Pity about Bush and the New Orleans levees
The story about George W. being warned before Katrina struck of the danger of the hurricane breaching the New Orleans levees turns out to be wrong: pity! [More >>>]
Category: International Affairs
Bush priorities: defence up, health down
‘Bush puts stress on defence’ and cuts health — Financial Times [More >>>]
Muslims and the west: a notable television debate
Anyone with broadband who missed the BBC TV Newsnight debate about the Muslim protests over the Danish cartoons and their global implications on 6 Feb should watch it on the BBC Newsnight website while it’s still available [more >>>]
Those cartoons: support the Danes!
It was silly to exercise the undoubted right to publish those cartoons, but the hysterical reaction across the world has been an outrage, and we should give far more support to our Danish friends and partners [More >>>]
Hamas and the prospects for a settlement
Israeli brutality is rightly condemned, but with Hamas as government of Palestine there seems no longer any basis for a settlement with Israel and little chance even of a truce [More >>>]
Who wrote that FCO advice to No 10 on rendition?
Internal evidence suggests the hand of the CIA in the FCO’s advice on rendition to No. 10 [More >>>]
Our Man at the Vatican
The latest appointment of the British ambassador to the Holy See breaks with tradition in two significant ways, and has aroused strong objections in the Vatican [More >>>]
Torture and the diplomat, part 2: a closing exchange
Craig Murray, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, commented courteously and informatively on my Ephems entry about his position on the use of torture-tainted information and his action in publishing classified documents. Here is my response to his comment [More >>>]
Torture and the diplomat’s role
Craig Murray’s campaign against the use or even acceptance of information suspected to have been got by torture, not only as evidence in court, but even for further investigation by the security service, is worthy but unsustainable [More >>>]
Harold Pinter’s Nobel lecture
Pinter at his most savage, eloquent and quirky in receiving his Nobel prize [More >>>]