Archive: October 2006
Firestorm Over Australian Cleric's Remarks
An Australian cleric's comparison of Muslim women who forgo the veil to pieces of "uncovered meat" has sparked yet another controversy pitting Islamic fundamentalism against Western opinion. The Australian reported last week that the cleric, Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, made...
By Jefferson Morley | October 31, 2006; 10:04 AM ET | Comments (46)
Tensions in Latin America Over a Wall, a U.N. Seat and a Chunk of Land
The uneasy relationship between the United States and the rest of the hemisphere reverberates in three stories generating headlines and fueling commentary throughout Latin America -- the final approval of a U.S.-Mexico wall, Hugo Chavez's ongoing fight for a seat...
By Jefferson Morley | October 26, 2006; 12:18 PM ET | Comments (25)
More on Counting Civilian Casualties
The online debate continues about a recent report in a British medical journal estimating 655,000 civilian deaths since the U.S. led invasion in March 2003. After my column on the study last week, lead author Gilbert Burnham defended its methodology...
By Jefferson Morley | October 25, 2006; 9:00 AM ET | Comments (17)
Waiting for Baker
British online commentators sniff change in the air at the White House at the hands of Bush family friend and former Secretary of State James A. Baker III. The British speculation was ignited by last week's report in the Los...
By Jefferson Morley | October 24, 2006; 12:08 PM ET | Comments (23)
Is Iraq's Civilian Death Toll 'Horrible' -- Or Worse?
A report published last week in the British medical journal Lancet which found that more than 600,000 civilians have been killed in Iraq elicited a prompt dismissal from President Bush. "I don't consider it a credible report," he said. "Neither...
By Jefferson Morley | October 19, 2006; 9:00 AM ET | Comments (73)
Britain Cries Murder Over Journalist's Death
If the "special relationship" between the United States and Britain has been strained by the fallout over Iraq, it seems to have become especially troubled as of late. A beleaguered Tony Blair, President Bush's strongest ally in the world, is...
By Jefferson Morley | October 18, 2006; 11:32 AM ET | Comments (25)
What Kim Jong Il Wants
"What does North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il want?" Answers to that question, posed by Germany's Spiegel Online after last week's confirmed nuclear test, abound in the international online media. The reclusive leader is said to be using his nuclear...
By Jefferson Morley | October 17, 2006; 9:00 AM ET | Comments (15)
Chavez's Campaign to Sit With the 'Devil'
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's speech to the United Nations last month in which he described President Bush as the "devil" may only be a preview of things to come. On Monday, the United Nations will vote on Venezuela's bid to...
By Jefferson Morley | October 13, 2006; 11:31 AM ET | Comments (53)
Unveiled: Another Debate About Muslims in the West
The controversy started local and went global in a week. "I want to unveil my views on an important issue," wrote British MP Jack Straw in an Oct. 5 blog entry for the Lancashire Telegraph, a daily news site in...
By Jefferson Morley | October 12, 2006; 9:00 AM ET | Comments (104)
Journalist's Murder Seen as Indictment of Putin
The murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya is seen by many not just as a political assassination, but as an indictment of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the European governments that have embraced him. Thousands turned out Tuesday to mourn the...
By Jefferson Morley | October 11, 2006; 12:10 PM ET | Comments (31)
North Korea's Nukes: What Next?
North Korea's first nuclear test has created new political realities for its neighbors. Monday's test marks the culmination of a year of futile international diplomacy aimed at preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons to the Korean peninsula. North Korea's official...
By Jefferson Morley | October 10, 2006; 9:13 AM ET | Comments (38)
A Tough Mideast Tour for Rice
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's tour of the Middle East to enlist so-called "moderate" Arab governments to support Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the Western campaign to curb Iran's nuclear program faces pervasive skepticism, if not hostility, in the region's online...
By Jefferson Morley | October 5, 2006; 9:25 AM ET | Comments (67)
Musharraf's Book Tour
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's promotion of his new memoir, "In the Line of Fire," has to be among the most unusual and successful book tours ever. While visiting Washington and London, Musharraf managed to get a plug from President Bush...
By Jefferson Morley | October 4, 2006; 8:12 AM ET | Comments (20)
Canadian Man Tortured by Lack of Apology
Maher Arar has received many apologies lately, but not the one he wants most. The Canadian computer consultant, detained on suspicion of terrorism in 2002 and sent to Syria where he was tortured and jailed for 10 months, was cleared...
By Jefferson Morley | October 3, 2006; 7:59 AM ET | Comments (21)
