contributions

by Howard Kurtz
Days before the Iraq war began, veteran Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus put together a story questioning whether the Bush administration had proof that Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction.
But he ran into resistance from the paper’s editors, and his piece ran only after assistant managing editor Bob Woodward, who was researching a book about the drive toward war, "helped sell the story," Pincus recalled. "Without him, it would have had a tough (…)

by Sandra Cuffe Intibucá, Honduras
That’s the headline on the front page of today’s paper (El Tiempo), beside a photo of an adolescent in a wheelchair, crying. He and four other young Hondurans, aged 8 to 26, were flown back into the country yesterday afternoon, minus a few legs.
They had been on their way to the United States, where they probably would have worked long hours in miserable conditions in order to send money back to their families here in Honduras. Cold and tired, they did (…)

Rome, Italy - There will be sex education courses in school and the free distribution of condoms.
This is planned in the legislative proposal presented by the Green, Paolo Cento, deputy chairman of the House Justice Commission, according to which, "Minister Sirchia, rather than opening shameful debates on Law 194, should promote a strong information initiative on the use of condoms as prophylactics and to protect health.
The Greens have presented a proposal with the aim of bringing the (…)

War of the Frontmen in the New Iraq
By PATRICK COCKBURN
The most farcical moment since the start of the Iraq crisis came last weekend when Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon’s choice to rule Iraq only last year, was accused of counterfeiting by Iraq’s chief investigating judge. His nephew Salem Chalabi, whom the US put in charge of organising the trial of Saddam Hussein, is accused of murder and is refusing to return to Iraq.
The charges are the outcome of bureaucratic warfare in Washington. (…)

New evidence suggests that lower-ranking members and new recruits are being promoted
A new portrait of Al-Qaeda’s inner workings is emerging from the cache of information seized last month in Pakistan: Evidence indicates that the terror organisation is regenerating and bringing in new blood.
Senior intelligence officials have begun identifying a new generation of operatives who appear to be filling the vacuum created when leaders were killed or captured.
Using computer records, e-mail (…)

By Allister Sparks
The American political system has long been a mystery to most South Africans. This is partly because of its division of powers, with the executive separated from the legislature, and because of the way American parties choose their leaders afresh every four years.
But mainly the confusion has stem-med from the difficulty of distinguishing between the Democratic and Republican parties. America has never had a socialist tradition, so there has never been a replication of (…)

Porter Goss’ undercover work extolled as a big asset
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush yesterday nominated as Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director, Representative Porter Goss, head of the House Intelligence Committee.
He will replace Mr George Tenet, who quit last month amid a barrage of criticism. Advertisement
Speaking at a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House, Mr Bush said Mr Goss - a former undercover CIA officer - was the right man to lead the agency at a (…)

By Doug Struck
BAGHDAD — Defiant Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr yesterday rejected an appeal by Iraq’s prime minister to end fighting in Najaf, rallying his supporters to fight with him to "the last drop of my blood" as US and Iraqi forces encircled a shrine in the Shi’ite holy city.
Speaking publicly in the Imam Ali Shrine for the first time since clashes erupted in Najaf five days ago, Sadr said it was ’’an honor for me to fight the Americans." Referring to his militia force, (…)

Retired Gen. Tommy Franks tried to take the blame Monday for President Bush’s much-criticized comments declaring an end to major combat in Iraq more than a year ago.
"That’s my fault, that George W. Bush said what he said on the first of May of last year, just because I asked him to," said Franks, former commander of forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Less than two months after the invasion of Iraq, Bush flew to a U.S. aircraft carrier and declared an end to major combat with a banner (…)

By Manuel Valenzuela
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." — President George W. Bush, Aug. 5, 2004 in an apparent gaffe or a Freudian slip.
A rather sad state of affairs has risen out of the propaganda-laced, nationalism-spewing, draped-in-the flag-espousing and testosterone-filled Democratic National Convention that would have made Hermann Goering proud. The party of (…)