Month: May 2006

As our government concentrates on fighting a "war on terrorism" in the distant battlefields of Iraq, what about the real war on terrorism – the effort to track down and neutralize al-Qaeda operatives in the U.S.? After all, that last warning from Osama bin Laden, in which he implied that another 9/11 is in the … Continue reading “Faux ‘Terrorism’”

By just about any measure, May has been a bad month for U.S. policy in Afghanistan. It began with a warning by a shopkeeper in a small-town bazaar in the Pashtun southern part of the country to the visiting commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, duly recorded by the New York … Continue reading “Bad Month in Afghanistan May Delay US Drawdown”

Even with mainstream reports that American troops are slaughtering Iraqi civilians, there are still plenty of lefties in the United States who cannot unify behind a call for an immediate and unconditional withdraw of occupation forces from Iraq. Fortunately, the majority of Americans understand that the U.S. presence in region is only contributing to the … Continue reading “Leftists for Occupation”

With Muhammad Zaher BAGHDAD – It could be instructive to recall that the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and its armed wing, the Badr Corps, arose from a conference of Iraqi opposition parties called in Iran in 1982. The Supreme of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) was a breakaway faction of … Continue reading “Badr Groups Move From Troubled Past to Uncertain Future”

JERUSALEM – Mahmoud Abbas does not fall into the category of outgoing, charismatic leaders with a penchant for bold political initiatives. Gray, circumspect, and technocratic are the adjectives often chosen to describe him. But the Palestinian president is now in the midst of possibly the greatest gamble of his long political career. It is an … Continue reading “Hamas Faces a Presidential Revolution”

“The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity!” – this phrase, coined by Abba Eban, has become a byword. It also illustrates a wise Talmudic saying: “He who finds fault in others (really) finds his own faults.” No doubt, from the beginning of the conflict, the Palestinians have missed opportunities. But these are … Continue reading “Missed Opportunities
(Partial List)”

The media feeding frenzy around what has been referred to as “Iraq’s My Lai” has become frenetic. Focus on U.S. Marines slaughtering at least 20 civilians in Haditha last November is reminiscent of the media spasm around the “scandal” of Abu Ghraib during April and May 2004. Yet just like Abu Ghraib, while the media … Continue reading “Countless My Lais in Iraq”

In recent months, among other uproars and scandals, Americans learned that the Defense Department has been collecting intelligence on and tracking domestic antiwar activists; that, since 2001, the National Security Agency (NSA) has had a presidentially authorized, law-breaking, warrantless surveillance program to listen in on the international phone calls of possibly tens of thousands of … Continue reading “The Tangled Web
of American ‘Intelligence’”

On Memorial Day, we should honor those who are buried after dying in the country’s wars, but be a little more skeptical of the U.S. government actions that put them there. It is often said that they died for "freedom" or their "country," but more often they were needlessly put at risk by their government. … Continue reading “Honor the War Dead but Question America’s Wars”

For months, the attention of the U.S. news media, pundits, and elected officials has been riveted on the aims of ultraconservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. President George W. Bush in particular has invoked Ahmadinejad’s alleged drive for nuclear weapons and rhetoric about Israel to justify U.S. isolation and pressure on the regime. But the almost … Continue reading “Khamenei in Control
and Ready to ‘Haggle’”