Article published in Amauta with special permission from the author A Q & A with the State Department on Haiti by Judith Scherr [This interview was conducted as part of a news story broadcast January 25 on KPFA (Pacifica) radio.] The French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet accused the U.S. of “occupying” Haiti rather than helping in the wake of [...]

by Jeremy Scahill September 16, 2009 Two years ago on September 16, 2007, on a steamy hot Baghdad day with temperatures reaching 100 degrees, a heavily armed Blackwater convoy entered a congested intersection at Nisour Square in the Mansour district of the Iraqi capital. The once-upscale section of Baghdad was still lined with boutiques, cafes and art [...]

by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica and Aram Roston September 18, 2009 Last spring, the U.S. diplomatic mission in Iraq got a makeover,replacing the scandal-plagued Blackwater private security company with a firm named Triple Canopy. The new $1 billion contract cemented Triple Canopy’s status as the pre-eminent provider of private security services in Iraq, with its heavily armed employees [...]

by Tom Engelhardt September 17, 2009 “War is peace” was one of the memorable slogans on the facade of the Ministry of Truth, Minitrue in “Newspeak,” the language invented by George Orwell in 1948 for his dystopian novel 1984. Some 60 years later, a quarter-century after Orwell’s imagined future bit the dust, the phrase is, in a [...]

by David Alexander September 10, 2009 WASHINGTON – Sixteen private guards have been removed from the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan in a scandal over sexual hazing and lewd behavior, the State Department said on Thursday as the security contractor faced new allegations of misconduct. A federal whistle-blower lawsuit filed on Thursday against ArmorGroup North America charged that the [...]

por Tom Hayden 4 de septiembre, 2009 En un avance significativo en las relaciones hemisféricas, la administración Obama condenó el golpe de Estado del 28 de junio en con más fuerza que nunca, anunció el corte definitivo de la ayuda de millones de dólares adicionales en el frente económico y declaró que no legitimará las elecciones bajo [...]

September 1, 2009 The Honorable Hillary Clinton Secretary, Department of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520 Dear Secretary Clinton: As you know, last month eight rockets were fired into Kabul, two landing near the U.S. Embassy.1  Not long after, at least seven people were killed and 91 wounded, including children, when a suicide bomber struck close to the Embassy. [...]

por Arshad Mohammed 28 de agosto, 2009 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Miembros del Departamento de Estado estadounidense recomendaron que la remoción del presidente hondureño Manuel Zelaya sea declarada un “golpe de Estado militar”, dijo un funcionario el jueves, lo que podría costarle al país decenas de millones de dólares en ayuda. El funcionario, que solicitó no ser identificado, aseguró [...]

by Jeremy Scahill August 14, 2009 Despite the Iraqi government’s announcement earlier this year that it had canceled Blackwater’s operating license, the US State Department continues to allow Blackwater operatives in Iraq to remain armed. A State Department official told The Nation that Blackwater (which recently renamed itself Xe Services) is now operating in Iraq under the [...]

por Homar Garcés 14 de agosto, 2009 Bien lo advirtió El Libertador Simón Bolívar en 1829: “Los Estados Unidos parecen destinados por la Providencia para plagar la América de miserias en nombre de la libertad”. Más tarde, José Martí ratificaría tal vaticinio: “Jamás hubo en América de la independencia a acá, asunto que requiera más sensatez, ni obligue [...]