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“Ashes” Revisited

“Legacy of Ashes,” the new book on the CIA by the New York Times’ Tim Weiner, has been getting rave reviews from the mainstream press. Now, finally, people with historical knowledge of the agency are beginning to poke holes in…

Down in Mississippi

Despite the casinos, things are still tough down on Mississippi’s Gulf Coast two years after Hurricane Katrina. Read my piece, “Hurricane Recovery, Republican Style” today in Salon. My reporting from the Gulf over the past year has been subsidized by…

Korea breakthrough

Direct US negotiations with North Korea finally bear fruit for the two Koreas: the leaders of South and North will meet August 28-30 for a summit. Details from Hankyoreh. Update: The summit was postponed until October.

Nuke danger in Japan

Japan’s nuclear power industry has a terrible record of cover-ups, and the recent earthquake in Niigata has triggered another one. The quake caused fires and a significant leak of radioactive fuel, forcing the government to shut down the world’s largest…

‘Outsourced’ author on intel contracting

R.J. Hillhouse, the author of Outsourced, the latest in espionage fiction, takes an interesting look at real, live outsourcing at the CIA in Sunday’s Washington Post. Here’s an excerpt: “Although the contracting system is Byzantine, there’s no question that the…

Korea: It’s about time

NYT: Bush sends envoy to talk to the DPRK. “For years the administration has refused to engage one on one with the North Koreans. Ms. Rice had to maneuver around Vice President Dick Cheney, officials said in February, to reach…

Expert Witness

Just posted: My interview Sunday (6/17) with former DEA agent Mike Levine, on The Expert Witness Radio Show on Pacifica’s WBAI in New York. To listen, click here. Plus: Thanks to WBAI’s Mark Marshall, I can post here for the…

Kwangju: May 18, 1980

Today marks the 27th anniversary of the Kwangju Uprising in South Korea. On May 18, 1980, students, workers and citizens of the southwestern city of Kwangju took up arms after Special Forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Chun Doo…

CIA in a Fog(go)

AP: Former CIA official Kyle “Dusty” Foggo was indicted Friday for accepting bribes in return for steering contracts towards an old buddy. “According to the new indictment, Foggo provided (Brent) Wilkes with ‘sensitive, internal information related to our national security,’…

DPRK backs Congress on WW2 sex-slaves

YONHAP: “North Korea expressed support for a House resolution demanding Japan’s apology for sexual enslavement during World War II as more congressmen were signing on as resolution co-sponsors, campaign leaders said Wednesday. Soh Ok-cha, president of the Washington Coalition for…

US-Korea FTA: Enough Already!

My latest piece, from Foreign Policy in Focus: “The FTA cannot be seen apart from U.S.-South Korean security ties, the presence in South Korea of more than 30,000 US troops and a 50-year economic relationship that has been heavily weighted…

David Halberstam, Presente!

One of America’s greatest journalists died today in a tragic car accident. I will never forget Halberstam’s reporting from Vietnam for the New York Times. It helped shape my understanding of the Indochina War and inspired me to become a…

Historic deal in Korea

Gavan McCormack, an Australian analyst of Korean affairs, sees the deal as a major turning point in East Asian history. Worth reading. “The tectonic plates under East Asia have begun to shift. In a world where gloom predominates and resort…

Economic warfare

US and the UK put the screws on Iran, with the US running the show. The Independent: “A senior executive at one of the (British) banks affected said: ‘The consequences of not toeing the American line on Iran have not…