be just

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 01/31/2008 | How Kenya's election was rigged : "Observers who were allowed into the vote-tallying center on Dec. 29-30, hours before the results were announced, said there was so much systematic fraud by Kenya's government-appointed election commission that it's impossible to know who really won. The extent of the commission's deceptions has faded into the background as more than 800 Kenyans have been killed in ethnic clashes and police crackdowns. The events also have deeply unsettled the Bush administration, which has relied on Kenya as an ally in the war on terror and a bulwark of stability in East Africa. Official results gave Kibaki an edge of 231,728 votes, or 2 percent, out of about 10 million cast. Initial results of an exit poll by the U.S.-funded International Republican Institute found that rival Raila Odinga had won by an 8 percent margin. (The IRI says it will not release the poll until it has assessed the validity of the ...

The Raw Story | US flouts human rights with secret prisons, torture: HRW : "The United States continues to violate basic human rights by keeping secret detention facilities abroad, holding people illegally as 'disappeared' and justifying torture, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday. The Human Rights Watch World Report 2008 found no improvement in the human rights situation in the United States, despite efforts by the US Congress to end the alleged abuses carried out in its war on terrorism. 'There was no evident progress concerning the treatment of so-called enemy combatants, including those held at Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), or the use of secret detention facilities' in foreign countries, HRW said. The Pentagon in 2007 released more than 100 'war on terror' detainees held in the prison facility at the US Navy base in eastern Cuba, but 305 continue to be imprisoned there, most of them without having been formally charged."

AlterNet: Election 2008: Can John Edwards Pass the Leadership Test? On examination, however, this path offers Edwards nothing at all. Let's assume -- and I think it is a fair assumption -- that, for the reasons stated above, there is no chance Edwards would endorse Clinton and that the choice he faces is endorsing no one or endorsing Obama. If he stands mute and Clinton wins, she will owe him nothing and she will not even be interested in his concerns; the best he will get is a courtesy lunch or a sub-Cabinet position in a non-critical department. On the other hand, if he fails to help Obama now, when help is most important, the leverage he will have with a victorious Obama would be much diminished than what it is now -- such is the essence of politics, a brutal blood sport. On the other hand, should Edwards see the wisdom of endorsing Obama now, his leverage would be greater than it will ever be and he can deal for commitments to support his poverty agenda, and perhaps even for an...

Kurds’ Power Wanes as Arab Anger Rises - New York Times : "As a minority group in Iraq, the Kurds have enjoyed disproportionate influence in the country’s politics since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003. But now their leverage appears to be declining as tensions rise with Iraqi Arabs, raising the specter of another fissure alongside the sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shiites. The Kurds, who are mostly Sunni but not Arab, have steadfastly backed the government, most recently helping to keep it afloat when Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki lacked support from much of Parliament. With their political acumen, close ties to the Americans and technical competence at running government agencies, the Kurds cemented a position of enormous strength. This allowed them to all but dictate terms in Iraq’s Constitution that gave them considerable regional autonomy and some significant rights in oil development. But now the Kurds are pursuing policies that are antagonizing the other fa...

The Arab Woman Newsbytes: Good news Americans, you won the Jackpot! Agence France Press (AFP) finally wrote a piece on the 1 million Iraqis massacred since 2003. Add to that the 1.5 million during 13 years of sanctions and add to that an unknown number of missing persons and add to that 4.5 million in exile or displaced and add to that all those who were tortured, raped, maimed, and crippled by your liberation. Bravo Americans, you won the jackpot. You won over 2.5 million Iraqi corpses. And you may share the 4.5 million in exile or displaced as as bonus. As for the missing persons and the maimed - well that is your joker for your next game. Next time anyone tells me that Americans are a kind, honest, peace loving people, I will spit and vomit these figures in his or her face. You are nothing but a bunch of Nazis and your collaborators the Iranians are nothing but a bunch of Fascists. ALL OF YOU. No, I take that back. You invaded and occupied under the name of Democracy and Freedom, so...