Arab Writers Group Syndicate

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Truth starts to leak out in Iraq war contract-abuse case
By Ray Hanania – The U.S. Attorney is prosecuting what should be a high profile case involving corrupt practices in Iraq-war related contracts in the backyards of the Midwest apparently to protect Halliburton, the company formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney. But instead, the case is being handled like a petty crime in a middle America suburb. That decision has resulted in suppressing the shocking headlines, and silencing any talk about the clear ties that the Iraq war-related corruption has to the administration of President George W. Bush. Now we know why. Read more »

Iraq war corruption cases go beyond simple “fraud”
By Ray Hanania – This week, a suburban Chicago man who once held a management position at a company that sub-contracted war-related services in Iraq through Halliburton, will finally face trial on charges of corruption. Halliburton and the sub-contractor, Kellogg Brown & Root Inc., (KBR), have seen a string of their managers and employees convicted on corruption charges over the past five years since the war began. But the judge overseeing the case has ruled the defendants will not be permitted to debate the Iraq War during the trial, fueling suspicions the Bush administration is manipulating the cases to protect its political and financial interests. Read more »

Language and war in the Middle East:
By Ali Alarabi – Last November 26,President Bush signed an agreement with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Malki that will regulate the presence of US troops in Iraq as well as the presence of American military bases in that country. Signed through a secure video conferencing system the agreement or the “ declaration of principles” as it was termed, called for an “ enduring” US presence in Iraq. As to why the US administration used the term “ Enduring” is of no mystery. The word “ Enduring” which according to Oxford English dictionary means among other things “ Permanent” or “eternal,” or “forever” it is a pretty and seemingly harmless word comparing to the more politically charged words like “ permanent” which if used instead it would likely raise a firestorm among certain segments of the Iraqi people. For Bush and for others, the battle over words is apparently as important as the battle over nations. Read more »

Unanswered questions challenge American perceptions in Iraq

By Ray Hanania – Let’s just start by saying the war in Iraq is anything but what President Bush promised us when he ordered its invasion and missed real opportunities to destroy al-Qaeda in Pakistan. Lies got us to Iraq. Lies are keeping us there. And lies are driving the new drumbeats to expand the failed American war in Iraq into other oil rich nations, like Iran. Read more »

Ahmadinejad: the Ugly Face of Demagoguery

By Aladdin Elaasar — Seeing Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s face on TV brings a lot of bad memories to many people in the Middle East. He is bad news to the Iranians, Arabs, Muslims and the whole Middle East. Why? Well, for starters, we do not need another hyper-nationalist dictator pointing fingers at the West, America and the favorite old target of his alikes; the State of Israel, to deflect the public’s attention from nagging domestic issues like unemployment, poverty oppression and corruption. Conspiracy theories of the outside enemy have become the favorite rhetoric of dictators for a long time. They work like magic with the masses.

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(Click to view full size) War on Errorism: Dunes Buries Lies, 10-02-07. By Ray Hanania. For more political cartoons, visit www.hanania.com/cartoons/cartoons.htm.