Global News and Analysis Archives - Page 283 of 294

Never-Ending War: Obama Makes the Afghanistan War His Own

David Corn December 2, 2009 David Corn

President Barack Obama is surging a war to end it.

That’s how he’s selling his decision to expand the mess in Afghanistan he inherited from George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. In a much-anticipated speech Tuesday night that followed weeks of high-level deliberations, Obama announced what had already been purposefully leaked by the White House: that he has ordered another 30,000 American soldiers to Afghanistan. This deployment-in keeping with the request put to him by General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and NATO troops-will raise the total number of US troops to nearly 100,000 by next summer, ten times the force level in 2003. But speaking before an auditorium of cadets at West Point, Obama contended that the boost in troops will be temporary, a means to "create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans" for securing their own country and, most important, keeping the Taliban and al Qaeda at bay. read more

Honduras: U.S. Criticised for Recognising Post-Coup Poll

Matthew Berger December 1, 2009 Matthew Berger

Source: IPS News

(IPS) – On a sunny Sunday afternoon in Washington, DC’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, about 50 protestors lined up outside a polling station where voting was taking place to help select the next leader of a country almost 3,000 kilometres away.

Monday, in Foggy Bottom, the controversial U.S. policy of recognising the results of the Honduran elections remained unchanged.

"We recognise that there are results in Honduras for this election…We recognise those results," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela told reporters Monday. read more

Supporter of Coup Wins Election in Honduras

Democracy Now! November 30, 2009 Democracy Now!

Source: Democracy Now!

In Honduras, a prominent supporter of the coup has won the nation’s presidential election. Porfirio Lobo, a rich landowner, received 55 percent of the vote. The election comes five months after the Honduran military ousted the democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya. The leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and other Latin American countries say Sunday’s presidential election is invalid because it was backed by the coup leaders and could end any hope of Zelaya returning to power and completing his term, which is due to end in January.But the United States has vowed to recognize the results. No pro-Zelaya candidate ran Sunday due to a boycott of the elections called by Zelaya. Human rights groups reported widespread abuses by the Honduran military and police ahead of Sunday’s vote. In the city of San Pedro Sula, soldiers used water cannons and tear gas to break up a march by 500 unarmed protesters. On Saturday, 50 masked soldiers and police raided a collective of farmers and small scale agricultural producers known as Red Comal. read more

The Battle for Angola’s Oil

Khadija Sharife November 23, 2009 Khadija Sharife

Source: Foreign Policy in Focus

Resource-rich Angola was once known as the scene of Africa’s longest-running civil war. Today, life expectancy hovers around 44 years – not unlike that of an average Briton living in the 1800s. Over 70% of the population lives in poverty, and the country has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. And the nation’s lifetime dictator of 30 years, Jose Dos Santos, leader of the liberation-party-turned-permanent-government, the MPLA, does not appear to have lost his lust for the throne. read more

Honduran Dictatorship Is A Threat to Democracy In the Hemisphere

Mark Weisbrot November 23, 2009 Mark Weisbrot

Corporate Power: The real reason Obama is not making much progress

Johann Hari November 23, 2009 Johann Hari

Source: Independent

Almost a year after Barack Obama ascended to the White House, many of his supporters are bemused. His healthcare bill is a hefty improvement but it still won’t provide coverage for all Americans, and may not provide a public alternative to the over-charging insurance companies – if it passes at all. His environmental team is vandalising the vital Copenhagen conference by saying the US – the single biggest emitter of warming gases – will not sign up to any legally binding restrictions there. He has placed the deregulation-fanatics who caused the New Depression, like Lawrence Summers, in charge of the recovery. Despite the real improvements on Bush – such as the end of torture, the resumption of stem-cell research, and opposition to the coup in Honduras – many people are asking: why he is delivering so little, so slowly? read more