NewsTrust - Middle East - Most Recent Stories: News (Independent)

What's Happening in the Persian Gulf Explained

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Mother Jones - By Adam Weinstein, Hamed Aleaziz - Jan. 03 (Special Report) - The basics: Iran and the United States appear to be heading for a showdown in the Persian Gulf. Amid already-high tensions over Iran's advancing nuclear program, the US has imposed harsh new economic sanctions on the regime in Tehran and begun to move se

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Rick Santorum: I Would Bomb Iran

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Huffington Post - Jan. 01 (News Report) - Republican Rick Santorum says that if he's elected president, he would bomb Iran's nuclear facilities unless they were opened for international arms inspectors....

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How Washington Creates Global Instability

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Tomdispatch.com - By Nick Turse - Sep. 19 (News Analysis) - It’s a story that should take your breath away: the destabilization of what, in the Bush years, used to be called “the arc of instability.” It involves at least 97 countries, across the bulk of the global south, much of it coinciding with the oil heartlands of the planet. A startling number of these nations are now in turmoil, and in every single one of them -- from Afghanistan and Algeria to Yemen and Zambia -- Washington is militarily involved, overtly or covertly, in outright war or what passes for peace.

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“They Just Started Shooting Us From Everywhere”: Scores of Protesters Killed in Yemen

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Sep. 19 (News) - In Yemen, the government's violent crackdown on protesters has intensified, leading to the bloodiest two days in several months. At least 21 protesters have been killed today in the capital of Sana’a. On Sunday, 26 demonstrators were gunned down and hundreds were injured. Demonstrators are calling for an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 33-year rule as he has repeatedly broken promises to step down. Last week, Saleh authorized his vice president to negotiate a transfer of power with the opposition. The initiative was proposed by the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council and sets the path for a peaceful transition of power from Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1978. We go to Yemen for an update from Abdul Ghani al Iryani, a political analyst based in Sana'a and co-founder of the Democratic Awakening Movement. [Check back soon for complete transcript.]

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Syria: Bloggers Rally for Anas Maarawi

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Global Voices - By Yazan Badran - Jul. 09 (News Report) - Anas Maarawi is the latest Syrian blogger imprisoned. He was detained on Friday, July 1st, in his neighborhood of Kafarsouseh in Damascus. And nothing has been heard of him since. Bloggers rally for his release. Anas is a well known blogger in Syria and beyond. Apart from his personal blog, Anas Online, he ran a number of tech-blogs and projects, most prominently, Ardroid, which was the first Arabic-language blog to focus on Google's Android OS.

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Fierce Street Battles In Egypt As Families Demand Justice for Loved Ones Killed During the Uprising

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Sharif Abdel Kouddous - Jun. 29 (News Report) - In Egypt, nearly 600 people have been reported injured in Cairo's Tahrir Square after security forces attacked a large group of protesters overnight with tear gas and rubber bullets. Tensions erupted over the lack of accountability and justice for the nearly 1,000 people people killed during the 18-day popular uprising that led to the fall of former president, Hosni Mubarak. Many of those attacked on in the ongoing clashes are family members of protesters killed during the uprising. We speak with Democracy Now!'s Sharif Abdel Kouddous who reports from Cairo.

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Iranian opposition group urges protection

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Al Jazeera - Jun. 19 (News Report) - The leader of an Iranian opposition group has called for the United Nations to protect a camp of its disarmed fighters in Ashraf, Iraq, after as many as 35 people were killed there in an Iraqi army attack in April. During a rally attended by thousands in the French town of Villepinte on Saturday, Marjam Rajavi, the leader of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq's (MEK) political wing, said that the UN should send monitors to the camp in order to protect the 3,400 people living there. The Iraqi government has repeatedly called for the group to shut down the camp and move to another country. The camp, located north of Baghdad, was initially set up while Iraq was still ruled by former president Saddam Hussein, and served as a based for the MEK in its battle against the Iranian government. The MEK is also known as the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), and its political wing is referred to as the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). It has been labelled a "terrorist group" by the US since 1997, but several prominent US political figures present at the rally have called for their government to reverse that decision.

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What Exactly is the War Powers Act and is Obama Really Violating it? - ProPublica

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

ProPublica - By by Marian Wang - Jun. 17 (News Report) - by Marian Wang President Obama is facing a swell of bipartisan criticism for continuing military engagement in Libya without Congressional approval. Even supporters of the Libya intervention have complained that the administration is flouting the law. So, is it? Well, the president is certainly sidestepping the controversial law known as the War Powers Act, but in doing so he’s following a well-worn path. The Vietnam-era law requires the president to seek approval from Congress after 60 days of military engagement. The law was passed in 1973 after presidents fought the Korean and Vietnam war without actually declaring war. But it’s always been controversial. (President Nixon actually vetoed the law, but Congress overrode him.) According to a 2004 Congressional Research Service report, “every President since the enactment of the War Powers Resolution has taken the position that it is an unconstitutional infringement on the President’s authority as Commander-in-Chief.” President Obama, in defending the legitimacy of the Libyan operation, hasn’t actually made that argument. On Wednesday, he submitted a report to Congress arguing that his administration isn’t in violation of the act at all, despite the fact that the 60-day deadline for congressional approval of Libya operations came and went in May. White House spokesman Jay Carney has argued that the United States’ “constrained and limited operations” in Libya “do not amount to hostilities” because the U.S. doesn’t have or intend to place soldiers on the ground and has not sustained the casualties typical of such hostilities. The U.S. in April pulled its cruise missiles and attack planes out of combat in the NATO-led Libyan mission, though it still has them on standby. It’s currently providing support such as aerial refueling, surveillance, and reconnaissance, according to the AP. Speaker of the House John Boehner has said the White House’s stance “doesn’t pass the straight-face test.” President Obama is far from alone in finding creative ways around the War Powers Act. As the New York Times has noted, the Clinton administration continued the bombing campaign in Kosovo past the 60-day deadline, arguing that Congress had implicitly approved the mission when it approved funding for it. (The Act specifically says that funding doesn’t constitute authorization, the Times notes. And Obama wouldn’t be able to use that reasoning anyway—the administration is using existing funds for the Libya mission.) Clinton’s successor, President George W. Bush, did request—and receive—a resolution of support from Congress for the Iraq war, but Bush also made clear that his compliance with the War Powers Act didn’t mean he agreed with the act’s constitutionality. Here’s what he said [PDF], as quoted in a Congressional Research Service report: As I made clear to congressional leaders at the outset, my request for congressional support did not, and my signing this resolution does not, constitute any change in the long-standing positions of the executive branch on either the President’s constitutional authority to use the Armed Forces to defend vital U.S. interests or the constitutionality of the War Powers Resolution. While presidents have long inveighed against the Act, lawmakers have just as frequently invoked it, often as a political weapon. This week, a bipartisan group of 10 House members—a combination of Republicans and anti-war Democrats—sued the Obama administration this week over the War Powers Act. But the move may be little more than symbolic. As NPR notes, lawmakers have never successfully used the War Powers Act to end any military mission, and in 2000, the Supreme Court refused to touch the issue when lawmakers complained about Kosovo. It’s also worth keeping in mind that many of Obama’s critics seem a bit conflicted about the legitimacy of the Act. As Politico has reported, Boehner—who sent a confrontational letter to the president this week—actually voted to repeal the law in 1995. In 1999, he called it “constitutionally suspect.” Boehner’s spokesman said the speaker has an obligation to honor existing law “regardless of his personal views.” But Boehner’s also been unclear about whether Obama is even violating the act. Two weeks ago, Boehner said that “technically,” he wasn’t: “Legally, they’ve met their requirements [under] the War Powers Act,” he said of the administration. (On Libya, Boehner has said that the U.S. “has a moral obligation to stand with those who seek freedom from oppression and self-government for their people” and called Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s actions “unacceptable and outrageous.”) As the House ups the ante on the War Powers Act, Sens. John Kerry and John McCain are advancing a bipartisan resolution to support the U.S. role in the Libya. (McCain, a Republican, has criticized Obama administration’s reasoning as “a confusing breach of common sense.”) As we’ve noted, the Obama administration has sought to downplay its role in the Libya conflict since it began in March—though there’s been some mission creep: The Obama administration originally said that the goal of the intervention was not regime change in Libya, but has since suggested that its measure for success will be Qaddafi’s departure.

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Syria Death Toll Tops 900

Sun, 22 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Bassem Mroue - May. 22 (News Report) - Syrian security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for slain anti-government protesters Saturday, pushing the number of people reported killed in a two-month uprising to more than 900 and making it one of the deadliest of the Arab Sprin

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Did Obama's Mideast Speech Signal U.S. Shift on Israel-Palestine? Roundtable

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - May. 20 (News Analysis) - In a major speech on the U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and on the Arab Spring, President Obama said a Palestinian state must be based on the 1967 borders, the first time a U.S. president has explicitly taken this position. The Israeli government immediately rejected Obama's comments, calling the 1967 borders "indefensible." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the United States today and will meet Obama at the White House. We host a roundtable with author Norman Finkelstein, Palestinian human rights lawyer Noura Erakat, and Jeremy Ben-Ami, head of the lobby group J Street. [includes rush transcript]

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Two dead, dozens wounded as quake hits western Turkey

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Today's Zaman - May. 20 (News) - A 5.9 magnitude earthquake, which shook western Turkey on Thursday night, killed at least two people and injured over 120, authorities said on Friday.

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A Monster of Our Own Creation

Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

readersupportednews.org - By Robert Scheer - May. 09 (News Analysis) - 'He was our kind of guy until he wasn't, an ally during the Cold War until he no longer served our purposes. The problem with Osama bin Laden was not that he was a fanatical holy warrior; we liked his kind just fine as long as the infidels he targeted were not us but Russians and the secular Afghans in power in Kabul whom the Soviets backed.' Robert Scheer, Truthdig

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US Policy Still Misreads the Middle East

Mon, 09 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Consortium News - By Lawrence Davidson - May. 09 (News Analysis) - The Egyptians now boldly think about and discuss not only what is wrong but also why it is so. A significant aspect of why their problems persisted so long was the decades of U.S. support for the country’s dictator. They know that and there is popular sentiment for avoiding that sort of "aid" in the future. If they can achieve this the Egyptians have a genuine shot at a better future. On the other hand, America’s leaders are fixated on what they think confronts them and have relegated the why of it all to irrelevancy. In other words, when it comes to foreign policy, U.S. leaders, to say nothing of soldiers and spies, are dismally short-sighted. Hence the policy failures.

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Physicians Urge Obama Admin to Pressure Mideast Ally Bahrain to End Repression of Doctors, Patients

Thu, 05 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez - May. 05 (News Report) - The Gulf nation of Bahrain has announced that 47 medical workers who treated pro-democracy protesters during the nation’s popular uprising will be tried before a military court on charges of acting against the state. Some could face the death penalty for providing medical assistance to protesters. Human rights groups say the arrests are part of a campaign of intimidation that runs directly counter to the Geneva Convention, which guarantees medical care to people wounded in conflict. We speak with Richard Sollom of Physicians for Human Rights. He recently traveled to Bahrain to document the situation there, and is the co-author of a new report, "Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients."

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Discovery of Bin Laden Hideout Spotlights Concerns About Pakistan's Intelligence Service

Mon, 02 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

ProPublica - By Sebastian Rotella - May. 02 (News Analysis) - The killing of Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani city dominated by the military has spotlighted a conundrum that Western counterterror agencies have grappled with for years: Is Pakistan's powerful intelligence service an ally, an enemy or a mix of both? This time the debate is likely to take place in public, not behind the closed doors of national security outposts in Washington. In fact, White House homeland security adviser John Brennan seemed to confront the issue head-on Monday when he said that the presence of the world's most wanted man in a fortress-like compound near the homes of retired generals and a military academy raises questions that the Pakistani government must answer. The Obama administration took the extraordinary step of keeping Sunday's commando raid secret from Islamabad. Although Obama cited "counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan" as a factor in the successful hunt for bin Laden, U.S. officials have not given details on the extent and nature of that Pakistani assistance. The ISI has been suspected of playing a double game in previous cases: the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002, the mysterious escape from Pakistani custody in 2007 of an al-Qaida operative accused in the London transport bombings and a plot to bomb U.S.-bound commercial flights, charges of ISI involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attack and recent allegations by top military brass that the ISI supports militant networks fighting U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

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How to Arm a Dictator - Nick Turse | TomDispatch

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Tomdispatch.com - By Nick Turse - Apr. 28 (News) - All told, over the past five years, the U.S. has provided more than $300 million in aid to Yemen’s security forces, with the dollars escalating precipitously under the Obama administration. In 2008, under President George W. Bush, Yemen received $17.2 million in baseline military assistance (which does not include counterterrorism or humanitarian funding). In 2010, that number had risen to $72.3 million while, overall, Yemen received $155.3 million in U.S. aid that year, including a “$34.5 million special operations force counterterrorism enhancement package.” These funds have provided Yemen’s security forces with helicopters, Humvees, weapons, ammunition, radio systems, and night-vision goggles.

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Witness: Shooters yell Allahu Akbar

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Ynetnews - By Yair Altman - Apr. 24 (News) - A group of Breslov Hassidim's regular twilight visit to Palestinian controlled Joseph's Tomb in Nablus came to a tragically violent end Sunday: According to one of the Breslovers, Palestinian police officers fired at the convoy as they were on their way in to the Tomb.

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Syria Lifts Emergency Law as Protesters Come Under Fire in Syrian City of Homas

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Apr. 19 (News Report) - Syrian police reportedly opened fire and used tear gas today on thousands of anti-government protesters who occupied a key square in the Syrian city of Homs. More than 10,000 protesters gathered there Monday after funerals for an estimated 25 activists killed over the weekend. They demanded the immediate lifting of Syria's longstanding emergency laws, the release of political prisoners, and the immediate resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, newly released diplomatic cables from the online whistleblower WikiLeaks show the United States has secretly financed Syrian opposition groups and activities since at least 2005. We speak with Bassam Haddad, director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University. [includes rush transcript]

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U.S. Stays Mum as Bahrain Unleashes Brutal Crackdown

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

ProPublica - Apr. 13 (News Report) - by Marian Wang “No leniency.” That was the warning from Bahrain’s crown prince last week as government forces continued cracking down on protesters, activists, journalists and doctors. It was issued alongside yet another promise of reform by the Bahraini government. The warning was also met with silence from the United States. The U.S., which has long considered Bahrain a key ally in the region, condemned the violence in mid-March, and two weeks later noted that arresting bloggers “doesn’t help” promote an inclusive national dialogue. But so far this month—as reports of increasing intimidation, censorship and brutality emerge—the U.S. doesn’t seem to have had a public response. In one of the State Department's last statements, spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on March 22, “Our position towards Bahrain is crystal clear. We’re going to continue to work with the Bahraini Government.” We called the State Department to ask why the violence in Bahrain hadn't been broached in recent press briefings. "We respond to reporters' questions," a State Department spokesman told me, noting that "there's a lot going on throughout the entire Middle East." Human rights groups have reported that at least 26 people have been killed since the Bahraini government declared martial law in mid-March. At least three activists have also died in police custody. More than 400 have been detained and dozens are missing. One of those missing people is a human rights activist, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja. His daughter, Zainab Alkhawaja, witnessed her father being dragged down a flight of stairs and “beaten unconscious in front of me” by masked men. She described the incident yesterday in an open letter to President Obama, posted to her blog. “Tyrants, with US support, can live happily ever after,” she wrote on Twitter. In the annual human rights report released on Friday, the State Department noted that Bahrain's government had previously been accused of torture and the arbitrary arrest and abduction of Shia men, particularly around the elections last fall. In recent days, however, the U.S. has focused its condemnation on events in Yemen, Syria, and the Ivory Coast while continuing its military involvement in Libya. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon is currently traveling to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain’s Gulf neighbors. Journalists in Bahrain, meanwhile, have been deported and questioned by prosecutors. Accused of torture, the government has said that photos of the body of one dead activist—bearing bruises and multiple cuts—was fabricated. (CNN reported that most of the activists and bloggers it had arranged to interview for a documentary had disappeared, and CNN crew was also detained and questioned by masked gunmen and released after six hours.) Police and security forces have also entered hospitals and beaten patients and Shiite doctors, according to Reuters. Doctors Without Borders has alleged that the Bahraini government is using hospitals as “bait to identify and arrest” protesters seeking treatment. Several doctors have disappeared. Similar reports have been coming out of Egypt as well. Egypt's military leadership announced over the weekend that they were prepared to use force to end the continuing protests, and they made good on those threats. When a core group of protesters reoccupied Cairo’s central square to protest the rule of leaders who they see as being no different than Mubarak, the army cracked down, attacking protesters with live ammunition and electric batons. An Egyptian military court also sentenced a blogger to three years in prison for criticizing the military—“a dangerous precedent,” according to Human Rights Watch. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo issued a statement acknowledging “the disturbing reports of the use of excessive force” and said it was “looking into the situation.” It urged Egypt’s military leaders to conduct an investigation, presumably to hold its own soldiers accountable.

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"I Am Willing To Give My Life": Bahraini Human Rights Activists Risk Lives To Protest U.S./Saudi-Backed Repression

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Apr. 12 (News Report) - The Gulf nation of Bahrain is intensifying its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. On Saturday, masked police offers broke into the home of Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, a prominent Bahraini human rights activist. He was beaten and detained. We speak to his daughter, Zainab Alkhawaja, who witnessed the attack and is now on a hunger strike. Her husband and brother-in-law were also beaten and arrested in the pre-dawn raid. We also speak to Nabeel Rajab, the president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He is facing a possible military trial for publishing the photograph of Ali Sager, a protester who died while in Bahraini custody.

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Associated Press Deconstructed | Examining AP's reporting on Israel-Palestine

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

IsraelPalestineNews.wordpress.com - Apr. 09 (News Analysis) - Since most newspapers don't have their own reporters in Israel or the Palestinian Territories, they obtain their news on this region from wire services. AP is usually the only global wire service taken by U.S. newspapers. Although AP is a cooperative, which means that it is "owned" by all the news organizations that use its news, in reality there is almost no oversight of its work. Editors around the country simply accept its reporting at face value.

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The Yemen President's Pariah Family

Sat, 09 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Daily Beast - By Tom Finn - Apr. 09 (News Report) - After nearly three months of youth-led popular protests, defections by top generals, ambassadors and senior members of his government, Yemen's longtime ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh looks decidedly beleaguered. Earlier this week, American officials, who have previously backed him, discreetly admitted his rule is “untenable.” Even his most loyal backers, including members of his own tribe and longtime aid donors, including Saudi Arabia, are now ushering him toward the exit. Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, tightened the screws further late this week, telling the state news agency that a coalition of Gulf States hoped “to reach a deal with the Yemeni president to step down.”

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GlobalPost correspondent taken prisoner in Libya

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

GlobalPost - By News Desk - Apr. 08 (News Report) - GlobalPost correspondent James Foley, and 3 other foreign journalists, were taken by forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

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Jeremy Scahill and Ex-DIA Analyst Joshua Foust on "The Dangerous U.S. Game In Yemen" & CIA Ops in Libya

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Jeremy Scahill, Joshua Foust - Mar. 31 (News Analysis) - Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Yemen on Wednesday as part of the unwavering protests for the resignation of U.S.-backed President Ali Abdullah Saleh. We speak to independent journalist Jeremy Scahill, who argues the U.S. secret war has unintentionally played a significant role in weakening Saleh's regime; and Joshua Foust, who recently left his post as Yemen analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency. We also get their reaction to the latest news CIA operatives are on the ground in Libya as part of a covert Western force to aid the U.S.-led bombing campaign.

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How Western Corporations Have Been Helping Tyrants Suppress Rebellions in the Arab World

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Timothy Karr - Mar. 31 (Special Report) - Springtime in the Arab world is looking bleaker now that despots in Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen and reactionary elements in Egypt have gained an upper hand against the pro-democracy protesters who have inspired the world. And the Internet, hailed sometimes in excess as a potent tool for these movements, has itself come under increasing fire from these and other autocratic states seeking to crush popular dissent.

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