AltWeeklies Wire
Retired Russian Army Colonel Criticizes U.S. Actions in Iraq Even as Tanks Roll in Georgianew
Yuri Yuryevich, also a former journalist, says the idea of Russian censorship was concocted by the West -- investigative journalism no problem as long as president isn't criticized.
L.A. Weekly |
Steven Leigh Morris |
08-18-2008 |
International
South Ossetia Was a Monumental Miscalculation by Georgianew
This was Georgia's second attempt in 18 years to conquer the breakaway territory by force, and now that option is gone for good. So are the country's hopes of joining NATO. Yet sections of the Western media are carrying on as if the Russians started it, and are now threatening to invade Georgia itself.
The Georgia Straight |
Gwynne Dyer |
08-11-2008 |
International
Can the Boston Globe Really be to Blame for Rakan Hassan's Death?new
Two years ago, the Boston Globe profiled an orphaned Iraqi boy spirited to Boston for medical care. Earlier this summer, he was killed -- apparently targeted by insurgents. Could local coverage really be to blame?
Boston Phoenix |
Adam Reilly |
08-07-2008 |
Media
Texas Air National Guard Boots Sick Soldiernew

Just what is any soldier or sailor entitled to if he goes to war for the United States and comes back maimed or sick? Did Jason Franco get any better or worse treatment than if he'd been shot by a sniper instead of enveloped in a haze of carcinogenic fumes? Well yes, no and maybe so.
Houston Press |
Margaret Downing |
08-05-2008 |
War
Are We at a Turning Point, or Another Stalemate, on Iraq?new
Five-plus years after the invasion of Iraq and two years after Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold first called for a troop-withdrawal timetable, the U.S. may be shifting its military and diplomatic strategy in the Middle East -- maybe. "We could have been out of there a long time ago," Feingold told the Shepherd Express last week. "And in a much better position as a nation, both in terms of our economy and national security, if we had done this earlier."
Shepherd Express |
Lisa Kaiser |
08-01-2008 |
War
Contract Killers: A Public/Private Partnership Goes Horribly Wrong in Iraqnew
Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth was electrocuted while taking a shower in Iraq. His death, along with at least a dozen other soldiers who have met the same fate, is a tragic, and chillingly literal, symbol of what writer Naomi Klein calls "the Shock Doctrine." In her book of the same title, Klein argues that for modern corporations, wars and other disasters are just part of the business model.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Chris Potter |
07-29-2008 |
War
Tags: Iraq, KBR, Naomi Klein, death, privitization, corporate power, war & peace, The Shock Doctrine
Activists Want Portland to be a Sanctuary for AWOL Soldiersnew
A coalition of activists called PDX Peace is gathering signatures to make Portland America's third "Sanctuary City" for military deserters, along with San Francisco and Berkeley. And they want the City Council to adopt an ordinance that would protect war resisters by blocking Portland police from acting on federal orders to arrest AWOL soldiers.
Willamette Week |
Beth Slovic |
07-23-2008 |
War
Tags: Iraq, AWOL, Afghanistan, soldiers, Portland, deportation, war & peace, Sanctuary City, PDX Peace
Saving L.A. From Nuclear Terrornew

These days, working as a policy wonk on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, I am sometimes asked whether the danger of nuclear terror is "real" – or whether, instead, certain modern-day Machiavellis are manipulating our most nightmarish fears, to promote their own cynical political agendas. What if it's both?
Los Angeles CityBeat |
Tad Daley |
07-18-2008 |
War
Wounds of War Come Out of Hidingnew
A bill sponsored by Rep. Anthony Verga, D-Gloucester, passed in April authorized a "Hidden Wounds of War Commission," to examine the effects of combat and how the state can better serve its veterans.
Dig Boston |
Jessica Hollier |
07-16-2008 |
War
Students Connect with Those Touched by the Horrors of Warnew
UCSB Students who sign up for RS-155 find that it’s neither a history class nor a religion class, but an emotional journey through the psyche and experiences of real live veterans.
Santa Barbara Independent |
Ben Preston |
07-08-2008 |
War
What's Being Done, or Left Undone, When Soldiers Come Home with Problems?new
Hundreds of local soldiers are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them on extended tours and second or third deployments. The longer the wars continue, the higher the probability of more cases like Matthew Sepi's.
Las Vegas Weekly |
Damon Hodge |
07-07-2008 |
War
Tags: Iraq, PTSD, veterans, Afghanistan, murder, mental illness, war & peace, combat trauma, Matthew Sepi
Murder on Sheppard Air Force Base?new
Four months ago Blanca Luna was found stabbed to death in her room on the base. Her family still doesn't know who killed her or why -- or what the military knows about it.
Chicago Reader |
Kari Lydersen |
07-07-2008 |
War
Your Friendly Neighborhood War Profiteernew
Across Minnesota, from the Twin Cities to the smallest rural towns, are often-scrappy companies with a handful of employees who work contracts from the low thousands to the low millions. Some estimate the number of companies doing defense-related business in the state at numbers as high as 2,000.
City Pages (Twin Cities) |
Jeff Severns Guntzel |
07-02-2008 |
Business & Labor
Combat Exposure for Women Soldiers Complicates an Old Problemnew
On the front lines, equality means exposure to more danger for women soldiers. Whether that's progress or not depends on whom you ask.
Arkansas Times |
Jennifer Barnett Reed |
06-27-2008 |
War
U.S.-Iraq: The Treaty That Isn'tnew
Patrick Cockburn published two leaked reports about the terms of the "alliance" and the tactics that the Bush administration is using to get the Iraqi government's approval by the end of July. Nobody denied them, but hardly any mainstream outlet in the U.S. media reported them as a major story, either.
NOW Magazine |
Gwynne Dyer |
06-16-2008 |
International