Torture As Official Israeli Policy - by Stephen LendmanThe UN Convention against Torture defines the practice as:"any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he... Continue Reading →

Reinventing the Evil Empire - by Stephen LendmanFor the West, everything changed but stayed the same, hard-wired and in place. Things just lay dormant in the shadows during the Yeltsin years, certain to reemerge once a more resolute Russian leader took over. If not Vladimir Putin, someone else little different. Russia is back, proud and... Continue Reading →

"Peace Mom" v. "Guardian of Power" - by Stephen LendmanCredit both titles to the book authors. Cindy Sheehan as a mother, peace activist, and now candidate to succeed Nancy Pelosi in California's Eighth Congressional District. Pelosi as both "guardian" and possessor of what Davids Cromwell and Edwards wrote about in their powerful critique of the... Continue Reading →

Blockades: Acts of War - by Stephen LendmanFrom July 21 - 31, Joint Task Force (mostly US, but also UK, Brazil and Italy) "Operation Brimstone" large scale war games were conducted off the US East coast in the North Atlantic. Its purpose may have been to prepare for a naval blockade of Iran. Initial reports... Continue Reading →

Corporate Media Bashes New Chavez Enabling Law Decrees - by Stephen LendmanIn January 2007, Hugo Chavez announced his "Bolivarian Socialism" project for the 21st century and explained its dependence on five revolutionary "motors:"-- constitutional reform;-- "Bolivarian popular education;"-- redefining and changing the organs of state power;-- an explosion of communal power at the grass roots;... Continue Reading →

Using Georgia to Target Russia - by Stephen LendmanAfter the Soviet Union's 1991 dissolution, Georgia's South Ossetia province broke away and declared its independence. So far it remains undiplomatically recognized by UN member states. It's been traditionally allied with Russia and wishes to reunite with Northern Ossetes in the North Ossetia-Alania Russian republic. Nothing so... Continue Reading →

Targeting Immigrants - The Largest Ever US ICE Raid - by Stephen LendmanThe 2002 Homeland Security Act established its largest investigative and enforcement arm in 2003: the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) created "as a law enforcement agency for the post-9/11 era, to integrate enforcement authorities against criminal and terrorist activities, including the... Continue Reading →

War with Iran - On, Off or Undecided? - by Stephen LendmanThere's good news and bad, mostly the latter but don't discount the good. On May 22, (non-binding) HR 362 was introduced in the House - with charges and proposals so outlandish that if passed and implemented will be a blockade and act of war.... Continue Reading →

Gaza Under Siege - by Stephen LendmanAfter Hamas' January 25, 2006 electoral victory, Israel targeted Gaza oppressively. All outside aid was cut off. Sanctions and an economic embargo were imposed, and the democratically elected government was falsely called a terrorist organization and isolated. Stepped up repression followed along with repeated IDF incursions, attacks, killings, targeted... Continue Reading →