Day: April 2, 2008

Updated at 1:25 p.m. EDT, April 2, 2008At least 45 Iraqis were killed and 84 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. Clashes involving Mahdi Army members and Iraqi security are now over, but the Iraqi government is still engaging in minor chest thumping in the port city of Basra and keeping Sadr … Continue reading “Wednesday: 45 Iraqis Killed, 84 Wounded”

After three years of steadily declining ratings, global perception of the United States as a positive influence in the world appears to have improved marginally during 2007, according to a survey of 23 countries [.pdf] released by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Wednesday. The poll of some 17,500 respondents, carried out at the end of … Continue reading “Survey: US Image Improved Slightly in 2007”

As the fifth year of U.S. discontent came and went, presidential candidates jousted with each other about how best to assuage the fears of ordinary citizens over a war that – in nearly all estimates – has gone terribly wrong. The Iraq debacle may have temporarily faded from the U.S. public’s consciousness, as recent polls … Continue reading “Surge Success Runs Into Sadr”

The relentless march of NATO, decades after the implosion of the Soviet Union and the death knell of the Leninist project, is surely an object lesson in the real motivations and character of “democratic” imperialism, here and in Europe. The Communist enemy may be long gone, but NATO soldiers ever onward, and ever eastward. Suddenly … Continue reading “NATO Marches Eastward”

In Iraq, in Afghanistan, and at home, the position of the globe’s “sole superpower” is visibly fraying. The country that was once proclaimed an “empire lite” has proven increasingly lightheaded. The country once hailed as a power greater than that of imperial Rome or imperial Britain, a dominating force beyond anything ever seen on the … Continue reading “The End of Empire?”

Much ink has been spilled over whether NATO will give Ukraine and Georgia a "membership action plan," or MAP, at its upcoming summit. The U.S. administration supports it; Angela Merkel of Germany, America’s best friend in Europe, opposes it. Merkel is trying to save America from a dangerous mistake, one potentially worse than Iraq. It … Continue reading “The Wrong MAP for
Ukraine and Georgia”

In a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, John McCain outlined his vision for U.S. foreign policy if he were elected president. As portrayed by much of the so-called mainstream media, one might be led to believe the McCain’s vision is fundamentally different than the current U.S. foreign policy practiced by the Bush … Continue reading “McCain’s Foreign Policy Vision: Style Over Substance”