The New York Times puzzles and puzzles until its puzzler is sore, but it still can’t figure out the deep, deep mystery addressed by this recent story: “Libya Counts More Martyrs Than Bodies.” The Paper of Record — primus inter pares of the national press, shaper and sifter of the zeitgeist itself — struggles for 27 whole paragraphs in its Sept. 16 story, trying to account somehow for the vast discrepancy between the “martyr count” claimed by Libya’s NATO-nudged rebels and the actual number of bodies found so far in the wake of the conflict. Rebel leaders claim that the

(UPDATED BELOW) For days, weeks on end, we have been bombarded with earnest disquisitions on the “meaning” of 9/11, its implications for America and the world ten years down the line. Oceans of newsprint and blizzards of pixels have been expended on this question. But in all the solemn piety and savvy punditry surrounding the commemoration of the attacks, almost nothing has been said about the place where the true “legacy of 9/11” can be seen in its stark quintessence: Somalia. That long-broken land is, in so many ways, a hell of our own creation. Year by year, stage by

“Up over my head, nothing but clouds of blood” — Bob Dylan, “Cold Irons Bound” Here’s a story where it all comes together, where the guiding ethos of the age is exposed: torture turned to private profit, state terror as a business deal. The Guardian reports on a remarkable case uncovered by the legal rights charity Reprieve: private contractors who flew American Terror War captives to torture hellholes around the world coming to blows in court over a grubby dispute over expenses. The case reveals the inner workings of the infamous “rendition” program, where contractors charged U.S. taxpayers for wine

(UPDATED BELOW) Yet another confirmation has come to light of the machinations by the self-professed Christian leaders of the West to manipulate their nations into a murderous war of aggression against Iraq, the Guardian reports. A letter has come to light confirming the UK government’s firm intention to join the United States in the Hitlerian action against Iraq, even if a UN resolution specifically authorizing the action could not be obtained. In one sense, the new revelation adds nothing to the veritable mountain of evidence we already have of the Western leaders’ criminal intent — much of it directly, and

Note: First things first. Arthur Silber is in low water. He needs your help. In a media world flooded with lies and ignorance, he is a rare and precious voice of truth. Please, go to his site and help him, if you can. It seems the Freedom Fighters in Libya are upholding one of the most venerable historical traditions of their American mentors: killing black men. The Independent reports: The killings were pitiless. They had taken place at a makeshift hospital, in a tent marked clearly with the symbols of the Islamic Crescent. Some of the dead were on stretchers,

I was going to write about the NATO bombing of Sirte, where in order “protect civilians” from the now non-existent regime of Moamar Gadafy, the humanitarian lords of the West are now killing civilians at the behest of the new, non-elected regime of the murky and murderous “Transitional National Council.” But as I sat down to the keyboard, I saw that Craig Murray was already on the case. Murray, you’ll recall, was the courageous UK ambassador to Uzbekistan who dared expose the horrific tortures being practiced by the “friendly” regime there, which was acting as one of the many foreign

Another war for oil? Surely not! But just to be on the safe side, the world’s oil barons are already moving in to seal some sweetheart deals on that sweet, sweet crude with the new, NATO-installed masters of Libya. And guess what? It turns out that companies from the Western countries that eagerly rained tons of death-metal on the Libyan people are being given the inside track to the post-Gadafy gusher. Meanwhile, countries that had urged caution in humanely intervening with thousands upon thousands of bombs, drones and missiles to, er, protect human life now face relegation to the outer

As it is written: “Though we seemed dead, we did but sleep.” We have finally returned from a series of grueling and at times bewildering traversals of the planet in several directions. Still a bit dazed, we will shortly be back in fighting trim. In the meantime, I would by no means insult your intelligence by suggesting you go immediately to Arthur Silber’s site to partake of the feast of biting, bitter yet buoyant wit and slashing insight that he has produced during our time away. Surely it would be superfluous in me to point the readers of this site

Unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances put me on the road last week; now, foreseen circumstances are setting me on my way again. Again, I don’t know the connectivity situation where I’m going, so posting might be light for the next several days — or who knows, I might be blogging like a house on fire. (Or a London street on fire, as the case may be.) Sorry for the sporadicality this month, but it couldn’t be helped. I’m hoping more regular programming will be resumed soon. Meanwhile, here’s a couple of things to pass the time. First up is a slice