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However ambitious President Barack Obama’s domestic plans, one unacknowledged issue has the potential to destroy any reform efforts he might launch. Think of it as the 800-pound gorilla in the American living room: our longstanding reliance on imperialism and militarism in our relations with other countries and the vast, potentially ruinous global empire of bases that goes with it. The …

On June 30, US combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities and confined themselves to bases. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government declared it a major victory for the Iraqi people and his government, though the US troops are still seen moving around in the cities from which they withdrew in violation of the troop withdrawal agreement. Amidst a lull in combat …

CIA-Trained Security Chiefs Elected to the Palestinian Leadership “He is our guy.” George W. Bush speaking of Palestinian security chief Muhammad Dahlan, June 4, 2003 August 14, 2009 “Counterpunch” — The U.S. government has been meddling in the Palestinian internal affairs since at least 2003. Its effort is to transform the Palestinian national movement for liberation and independence into a …

The sight of dozens and dozens of Sri Lankan Muslim youth cheering the Pakistan team and celebrating its victory over Sri Lanka at the last two one-day matches was something that had disturbed quite a few in this country. When a prominent local Muslim politician was asked for his interpretation of this scenario, he quipped, “Yes it is quite disturbing. …

Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible’s satanic agents of the Apocalypse. Honest. This isn’t a joke. The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in …

Israel Shahak’s (1933 – 2001) “Jewish History, Jewish Religion” argued that while Islamic fundamentalism is vilified in the West, comparable Jewish extremism is largely ignored. In the book’s forward, Edward Said wrote: “….Shahak’s mode of telling the truth has always been rigorous and uncompromising. There is nothing seductive about it, no attempt made to put it ‘nicely,’ no effort expended …