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BP: * “Corporate Criminal” * Beneath the Surface
RUSSELL MOKHIBER President Obama is scheduled to meet with the chair of BP on Wednesday. Mokhiber is editor of Corporate Crime Reporter. He said today: “BP is a recidivist corporate criminal. BP has three convictions and one deferred prosecution agreement in the last ten years. In his speech [Tuesday night] Obama did not once mention…
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Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion “Resource Curse”
MICHAEL KLARE Klare is author of Resource Wars and Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet. In response to recent reports of $1 trillion in mineral resources found in Afghanistan, he said today: “The discovery and development of these mineral reserves in Afghanistan — described as a potential boon to that country by General [David] Petraeus — would…
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Egyptian Crackdown on Protests Following Activist’s Beating Death
Pro-democracy protesters in Egypt were beaten at a protest Sunday following the death last week of Khaled Said. Family, supporters, witnesses and rights groups say that Said was killed by Egyptian government forces last week outside an internet cafe. AP is reporting in a piece titled “Egyptians beaten while protesting police brutality” that “the Egyptian…
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“What’s Wrong With This Picture?”: Prosecuting Torture Protesters — Not Perpetrators
The group Witness Against Torture states that beginning Monday, 27 individuals “will face trial stemming from arrests at the U.S. Capitol on January 21, 2010 — the date by which President Obama had promised the closure of the Guantanamo detention camp.” BILL QUIGLEY Available for a limited number of interviews, Quigley is legal director for…
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Just Back From Afghanistan and Pakistan
KATHY KELLY JOSHUA BROLLIER Kelly and Brollier are with the group Voices for Creative Nonviolence. They are just back from over a month in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Several articles they have written are on the group’s web page. Kelly said today: “As violence escalates and the war prolongs, the question isn’t what does the U.S.…
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Israeli Critic “Witch Hunt”
HANEEN ZOABI, via Shada Zoabi A member of the Israeli Knesset, Zoabi, who was born in Nazareth, is a board member and co-founder of the I’lam Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel. She was aboard the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship in the Gaza flotilla where nine activists were killed, and she witnessed some…
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National Intelligence Director Nominee
Over the weekend, President Obama nominated James Clapper to replace Dennis C. Blair as U.S. Director of National Intelligence. MELVIN A. GOODMAN Goodman just wrote the piece “Pentagon Tightens Grip on the Obama Administration and the Intelligence Community.” Now a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy, Goodman was with the CIA for 41…
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Actually, the Ship Was Not Turkish-Flagged
JOHN QUIGLEY Professor of international law at Ohio State University, Quigley said today: “Contrary to what many are claiming, including the New York Times in a front-page article on the Gaza flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, the vessel on which deaths occurred, is not Turkish-flagged. Although formerly Turkish-flagged, the Mavi Marmara was Comoros-flagged by the time…
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“Can Israel Be Trusted with Nuclear Weapons?”
NORMAN FINKELSTEIN Author of “This Time We Went Too Far”: Truth and Consequences of the Gaza Invasion, Finkelstein said today: “It’s important to understand that the Israeli cabinet deliberated before deciding on a nighttime commando raid [against the Free Gaza ships]. This wasn’t a rash decision by low-level people. Last week, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation conference…
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Israel and Free Gaza Flotilla
CINDY and CRAIG CORRIE Cindy and Craig Corrie are the parents of Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip on March 16, 2003, while trying to prevent the demolition of the home of a Palestinian pharmacist, his wife and three young children. A Free Gaza boat that is…