Unwary journalists who repeat US army claims about Syria and Iraq become tools in a propaganda war, warns Sharif Nashashibi.

The extraordinary media hype surrounding the election of Barack Obama is reminiscent, Media Lens observes, of similar delusions following Tony Blair’s electoral victory in 1997. As with Blair, Obama’s election has been portrayed as a transformational change of ‘historic’ importance, despite the fact that Obama is a thoroughly mainstream, even hawkish, candidate.

The Quartet, while in principle a good idea, has been fatally undermined by the insincerity and ‘pro-Israel’ bias of the United States. The time has come, argues Rami Khouri, for the UN and the EU to disassociate themselves from the charade.

The Middle East Quartet is failing – making inadequate progress towards improving the lives of Palestinians nor improving the prospects for peace – according to a new report by leading aid agencies published last week.

The current economic crisis is being exploited in order to extend the neoliberal dogma that created it. It is now crucial, writes David Wearing, for the Left to engage in and win the battle of ideas to prevent this from happening.

The conventional wisdom about the “success” of the ‘surge’ in Iraq is, David Wearing argues, over-simplistic propaganda that betrays a shocking indifference among educated classes in the U.S. and Britain to Iraqi lives and welfare.

Last week dozens of protesters picketed the U.S. embassy in London to protest U.S. involvement in Latin America, specifically its attempts to destabilise Morales’ Bolivia and Chavez’ Venezuela. Paul Haste and Charley Allan report.

The media is full of reports about US successes in stabilising Iraq. But behind the headlines lies a country on the verge of chaos, writes Simon Assaf.

John Pilger examines news as parody as those prominent in the British media seek to justify the official versions of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s sophisticated, deadly new tactics are bringing them closer to Kabul. The United States’ response has been to redouble the failed tactics that helped achieve this outcome, argues Paul Rogers.

As fuel prices rocket and demand outstrips supply, Michael Klare sees a new world energy order starting to emerge.