Month: August 2007

Updated at 12:30 a.m. EDT, Sept. 1, 2007At least 53 Iraqis were killed or found dead and nine more were wounded during a relatively quiet Friday. Another four American servicemembers were killed in separate incidents as well. A U.S. C-130 also came under fire last night as it was carrying four U.S. lawmakers, but no … Continue reading “Friday: 4 GIs, 53 Iraqis; 9 Wounded”

More rumors of war with Iran are circulating here (via Juan Cole), with inside scuttlebutt from inside the neoconservative network: "They [the source’s institution] have ‘instructions’ (yes, that was the word used) from the Office of the Vice-President to roll out a campaign for war with Iran in the week after Labor Day; it will … Continue reading “Showdown Over Iran”

The media is silent, Congress is absent, and Americans are distracted as George W. Bush openly prepares aggression against Iran. US Navy aircraft carrier strike forces are deployed off Iran. US Air Force jets and missile systems are deployed in bases in countries bordering or near to Iran. US B-2 stealth bombers have been refitted … Continue reading “The War Criminal in the Living Room”

BAGHDAD – Hopes are fading for early release of the large number of Iraqis detained under the so-called surge. The "surge" is the new effort by US-led coalition forces to crack down on terror suspects. The number of detainees held by the US military has increased by more than 50 percent since the US administration … Continue reading “Families of Iraqi Detainees Losing Hope”

Not another warning about war with Iran! Well, suck it up. President George W. Bush’s speech Tuesday makes clear his plan to attack Iran, and how the intelligence, as was the case before the attack on Iraq, is being “fixed around the policy.” It’s not about putative Iranian “weapons of mass destruction” – not even … Continue reading “Bush Puts Iran in Crosshairs”

As good news continues to flow from the "surge" – some of it true, some of it false and all of it spun – it is easy to forget the bottom line. The bottom line is whether or not we are beginning to see the re-emergence of a state in Iraq. Three recent news stories … Continue reading “Truth-Tellers”

Length does not equal strength. That’s one lesson of President George W. Bush’s latest speech on Iraq. The president apparently believed that the more he talked to the American Legion on Tuesday, the more persuasive he would be. But tossing in every argument that he’d ever used before, along with the kitchen sink, is unlikely … Continue reading “George W. Bush, Iraq, and the Kitchen Sink”

Updated at 12:25 a.m. EDT, Aug. 31, 2007During a day of light violence, 30 Iraqis were killed and 26 more wounded. Two U.S. servicemembers were killed and one was wounded in separate events. An unspecified number of people were also wounded during an attack at a Baghdad power plant. Also, Iraqi newspapers are returning to … Continue reading “Thursday: 2 GIs, 30 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded”

Tuesday’s acquittal of Lt. Col. Steven Jordan on charges related to the Abu Ghraib prison abuses means that no officers have been found criminally responsible for the mistreatment of prisoners at the Iraqi prison near Baghdad. During Jordan’s week-long court-martial hearing at Fort Meade, Md., his lawyers argued that he was not directly responsible for … Continue reading “Abu Ghraib Justice Ends With Enlisted Soldiers”

The George W. Bush administration has seemingly taken advantage of the congressional recess to escalate tensions with Iran. Earlier in August, the State Department revealed plans to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a global terrorist organization. On Tuesday, in a speech to U.S. war veterans in Nevada, President Bush raised the temperature … Continue reading “Bush Indictment of Iran Tops Usual Rhetoric”