Denny Roy, a Senior Fellow at the East-West Center, writes at The Diplomat that the crux of the tensions between the U.S. and China is a contest for power in the Asia-Pacific region. The squabbling over competing sovereignty claims of this or that island chain in the...
Illegal Israeli Settlements Stoke Tensions in West Bank
Here's a rare on the ground look the daily battles being fought between illegal Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank. From Al Jazeera America:
Sen Feinstein: Iran Sanctions Bill ‘Is A March To War’
Senator Diane Feinstein took to the floor of the Senate to argue against the bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran in the interim period between the 6-month agreement and a final deal down the road. She said this attempt to foil negotiations is really "a march...
The NYT’s Unbalanced Reporting On Military Training, Education in Gaza
This piece from the New York Times reports on Hamas boot camps in Gaza where teenagers receive military training and repeats oft-cited claims about Hamas textbooks that don't recognize Israel. It is a one-sided depiction of an ugly reality that exists, of course, on...
The Hypocritical US Position on Cyber-Warfare
The New York Times is out with a story about how the NSA has the capacity to surreptitiously install software on specific computers that allow the agency to mount cyber attacks and carry out surveillance, even when the targeted computers are not connected to the...
The Whitewashing of Ariel Sharon
The death of former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon enlivened US media's interest in the legacy of a man considered by many a war criminal, and by some a hero. In fact, the supposed heroism of Sharon was at the heart of CNN coverage of his death on January 11. Sharon...
World Bank Firm Backs Honduran Corporation Associated With Forced Evictions, Multiple Killings
According to Human Rights Watch, the World Bank's private investment firm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), lent $15 million to Corporacion Dinant, a Honduran food company, despite indications that it was forcing people off their own land and controlled...
Why the Washington Post’s New Ties to the CIA Are So Ominous
American journalism has entered highly dangerous terrain.A tip-off is that the Washington Post refuses to face up to a conflict of interest involving Jeff Bezos – who’s now the sole owner of the powerful newspaper at the same time he remains Amazon’s CEO and main...
Swimming Against the Tide in Afghanistan: Why the US Troops Don’t Need to Stay
The bottom line when it comes to Afghanistan is that the U.S. has failed in virtually every one of its objectives. This year, 2014, is the year the Obama administration will describe as the year America's longest war ended, even as the administration scrambles to...
Ariel Sharon and the Legacy of US-Backed War Crimes
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon died over the weekend. Much of the U.S. and Israeli media have whitewashed Sharon's legacy, erasing from history the fact that he was a wretched war criminal who was devoted to a Greater Israel and to massacring any civilians...