack Lew, the new U.S. Treasury Secretary, follows in the footsteps of other Wall Street insiders to hold that position. His Cayman accounts and “golden parachutes” also may make it hard for him to put himself in the shoes of…

Ramsey Clark’s Long Trek for Justice

There was a time in America when someone like Ramsey Clark could be Attorney General and assert the power of the federal government on the side of civil rights, but that now seems like ancient history, as Clark reflects on…

Neocons Escape Accountability

Nearing the Iraq War’s tenth anniversary, an overriding truth is that few of the key participants in government, media or think tanks have faced accountability commensurate with the crime. Indeed, many of these Mideast “experts” are still go-to people for advice, writes ex-CIA analyst…