U.S. Admits It Is Working to Undermine Zimbabwean Government
The Guardian newspaper reports the Bush administration has admitted openly for the first time that it is actively working to undermine Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe. A new US state department report acknowledged that the U.S. is supporting opposition politicians in the country and others critical of Mugabe. The State Department also admitted sponsoring events aimed at "discrediting" statements made by Mugabe's government. Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since 1980 when it became an independent nation.
Miami Theater Cancels My Name is Rachel Corrie Play
A
play featuring the writings of the late American peace activist Rachel Corrie has been silenced for the third time in just over a year. The Mosaic Theatre in Miami has announced it has cancelled My Name is Rachel Corrie after protests from some of the theater's subscribers and outside individuals. Corrie was the 23-year-old American activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in March 2003. Last year, both the New York Theatre Workshop and the Canadian theatre company CanStage pulled productions of the play.
Alan Dershowitz Admits Lobbying Against Tenure For Norman Finkelstein
Meanwhile here in this country, one of academia's most prominent critics of Israel -- Norman Finkelstein -- is facing an uphill battle to receive tenure at Depaul University where he has taught for six years. His tenure has been approved at the departmental and college level but the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has opposed it. A final decision is expected to be made by May. Finkelstein has accused Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz of being responsible for leading the effort to deny him tenure. In an interview with the Harvard Crimson, Dershowitz admitted that he had sent a letter to DePaul faculty members lobbying against Finkelstein's tenure.
Pentagon: No Pre-War Ties Between Iraq & Al Qaeda
A newly declassified report from the Pentagon's inspector general concludes that Saddam Hussein was not directly cooperating with Al Qaeda before the U.S. invasion of Iraq despite claims by the Bush administration. The Pentagon's report is based in part on captured Iraqi documents and interrogations of Saddam Hussein and two former aides. The declassified report reveals that the CIA had concluded as early as June 2002 that there were few substantiated contacts between al-Qaeda operatives and Iraqi officials. However top Bush administration officials ignored the CIA's findings. In September 2002, Pentagon official Douglas Feith asserted that the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda was "mature" and "symbiotic." Feith's comments came in a briefing to Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff Lewis Scooter Libby. Feith also suggested that Iraq might have been involved in 9/11 and other al Qaeda attacks. Despite the Pentagon's new report, Vice President Cheney is still claiming there were ties between Iraq and al Qaeda. He appeared on Rush Limbaugh's radio program yesterday and claimed that al-Qaeda was operating inside Iraq before the U.S. invasion.
Alan Dershowitz Admits Lobbying Against Tenure For Norman Finkelstein
Meanwhile here in this country, one of academia's most prominent critics of Israel -- Norman Finkelstein -- is facing an uphill battle to receive tenure at Depaul University where he has taught for six years. His tenure has been approved at the departmental and college level but the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has opposed it. A final decision is expected to be made by May. Finkelstein has accused Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz of being responsible for leading the effort to deny him tenure. In an interview with the Harvard Crimson, Dershowitz admitted that he had sent a letter to DePaul faculty members lobbying against Finkelstein's tenure.
Pentagon: No Pre-War Ties Between Iraq & Al Qaeda
A newly declassified report from the Pentagon's inspector general concludes that Saddam Hussein was not directly cooperating with Al Qaeda before the U.S. invasion of Iraq despite claims by the Bush administration. The Pentagon's report is based in part on captured Iraqi documents and interrogations of Saddam Hussein and two former aides. The declassified report reveals that the CIA had concluded as early as June 2002 that there were few substantiated contacts between al-Qaeda operatives and Iraqi officials. However top Bush administration officials ignored the CIA's findings. In September 2002, Pentagon official Douglas Feith asserted that the relationship between Iraq and al-Qaeda was "mature" and "symbiotic." Feith's comments came in a briefing to Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff Lewis Scooter Libby. Feith also suggested that Iraq might have been involved in 9/11 and other al Qaeda attacks. Despite the Pentagon's new report, Vice President Cheney is still claiming there were ties between Iraq and al Qaeda. He appeared on Rush Limbaugh's radio program yesterday and claimed that al-Qaeda was operating inside Iraq before the U.S. invasion.