May 2008


By Katherine Hughes Syracuse Peace Council Newsletter June 2008

The April 2008 Peace Newsletter started a much-needed discussion about Syracuse University and its National Security programs. I would like to draw attention to one occasion involving Syracuse University Law School, the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT), and local Doctor Rafil Dhafir. (more…)

John Pilger 29 May 2008

Writing in the New Statesman, John Pilger refers back to his travels with Robert Kennedy to describe the false hopes offered by those, like Barack Obama, who exploit the appeal of liberalism then present a very different reality. (more…)

Robert McChesney and John Nichols The Nation May 29th, 2008

On a Thursday in mid-May, the Senate did something that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Led by Democrat Byron Dorgan, the senators–Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives–gave Rupert Murdoch and his fellow media moguls the sort of slap that masters of the universe don’t expect from mere mortals on Capitol Hill. (more…)

The brief in response to the government brief has now been submitted, Reply Brief of Appellant Dhafir. This is the final brief and we now await a date for oral arguments, most likely they will be some time in the fall.

The Opening Brief was submitted 2/08/08. The Government Response Brief was submitted 4/08/08. For more information about the appeal process see here.

Tom Engelhardt The Nation 05/22/2008

The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, with its 225,000 or more deaths in 11 countries, shocked the world; so, in recent weeks, has the devastation wrought by a powerful cyclone (and tidal surge) that hit the Irrawaddy Delta of Myanmar. It resulted in at least 78,000 deaths (with another 56,000 reported missing) and a display of recalcitrance on the part of a military junta focused on its own security while its people perish. (more…)

[Ed Kinane, one of the defendants in this case, is a member of the Dr. Dhafir Support Committee Advisory Board.]

Witness Against Torture Activists to “Represent” Detainees in Trial, May 27

WASHINGTON, DC — Detainees at the U.S. Military Prison in Guantánamo will finally get their day in court on May 27 — Superior Court, in Washington DC. (more…)

Consciousness of Guilt

By DAVID MODEL Counterpunch 5/21/08

Despite the precipitous plunge in his popularity and growing criticism of his competency, character, and style, George W. Bush is not really that much different from other presidents with respect to his hegemonic ambitions or his proclivity to use force to achieve foreign policy objectives. (more…)

Is the government compiling a secret list of citizens to detain under martial law?

By Christopher Ketcham Radar Magazine May/June 2008

In the spring of 2007, a retired senior official in the U.S. Justice Department sat before Congress and told a story so odd and ominous, it could have sprung from the pages of a pulp political thriller. It was about a principled bureaucrat struggling to protect his country from a highly classified program with sinister implications. (more)