Month: April 2006

Four years into the "global war on terror," terrorism appears to be thriving, according to the 2005 edition of the annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" released here Friday by the U.S. State Department. While the control and reach of al Qaeda, which carried out the spectacular Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the … Continue reading “Terrorism Still Thriving, State Department Says”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters at a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting held Thursday in Sophia, Bulgaria, that it was “pretty clear” that Iran would not meet the requirements set by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and would likely reject a deadline set by the UN Security Council “to bring its nuclear program in … Continue reading “Mad Cow”

JERUSALEM – The Israeli government promised restraint in the wake of the bombing of a Tel Aviv falafel snack stand this month that was described as the worst suicide attack in almost two years, and which the Hamas government condoned. But the Israeli promise has not calmed fears of an attack. The Tel Aviv bombing … Continue reading “Unease Grows Over Israeli Restraint”

On the surface, the question raised by six (at last count) retired generals of whether Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should resign has an obvious answer: of course he should. He was a key man in the cabal that lied us into the war in Iraq, and he may have been the key man in … Continue reading “Off With His Head!”

Now that Congress is back from spring break and looking ahead to Memorial Day, July 4, the August recess and adjournment early in October for elections, perhaps it can take up this question. Does President Bush have, or not have, the authority to take us to war with Iran? Because Bush and the War Party … Continue reading “Of Imperial Presidents and Congressional Cowards”

It is “a steppingstone to war,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, during the debate over the so-called Iran Freedom Support Act, and if this vote is any measure of the degree of congressional opposition to the looming prospect of war with Tehran, then we have a lot to worry about. Only 21 members of the House … Continue reading “Steppingstone to War”

TEHRAN – As the deadline set by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to halt uranium enrichment descends upon Iran, the already narrow window of opportunity to resolve the crisis over Tehran’s nuclear program diplomatically may soon slam shut. If the Western powers, led by the United States, adopt a tough posture and demand that … Continue reading “Iran Defiant, but Ready to Deal”

Once again, the latest twist in the never ending al-Qaeda saga has taken the West by surprise. It featured a renewed and shocking alliance between Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It is now clear that both men are united. To members and sympathizers of their fight, people scattered around the world, the words … Continue reading “A Deadly Duet”

Elderly citizens of Bulgaria’s capital say they can’t remember anything like this even in the 1970s, the time of the Brezhnev Doctrine that followed the 1968 Prague Spring events, when the country was gripped by harsh totalitarian rule. At 8:00 a.m. on April 25, two days before the arrival of the U.S. Secretary of State … Continue reading “Sofia Under Siege as
Condi Comes to Town”

Sometime in the mid-1990s, during the roaring days of globalization, the high-tech boom, and a soaring market, I published a commentary in the Business Times titled “One Bill’s Washington vs. the Other Bill’s Washington: Guess Who Is Winning?” I actually wrote the piece upon my returning from a visit to the Microsoft “campus” in Redmond, … Continue reading “If Only Bill Gates
Made Foreign Policy”