May 2006
February 2006
Iraq's death squads: On the brink of civil war
by mikepower Most of the corpses in Baghdad's mortuary show signs of torture and execution. And the Interior Ministry is being blamed.
A Coverup Under Two Presidents: The Unsolved Mystery of the Oklahoma City Bombing
by mikepowerLong before the Iraq war, long before 9/11, the U.S. government had already mastered the art of fluffing its intelligence on a looming threat, botching the response and then working furiously to cover its mistakes.
The New Yorker: The Memo by Jane Mayer
by mikepowerHow an internal effort to ban the abuse and torture of detainees was thwarted.
Jasem al-Aqrab: The Basra video should lay to rest a scurrilous lie
by mikepowerSince April 2003, the people of Basra have consistently been bemused by reports that they and their city enjoy a state of calm and stability under the command of the British forces, in contrast to the north of Iraq and the so-called Sunni triangle.
village voice > news > Mondo Washington by James Ridgeway
by mikepowersince 9-11, in one test after another, news organizations using undercover teams have easily broken through the FAA security apparatus, rendering the entire business unworkable.
January 2006
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Israel's shooting of young girl highlights international hypocrisy, say Palestinians
by mikepowerIsraeli soldiers killed twice as many Palestinians last week alone - both of them children - as the number of Israelis killed by Hamas all last year.
Guardian: Official US agency paints dire picture of 'out-of-control' Iraq
by mikepowerAn official assessment drawn up by the US foreign aid agency depicts the security situation in Iraq as dire, amounting to a "social breakdown" in which criminals have "almost free rein".
Gag Reflex
by mikepowerIf President George W. Bush shows no qualms about violating the 217-year-old U.S. Constitution or the 791-year-old Magna Carta, why should we be surprised to find that he is now violating the 2,400-year-old Hippocratic Oath?
Observer | Scandal of force-fed prisoners
by mikepowerNew details have emerged of how the growing number of prisoners on hunger strike at Guantánamo Bay are being tied down and force-fed through tubes pushed down their nasal passages into their stomachs to keep them alive. They routinely experience bleedin
The Huffington Post: Cost Of Iraq Could Top $2 Trillion...
by mikepowerThe cost of the Iraq war could top $2 trillion, far above the White House's pre-war projections, when long-term costs such as lifetime health care for thousands of wounded U.S. soldiers are included
December 2005
Fun Bits About American Torture / In many ways, the U.S. is now just as inhumane and brutal as any Third World regime. Oh well?
by mikepowerOh my God, yes, yes we do torture, America that is, and we do it a lot, and we do it in ways that would make you sick to hear about, and we're doing it right now, all over the world
November 2005
September 2005
August 2005
Prospect - A muslim Journey
by mikepowerBritish Islam is dominated by culturally and theologically conservative south Asians. But the London bombs may help to make it more open to those who want to engage with the modern world
July 2005
Roy Greenslade: The lies behind the lies: Secrets and Lies: The True Story of the Iraq War by Dilip Hiro
by mikepowerA depressing but magisterial assessment of the reasoning that led to the invasion of Iraq.
January 2005
War Created Haven, CIA Advisers Report
by mikepowerIraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of "professionalized" terrorists, according to a report released yesterday by the National Intelligence Council, the CIA director's think tank.
Special reports: Bush under fire over human rights
by mikepowerAmerica's human rights abuses have provided a rallying cry for terrorists and set a bad example to regimes seeking to justify their own poor rights records, a leading independent watchdog said yesterday.
WorkingForChange-Is Al Qaeda just a Bush boogeyman?
by mikepowerA look at the conclusions of the BBC series Power of Nightmares
December 2004
Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock
by mikepowerOf all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin.
November 2004
Fear gives politicians a reason to be
by mikepowerWe may be living through an incredible era of prosperity and calm in which politics as a force for transforming the world has gone into abeyance - and when a real crisis comes along, politics will return in a new form we cannot possibly imagine
1
(22 marks)