More news

* Paul Woodward of War In Context, noting the double standards rife in the media: "When tens of thousands of Lebanese protest against the pro-Syrian Lebanese government it is hailed around the world as an impressive expression of the will of the Lebanese people and their desire for self-determination. As Newsweek describes it, this is "people power!" Now half a million Lebanese (from a city of 2.25 million) take to the streets and what are we witnessing? Hezbollah's organizational efficiency; the blind loyalty of the Shiite masses; the past; a political exercise of no real significance."

* To this, Robert Fisk adds: "If the Shia of Iraq can be painted as defenders of democracy, the Shias of Lebanon cannot be portrayed as the defenders of 'terrorism'. So what does Washington make of yesterday's extraordinary events in Beirut?"

* Is Bush Bringing Democracy to the Middle East? Democracy Now! presents a debate on this question.

* "By giving George W. Bush and his neoconservative advisers far too much credit for recent political shifts in the Middle East," Robert Parry writes in yet another excellent analysis of recent developments, "the U.S. news media is emboldening these architects of the Iraq War to escalate their regional strategy, which may include a military solution in Iraq that could cross into genocide."

* This AP story summarizes the grisly developments around Iraq earlier today, where the discovery of 41 corpses and a large suicide bombing in Baghdad indicate the country remains mired in chaos, even after January's glorious election.

* This report suggests that the US Army's official historian of the Iraq war, Major Isaiah Wilson, has concluded that the US lost control of Iraq in July 2003 and has failed to regain dominance since. The military, you might recall, was warned this would happen back in July 2003 unless drastic measures were taken to restore civil services and security.

* Mark Benjamin, the award-winning UPI reporter who has done an excellent job tracking down the real number of casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan, has a story in Salon about the US military's continued preoccupation with keeping the messy images of war out of the public eye. Of particular note, Benjamin has found the military tends to bring its wounded back to the US under the cover of darkness.

* "A former U.S. Marine who participated in capturing ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said the public version of his capture was fabricated," reports UPI. "I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Nadim Abou Rabeh told a Saudi paper. Recall some of the earlier theories about Hussein's capture.

* "War on terror may breed more terrorism." So conclude a variety of participants at the Madrid conference on terrorism. Of course, they're not alone.

* ABC News has stumbled upon an FBI report that downplays the Al Qaeda threat to the US. The report seems to echo the charges Adam Curtis laid out in his BBC documentary series, "The Power of Nightmares," which argued Al Qaeda was nothing more that a loose confederation of like-minded extremists with limited tactical capabilities.

* The NY Times reports that a review of US intelligence on Iran requested by President Bush has found it to be "inadequate to allow firm judgments" on that country's weapons programs. Intelligence about North Korea is lacking as well, but the record on Iran was deemed to be "particularly worrisome."

* According to the NY Times, an internal review of the Israeli government's support of settlement policies in the West Bank conducted by Talia Sasson, a former state prosecutor, "describes widespread state complicity, fraud and cynicism, illegal diversion of government money and illegal seizure of private Palestinian land." The Times also concedes that these conclusions are "no surprise" and "confirm accusations made for years." In a subsequent development, Ha'aretz reports that the US has warned Israel that it needs to "take immediate action based on the conclusions and recommendations" of the Sasson report, or risk losing American aid.

* If America is richer, why are its families so much less secure? Gordon Coale points us to this important LA Times special report.

* A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers gives America's infrastructure a "D" grade and calls for $1.6 trillion to be spent over the next five years to alleviate potential problems, with nearly $1 billion annually needed to address transportation issues alone.

* Russ Baker thinks the Doug Wead tapes that were "leaked" to the NY Times a few weeks ago were, in fact, planted to make Dubya look like a "great guy."