Syrian security forces opened fire again on Saturday, killing 11 protesters in the central city of Homs. The protest began as a funeral procession for demonstrators killed on Friday, when 10 died in Homs and some 44 died at government hands throughout the country. In Homs on Saturday, an AFP reporter and eyewitness said that […]
Archives for May 2011
Connecting the Dots: Doomsday & Education Cuts
Can you connect the dots? Right wing prophet convinces clueless Americans that May 21 is the end of the world. Kentucky legislature offers $42 mn. in tax breaks to fundamentalist Bible theme park scheme, after having deeply cut social services. Qualcomm co-founder decries ‘suicidal’ cuts in education funding in the US. Irwin Jacobs said that […]
Netanyahu Humiliates Obama, Misrepresents Israeli Policy
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to embarrass his host, President Obama, at the White House on Friday, delivering a pedantic attack on him. Netanyahu made many false assertions about Israeli policy toward the Palestinian West Bank being driven solely by security concerns, when it is in fact a vast landgrab of the ‘settler-industrial complex.’ […]
Israeli MPs Slam Netanyahu Intransigence
The USG Open Source Center translates reactions from opposition members of parliament (the Knesset) in Israel to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s blunt rejection of President Obama’s speech on the Middle East. ‘ Opposition Parliamentarians Charge Netanyahu’s Policies Harmful to Israel Voice of Israel Network B Friday, May 20, 2011 … Document Type: OSC Translated Text […]
Obama Disappoints Key Egyptian Activist
Excerpt from USG Open Source Center translation of remarks reported in the pan-Arab daily, al-Sharq al-Awsat [The Middle East] of Egyptian democracy activist Asma Mahfouz on her disappointment in President Obama’s speech. Mahfouz’s video calling for the Jan. 25 demonstration in Tahrir Square went viral and contributed to its success. ‘ Report by Abd-al-Sattar Hutaytah, […]
Obama and the Dilemmas of US Middle East Policy
President Obama’s major policy address on the Middle East got many things right. He pointed to al-Qaeda and terrorism, which targets civilians, as a dead end. He sided rhetorically with the grassroots movements for greater democracy in the region. He condemned outright the longstanding regimes, like that of Hosni Mubarak, that had been US allies, […]
President Obama’s Address on Change in the Middle East
May 19, 2011 Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery “A Moment of Opportunity” U.S. Department of State May 19, 2011 As Prepared for Delivery – I want to thank Hillary Clinton, who has traveled so much these last six months that she is approaching a new landmark – one million frequent […]
Syria Sanctions target al-Asad ahead of Obama Speech
The Obama administration is now targeting Bashar al-Asad and other top Syrian officials with financial sanctions. The US Treasury Department has extensive abilities to freeze assets and to influence financial institutions. Likely the European Union will follow suit soon Obama came into office wanting better relations with Syria and sending an ambassador. The Arab Spring […]
12 Killed in Big Anti-NATO Demonstration in Afghanistan
The LAT reports that a night-time raid by NATO forces that left 4 dead provoked a big demonstration in Taloqan in northern Afghanistan, the repression of which killed 12 and wounded 70. Taloqan is the capital of Takhar Province, population about 200,000 and people of Uzbek ethnicity are the single largest group. The area was […]
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