Fixing Washington … in Afghanistan By Tom Engelhardt Explain something to me. In recent months, unless you were insensate, you couldn’t help running across someone talking, writing, speaking or pontificating about how busted government is in the United States. State governments are increasingly broke and getting broker. The federal government, while running up the red ink, is, as just about everyone declares, “paralyzed” and so incapable of acting intelligently on just about anything. Only the other day, no less a personage than Vice President Joseph Biden assured the co-anchor of the CBS Early Show, “Washington, right now, is broken.” Indiana … Continue reading Explain something to me.

By Brian Whitmore There was tension in the air when Kremlin envoy Nikolai Vinnichenko stepped behind the podium at the Khanty-Mansiisk legislature to introduce President Dmitry Medvedev’s candidate to replace the region’s highly popular governor. Addressing a room full of deeply skeptical lawmakers, Vinnichenko stressed that Natalya Komarova, a State Duma (parliament) deputy from the ruling United Russia party who has no ties whatsoever to Khanty-Mansiisk, would nevertheless bring a “new dynamic” to the energy-rich Siberian region. As he left the rostrum to take his seat, Vinnichenko stumbled, tripped, and nearly fell over. After safely navigating her own way // … Continue reading Kremlin puts its interests first

By Khadija Sharife The water is crystalline, the sand is whiter than white and elegantly bent palm trees sway in the breeze. This is how the Seychelles markets itself: as “another world”. Tourism is the mainstay of this heavenly island, averaging 20% of gross domestic product (GDP) and 60% of foreign exchange earnings. But given the climate crisis, prospects are dim for climate-vulnerable island nations like the Seychelles. Half of its population lives in coastal areas directly exposed to rising ocean levels, coastal erosion, flooding and erratic rainfall. The island is also heavily dependent on agriculture, with 70% of crops … Continue reading Climate change’s secret weapon

‘Sledgehammer’ blow for Turkey By Caleb Lauer ISTANBUL – Turkey’s former navy, air force and 1st Army commanders were arrested by Turkish police on Monday over seven-year-old plans that allegedly aimed to create national chaos, undermine the government and lead to a military takeover. The retired soldiers are the highest-ranking officers ever arrested by the Turkish police, with many Turks seeing this as a defining moment in the country’s civilian-military relations. Many army officers have been arrested before, but none of this stature, and now even Turkey’s most senior officers, whether serving or retired, must consider themselves vulnerable to civilian … Continue reading Turkey’s former navy, air force and 1st Army commanders arrested

By Gareth Porter WASHINGTON – Senior military officials decided to launch the current United States-British military campaign to seize Marjah in large part to influence domestic US opinion on the war in Afghanistan, the Washington Post reported on Monday. The Post report, by Greg Jaffe and Craig Whitlock, both of whom cover military affairs, said the town of Marjah in Helmand province would not have been chosen as a target for a US military operation had the criterion been military significance instead of impact on domestic public opinion. The primary goal of the offensive, they write, is to “convince Americans … Continue reading Marjah push aimed to shape US opinion