contributions

de Robert Fisk
In the sparse Baathist drawing rooms of Damascus, reality often seems a long way away. But it was a sign of the times that President Bashar al-Assad was able to bring the great and the good of Damascus to their feet by the simple token of telling the truth - which no other Arab leader has chosen to do these past five weeks: that the Lebanese Hizbollah guerrilla army has, in effect, won this round of their war with Israel.
There was plenty of hyperbole in the Assad speech. (…)

Chavez: Winning Arab hearts and minds
Chavez is a hero to more than his fellow Venezuelans
Sen here with the emir of Qatar, who is a close personal friend
By Dima Khatib, Latin America Correspondent
Friday 18 August 2006, 14:15 Makka Time, 11:15 GMT
Chavez of Arabia?
Billions of dollars spent, tens of thousands of lives lost, hundreds of hours of televised speeches and press conferences, extensive diplomatic efforts, political and military plans, years in Iraq, and much more. (…)

During the course of writing this article, I reached for my handy thesaurus to find appropriate synonyms to describe the profession of “cable television news journalist.”
There were three: 1). Pseudo-journalist, a.k.a. professional liar; 2). Bottom feeding scum sucker who regurgitates garbage; 3). A coward often known to hawk unjust and illegal wars from the safety of television studios while avoiding military service.
Okay, I confess. There were no such descriptions in my thesaurus. (…)

By The Associated Press
President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela is carrying out a nationwide fundraising drive to raise money for rebuilding Lebanon and for the Palestinian people.
Chavez called the Lebanese and Palestinians "heroic people" and reiterated his criticisms of Israel over its military offensive in Lebanon.
"I ask everyone in the country to give what we can for this fundraising campaign for the reconstruction of Lebanon - destroyed by the genocidal and fascist hand of Israel, (…)

Today, just prior to the Bush Press Conference in the "New Press Room", CNN...that network which "The World Trusts", announced that Bush’s new approval rating number has risen to 42%..the highest in over a year!
Who among you, my friends, can possibly believe this?
Anyway, Bush, looking gray and a bit under the weather, came out swinging and ready to answer questions.
He made a very strange comment at one point, in repsonse to a question about disarming Hezbollah (and how impossible (…)

The road that led to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003 may be conceptualized in the form of two parallel timelines. One timeline involves documentation of the Bush administration’s determination and plans for war, interspersed with concurrent public pronouncements that it was primarily seeking a peaceful solution to its conflict with Iraq.
The other timeline (actually, a series of timelines by subject area) involves the Bush administration’s accumulation of “evidence” of the need (…)

Reservists: Officers stopped us attending protest against war 20/08/06 By Nir Hasson
Some 160 infantry reserve soldiers are accusing their commanders of preventing them from participating in a demonstration against the war in Lebanon, which they called a "debacle." The soldiers said they had been used as "sitting ducks."
"I’ve been in the army and reserves for 26 years and what happened this time was not merely a fiasco, it was a complete debacle. We felt like tin soldiers in a game of (…)

Deputy PM criticises US handling of Middle East, condemning ’cowboy’ President at private meeting
By Colin Brown 17 August 2006
John Prescott has given vent to his private feelings about the Bush presidency, summing up George Bush’s administration in a single word: crap.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s condemnation of President Bush and his approach to the Middle East could cause a diplomatic row but it will please Labour MPs who are furious about Tony Blair’s backing of the United States (…)

AMERICANS ARE UNABLE TO ***** - FOLLOW THE $ MONEY - ******
THAT IS - AMERICANS CAN’T SEE ***WHO*** TAKES THEIR MONEY AND HOW THEY DO IT.
WHY FOR INSTANCE WAS THERE NO 9-11 TYPE ATTACK ON PARIS? ON MOSCOW? ON ROME?
SIMPLE: AS BIN LADEN AND ALL THE OTHER ARAB-WORLD LEADERS HAVE SAID: BECAUSE IT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THAT GIVES ISRAEL THE WEAPONS TO OCCUPY PALESTINE AND CONTROL THE PALESTINIANS BY KILLING THEM. MANY U.S. SCIENTISTS AND ACADEMIC INVESTIGATORS NOW HAVE DETERMINED (…)

By JONATHAN COOK Nazareth.
During Israel’s war against the people of Lebanon, our media, politicians and diplomats have colluded with the aggressors by distracting us with irrelevancies, by concocting controversies, and by framing the language of diplomacy. In the fragile truce that is currently holding while Lebanon waits for Israel to withdraw, we are simply getting more of the same.
One example of the many distractions during the war that neatly reveals their true purpose is the (…)