Antiwar.com Blog

Independent journalist Dahr Jamail reports from Doha, Qatar about John McCain’s lies, the surge’s success at moving some insurgents from town to town, the fact that the U.S. is not leaving Iraq any time soon, Speaker Pelosi in Syria, that country’s friendly cooperation with the U.S. in torturing and murdering those renditioned there, the Saudi king and Iraqi president’s denunciation of the occupation of Iraq, the need to talk with Hezbollah, for Israel to make peace with it’s neighbors, the possibility of war with Iran.

MP3 here. (16:44)

In late 2003, Weary of the overall failure of the US media to accurately report on the realities of the war in Iraq for the Iraqi people and US soldiers, Dahr Jamail went to Iraq to report on the war himself.

His dispatches were quickly recognized as an important media resource. He is now writing for the Inter Press Service, The Asia Times and many other outlets. His reports have also been published with The Nation, The Sunday Herald, Islam Online, the Guardian, Foreign Policy in Focus, and the Independent to name just a few. Dahr’s dispatches and hard news stories have been translated into French, Polish, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic and Turkish. On radio as well as television, Dahr reports for Democracy Now!, the BBC, and numerous other stations around the globe. Dahr is also special correspondent for Flashpoints.

Dahr has spent a total of 8 months in occupied Iraq as one of only a few independent US journalists in the country. In the MidEast, Dahr has also has reported from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Dahr uses the DahrJamailIraq.com website and his popular mailing list to disseminate his dispatches.

“A Pakistani tribal militant group responsible for a series of deadly guerrilla raids inside Iran has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials since 2005, U.S. and Pakistani intelligence sources tell ABC News.”

Read the rest.

UPDATE: As expected, Glenn Reynolds has no problem with the terrorism. The journalists who reported it, on the other hand…

More on Glenn’s new friends here and here. That the U.S. should not be assisting these people in any way is beyond question. Whether the term “guerrilla” is preferable to “terrorist” is worth debating in this case, as in any other – they seem to focus on military targets rather than civilians. But any group in the beheading and car-bombing business is automatically labeled “terrorist” when the U.S. and its allies are the targets, so let’s at least use terms consistently. I know, I know, “moral equivalence” …

The White House and members of The War Party are going nuts over Pelosi’s trip to Syria. But why such a strong reaction?

On Sunday, three Republican House members, Frank Wolf (VA), Joe Pitts (PA), and Robert Aderholt (AL) met with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

In a statement issued by the U.S. Embassy in Damascus, the congressmen said “We came because we believe there is an opportunity for dialogue. We are following in the lead of Ronald Reagan, who reached out to the Soviets during the Cold War.”

Former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray discusses the 15 British sailors and marines being held in Iran, describes the lack of boundaries in the Persian Gulf (particularly in the Shatt al Arab waterway), the details of the Law of the Sea treaty in regards to such things, discrepancies in the British and Iranian claims of the ships’ positions in this incidence, the belligerence of Tony Blair’s regime and the success of the UK government’s propaganda campaign domestically.

MP3 here. (17:01)

In 1984 Craig Murray joined the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. As a member of the Diplomatic Service his responsibilities included the following:

1986-9 Second Secretary, Commercial, British High Commission, Lagos
Responsible for promoting British exports to, and business interests in, Nigeria.

1989-92 Head of Maritime Section, FCO, London
Responsible for negotiation of the UK and Dependent Territory continental shelf and fisheries boundaries, for implementation of the Channel Tunnel treaty and for negotiations on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. From August 1990 to August 1991 he was also head of the FCO Section of the Embargo Surveillance Centre, responsible for intelligence analysis on Iraqi attempts at evading sanctions, particularly in the field of weapons procurement, and with providing information to UK military forces and to other governments to effect physical enforcement of the embargo.

1992-4 Head of Cyprus Section, FCO London
Responsible for UN negotiations on the Cyprus dispute, relations with the government of Cyprus and for the mandate and requirements of the British contingent of the UN force in Cyprus,

1994-7 First Secretary (Political and Economic), British Embassy, Warsaw
Head of the Political and Economic sections of our Embassy in Poland. Responsible for relations with Poland, and assisting Poland’s post-communist transition process with reference to preparation for EU membership.

1997-8 Deputy Head, Africa Department (Equatorial), Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Responsible for British political and commercial relationships with West Africa, including development issues.

1998-2002 Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission, West Africa Branch
Responsible for British economic, political, commercial and aid relationships with Ghana and Togo. In Autumn 1998 Craig Murray was the UK Representative at the Sierra Leone Peace talks held in Togo, Liberia and Sierra Leone, including direct negotiation with the RUF terrorist leadership.

2002-2004 British Ambassador, Uzbekistan
Responsible for our relationship with Uzbekistan. He found Western support for the dictatorial Karimov regime unconscionable, as detailed in the rest of this website.

At the 2005 UK General Election, Craig Murray takes on Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in Blackburn as an Independent candidate, winning 2,082 votes.

William Norman Grigg, founder and editor of The Right Source discusses the murder of former Marine Sgt. Derek J. Hale by local Delaware cops, how they and their buddies in the Virginia State Police covered it up, the difference between living in a militarized fascist state and a limited constitutional republic and hopes for a new political realignment centered around opposition to empire and leviathan.

MP3 here. (30 :54)

William Norman Grigg writes the Pro Libertate blog and is the founder and editor of The Right Source.

Former CIA agent Philip Giraldi discusses the possibility of war with Iran, the 15 British captives recent media reports of preparations being made, the possible use of nuclear weapons, the danger to U.S. forces in Iraq if “we” do attack, the lack of evidence for an Iranian nuclear weapons program, America’s support for Iran in Iraq, AIPAC and the American War Party and the status of “al Qaeda in Iraq.”

MP3 here. (24:18)

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates, is a contributing editor at the American Conservative magazine and writes “Smoke and Mirrors” for Antiwar.com.