Iraq video sets off renewed protests By Charles Fromm WASHINGTON – Journalist advocacy groups called for the reopening of an investigation into the 2007 killing of a Reuters photographer and his driver after the WikiLeaks website released classified video footage on Monday of a 2007 helicopter attack in Baghdad which killed 12 people. “This footage is deeply disturbing,” said Joel Simon, executive director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. “The video also confirms our long-held view that a thorough and transparent investigation into this incident is urgently needed,” Simon added. The video shows the camera feed from an … Continue reading Wikileaks – Patriots without borders!

Karzai plays word games in Kabul By Charles Recknagel Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s anti-foreign rhetoric has received attention in capitals worldwide, and Kabul is no exception. Over the past five days, Karzai has blamed the international community for fraud in last year’s presidential election and described the Western military coalition as coming close to being seen as invaders. He is also reported to have told a meeting of parliamentary deputies on April 3 that if legislators “and the international community pressure me more, I swear that I am going to join the Taliban”. But if press comment in Western capitals … Continue reading Karzai plays games again

Collateral Pentagon By Pepe Escobar “We’ve shot an amazing number of people and killed a number and, to my knowledge, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force.” That was General Stanley McChrystal, supreme commander of United States forces in Afghanistan, late last month – during one of the virtual “town hall” meetings held with US troops every two weeks, as reported in the New York Times. McChrystal added, “To my knowledge, in the nine-plus months I’ve been here, not a single case where we have engaged in an escalation of force incident and hurt someone has it turned … Continue reading Gin, Guns and Gunships!

Japan caught in deflation conundrum By Christopher Johnson TOKYO – If you live in Southeast Asia and need cheap clothing, come to Tokyo and check out these prices: 700 yen (US$7.45) for jeans, 1,000 yen for women’s boots, and 7,800 yen for men’s suits – about a third of what they cost a decade ago, when Japanese used to go to Bangkok and Hong Kong to shop. For 12 straight months, prices in Japan have been falling, the country’s Statistics Bureau said last week, and land prices are roughly half what they were 20 years ago. Prices fell by 1.2% … Continue reading The beginning of the end for Japan?

Muqtada Returns The return of kingmaker Muqtada By Sami Moubayed DAMASCUS – Arab and international media are busy debating who will become the new prime minister of Iraq. Iyad Allawi, a symbol of secularism who came out with 91 seats in the March 7 elections, or incumbent Nuri al-Maliki, a religiously-driven statesman who came in second, with a total of 89 seats. Although the numbers seem to say it all, it is becoming increasingly uncertain who will become the new premier, given that government-mandated de-Ba’athification committees are trying to disqualify five of Allawi’s 91 deputies, which would bring his share … Continue reading Muqtada Returns

Bury the hatchet —Farrukh Khan Pitafi All the political sides are urged to bury the hatchet in order to build a better Pakistan. Now that all its major demands have been met, PML-N would do well to join the federal cabinet and help steer the country out of trouble Oxana, my three year old, has posed a new challenge to me. She watched ‘3 Idiots’ with us and since then she has become a fan of Amir Khan. So whenever I go back home after a long day, I find the same movie being played on the DVD ad nauseam. I … Continue reading Pakistani politicians need to grow up!

Chhattisgarh Maoist attack The killing of 73 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men in Chhattisgargh state by Maoist insurgents is a stark reminder that, despite all its claims of development and progress, trouble is brewing in India. While the Indian government has been busy pumping billions into the defence budget, Maoist guerrillas have been organising and spreading imperceptibly through the resource-rich rural, tribal areas of Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Despite fighting the Naxalite movement for decades and crushing it with all its might, the Indian government has not been able to eliminate it. As the newspapers reported, New … Continue reading 73 Indians killed by Maoists

When rightwing hate goes mainstream The Republican party is indulging extremists, hoping they’ll put down their guns long enough to vote for them this November Late Monday afternoon I received an email from the American Patriot Foundation informing me that Terrence Lakin, a lieutenant colonel in the US army, needed my help. It seems that Lakin had refused to obey orders unless his commander-in-chief – that would be Barack Obama – produces evidence proving he was born in the United States and is thus constitutionally qualified to serve as president. Lakin now faces a court-martial and prison. Well, good for Lakin. What … Continue reading The US Republican party destroying itself?

How I learned to love Twitter At first I thought Twitter was for kids, but I was soon hooked. It’s like having fairies in your garden A long time ago – less than a year ago in fact, but time goes all stretchy in the Twittersphere, just as it does in those folksongs in which the hero spends a night with the Queen of Faerie and then returns to find that a hundred years have passed and all his friends are dead … Where was I? Oh yes. A long time ago, back in June of 2009, we were planning … Continue reading Do you love Twitter?

Sikhs struggling with free speech Gurpreet Bhatti’s latest play isn’t being attacked as Behzti was, but that does not mean the Sikh community approves Just over five years ago, in December 2004, a row kicked off in Birmingham over the play Behzti (Dishonour) by the playwright Gurpreet Bhatti. Sikh fundamentalists took to the Birmingham Rep to protestbecause it featured rape in a Sikh gurdwara and eventually managed to get the play shut down. They declared victory. The writer is now back in the limelight as her next production, Behud (Beyond Belief) comes to theatre. It is also written as an attempt to recreate … Continue reading Sikhs – Free Speechingwalas