Egypt Election: Muslim Brotherhood Candidate Could Face...
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With Control of Drone Strikes, Is Counterterror Chief John Brennan the U.S. "Assassination Czar"?
President Obama’s counterterrorism chief John Brennan is heading up a new team to determine who should be targeted by armed U.S. drones overseas. The newly revealed procedure for drone attacks means Brennan’s staff consults the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies before ultimately deciding who will be...May 24, 2012 | Story -
Should NATO Exist? Phyllis Bennis vs. Ex-CIAer Stan Sloan on Alliance’s Purpose, Afghan War’s Future
As NATO concludes its largest-ever summit in Chicago, we host a debate on whether the trans-Atlantic military alliance should exist at all and its new agreement to hand over control to Afghan forces next year. "When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you’re a military alliance, every problem...May 22, 2012 | Story -
As Obama Expands Drone War, Activists & Victims’ Advocates Join D.C. Summit on Growing Civilian Toll
Pakistani lawyer Shahzad Akbar, who represents families of civilians killed in U.S. drone strikes, was finally granted a visa to enter the U.S. this week after a long effort by the State Department to block his visit. He has just arrived in Washington, D.C., to attend the "Drone Summit: Killing and Spying by Remote Control,"...April 27, 2012 | Story -
Part 2: Ahmed Rashid on U.S. Relations with Pakistan and Afghanistan, Drones, and Journalists in Danger
We continue our discussion with veteran Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, whose new book details clandestine talks between the U.S. and the Taliban, the Obama administration’s expanded use of drones and the accompanying rise in civilian deaths, and how more "physical harm is now coming to journalists" who are...March 28, 2012 | Blog Post -
"Pakistan on the Brink": Ahmed Rashid on Perilous Ties Between the U.S., Pakistan and Afghanistan
Top U.S. and Pakistani military officials meet today in Islamabad for the first high-level talks since NATO air strikes killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers last November. The meeting comes one day after President Obama met with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. Relations between the two countries have soured over the...March 28, 2012 | Story -
U.S. Accused of Using Drones to Target Rescue Workers and Funerals in Pakistan
The CIA’s drone campaign targeting suspected militants in Pakistan has killed dozens of civilians who had gone to rescue victims or were attending funerals. So concludes a new report by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism. It found that since President Obama took office three years ago, as many as 535 civilians...February 06, 2012 | Story -
Tariq Ali: Obama’s Expansion of Af-Pak War "Has Blown Up in His Face"
Amid ongoing U.S.-Pakistani tensions and fears of a military coup in Pakistan, we are joined by British-Pakistani political commentator, historian, activist, filmmaker and novelist, Tariq Ali. Ali discusses Pakistan’s internal turmoil, as well as Pakistani attitudes toward U.S. foreign policy, the GOP presidential contest,...January 20, 2012 | Story -
"Guantanamo at 10: The Prisoner and the Prosecutor." By Amy Goodman
Ten years ago, Omar Deghayes and Morris Davis would have struck anyone as an odd pair. While they have never met, they now share a profound connection, cemented through their time at the notorious U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.January 12, 2012 | Blog Post -
U.S. Admits Fault in Fatal Bombing that Killed 24 Pakistani Troops
The Pentagon has admitted significant responsibility for an attack on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border last month that left 24 Pakistani solders dead. A military investigation found U.S. and Afghan commandos incorrectly determined there were no Pakistani forces in the area before the air strike. U.S. officials then provided inaccurate...December 22, 2011 | Story -
"Hancock 38" Defendants Found Guilty for Bold Army Base Protest Against U.S. Drone Attacks Abroad
Thirty-one of 38 accused activists were found guilty on Thursday for their role in a protest against U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The activists were arrested on April 22 at the New York Air National Guard base at Hancock Field near Syracuse, New York, after trespassing to protest the MQ-9 Reaper drones, which...December 02, 2011 | Story -
NATO Kills 24 Pakistani Troops in 2-Hour Assault on Pakistani Base, Tensions Flare in Region
NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two remote Pakistani military outposts on Saturday, killing at least 24 Pakistani soldiers. The air strike took place along the Afghanistan border in Pakistan’s tribal district of Mohmand. Pakistan has said the attack was unprovoked, but a senior Kabul-based Western official claims...November 28, 2011 | Story -
U.S. Drone Kills 16-Year-Old Pakistani Boy Days After He Attends Anti-Drone Organizing Meeting
A group of Pakistanis met in Islamabad late last month to discuss the impact of U.S. drone strikes in their communities. One of the attendees was a 16-year-old boy named Tariq Aziz, who had volunteered to learn photography to begin documenting drone strikes near his home. Within 72 hours of the meeting, Aziz was killed in a U.S....November 07, 2011 | Story -
U.S. Continues to Back Afghan Warlord Linked to 2006 Massacre and Torture of Prisoners
New revelations about a U.S.-backed warlord in Afghanistan are raising questions about whether the United States has violated its own laws in its aim to defeat the Taliban. The Atlantic magazine reports the United States, under both former President George W. Bush and President Obama, has actively supported the police commander...September 27, 2011 | Story -
Investigation Finds U.S. Drones Strike Pakistan Every Four Days, Killing 775 Civilians Since 2004
A new report from a team of British and Pakistani journalists finds one U.S. drone strike occurs every four days in Pakistan. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have killed as many as 775 civilians, including 168 children, since 2004. The report also challenges a recent claim by President...August 15, 2011 | Story -
U.S. Officials: Pakistan Spy Agency Deliberately Killed Journalist
Obama administration officials have told the New York Times that senior officials of the Pakistani spy agency, the ISI, ordered the killing of Pakistani journalist Saleem Shahzad of the Asia Times in an effort to silence him. One U.S. official said, “Every indication is that this was a deliberate, targeted killing that was...July 05, 2011 | Blog Post -
Drones, Aid and CIA Contractor Raymond Davis: Ali Dayan Hasan on Pakistani Attitudes Toward the U.S.
In part two of our interview with Human Rights Watch Asia senior researcher Ali Dayan Hasan, he describes the work Asia Times reporter Syed Saleem Shahzad was doing when he was kidnapped, murdered and tortured in May, allegedly by state security forces. He also discusses the impact of drones, U.S. aid, and the case of CIA contractor...June 29, 2011 | Blog Post -
Inquiry into the Murder of Journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad May Implicate Pakistan Intelligence Agency
A rare inquiry to investigate the murder of Asia Times reporter Syed Saleem Shahzad has begun in Pakistan. Shahzad was kidnapped in May near his residence in Islamabad and found dead two days later. His body showed signs of torture. He had complained of being threatened by Pakistani intelligence and had just published an exposé...June 29, 2011 | Story -
Seymour Hersh on the Arab Spring, "Disaster" U.S. Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the Looming Crisis in Iraq
Veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh assesses the popular uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa amidst ongoing U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. Despite touted gains and an upcoming U.S. military withdrawal deadline in Iraq, Hersh says, "Whatever you’re hearing, Iraq is going bad......June 03, 2011 | Story -
Pakistani Military Faces Scrutiny as Unfolding Evidence Suggests Direct Role in Harboring bin Laden
Numerous questions have been raised on how Osama bin Laden could have been living in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad just down the street from Pakistan’s premier military academy. CIA Director Leon Panetta has reportedly said Pakistan was either "knowledgeable or incompetent" when it came to bin Laden’s...May 05, 2011 | Story -
Former Military Interrogator Matthew Alexander: Despite GOP Claims, "Immoral" Torture "Slowed Down" Effort to Find Osama bin Laden
The death of Osama bin Laden has sparked a debate over whether torture of suspects held at places such as the U.S. military base at Guantánamo Bay helped track down and kill the al-Qaeda leader. Some claim the mission vindicated controversial Bush policies on harsh interrogation techniques. We speak with Matthew Alexander, a...May 04, 2011 | Story
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By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan
Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, spoke Wednesday at the Pentagon, four stars on each shoulder, his chest bedecked with medals. Unlike Allen, many decorated U.S. military veterans left the streets of Chicago after the NATO summit without their medals.
Web Exclusives
In an extended interview, David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, discusses the history of the company, why they put sustainability and social justice ahead of profits, the organic and GMO labeling movements, the U.S. war on hemp, and why they refuse to sell out. [includes rush transcript]
Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth examines why the U.S. has not pressured Bahrain to release pro-democracy activists. He also discusses Syria and the conditions in Israeli jails and courts that prompted 1,550 Palestinian prisoners to go on a hunger strike. [includes rush transcript]
