Foreign Policy

Convicting Iran Outside a Courtroom

October 26, 2011
Convicting Iran Outside a Courtroom

The hard-to-believe accusation about an Iranian assassination plot in Washington may be thin on actual evidence but that has not stopped the Obama administration from using it to stir up animosity toward Iran within the American public and at the UN, writes Joe Lauria.

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Israel Rejects Appeal for Change

October 25, 2011
Israel Rejects Appeal for Change

During a recent visit to Israel, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta delivered a blunt message – that the country’s leaders must adjust to the changing realities or risk ending up isolated in the region and losing international support. But Israel’s leaders only got angry, reports Lawrence Davidson.

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Low-Balling Afghan Civilian Deaths

October 25, 2011
Low-Balling Afghan Civilian Deaths

Night-time raids by U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan are taking a lethal toll on Taliban militants – and on civilians who happen to be nearby. Earlier this year, the international community played down this “collateral damage” by taking a narrow look at the problem, Gareth Porter and Shah Noori report for Inter Press Service.

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Why the Left Won’t Accept Success

October 25, 2011
Why the Left Won’t Accept Success

Exclusive: A curious feature of the American Left is its resistance to recognize its own successes. So, even as President Barack Obama is bringing the eight-year U.S. occupation of Iraq to an end, some on the Left refuse to celebrate, as Robert Parry reports.

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Switching Focus from Iraq to Iran

October 23, 2011
Switching Focus from Iraq to Iran

Exclusive: President Barack Obama’s withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq is a blow to the neocons who had long dreamt of permanent military bases. But the neocons are now trying to spin the Iraq disaster into another excuse to confront Iran, writes Ray McGovern.

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Neocons Blame Obama for Iraq Disaster

October 23, 2011
Neocons Blame Obama for Iraq Disaster

Exclusive: In two months, the Iraq War – at least the eight-year U.S. phase – will be over. President Barack Obama promises the last troops will be home for the holidays. Then, Americans may finally reflect on this bloody imperial disaster. So the neocons are busy rewriting the war’s narrative, Robert Parry reports.

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Falling for New Neocon Propaganda

October 22, 2011
Falling for New Neocon Propaganda

Exclusive: One not-so-funny fact about Washington is that nearly all the news media stars who fell for neoconservative falsehoods about Iraq are still around to fall for new ones on Iran, even some like Richard Cohen who briefly regretted his earlier gullibility, notes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.

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Ending the Iraq Catastrophe

October 21, 2011
Ending the Iraq Catastrophe

Exclusive: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told President Barack Obama that U.S. troops wouldn’t have immunity from Iraqi laws after December, forcing the last thousands of American soldiers to leave. That signals the end of the Iraq War – and the start of the U.S. battle over what the war’s lessons were, writes Robert Parry.

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Sloppy Iran Think by WPost’s Cohen

October 21, 2011
Sloppy Iran Think by WPost’s Cohen

In a powerful place like Washington D.C., sloppy thinking can have horrendous consequences, a truism that Big Media pundits have proved over and over. Now, the target is Iran and the usual suspects, the likes of the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen, are back at it, as former CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar notes.

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Pan Am 103 Verdict: Justice or Politics?

October 20, 2011
Pan Am 103 Verdict: Justice or Politics?

From the Archive: As U.S. policymakers and pundits celebrate the brutal murder of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, his torture and execution are being justified by glib references to his purported role in the Pan Am 103 bombing in 1988. But William Blum found a different reality in the records.

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