Eli Clifton

With US General David Petraeus’s eagerly anticipated final report on Iraq due on Sep. 15, supporters of the troop surge are busily trying to set the stage for the report that they believe will refute their opponents. The media blitz in Washington is unfolding under the backdrop of dwindling domestic and international support for the … Continue reading “Neocons Put on a Surge-Stravaganza”

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”

Washington’s policymakers are growing dissatisfied with the Bush administration’s troop surge in Iraq and a majority agrees that the world is becoming more dangerous for the United States, according to a poll released Monday. The nonpartisan poll, called "The Terrorism Index" and released by the Center for American Progress and Foreign Policy magazine, surveys more … Continue reading “Experts: Surge, War on Terror Failing”

In a report to lawmakers earlier this week, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the war in Iraq could cost US taxpayers over a trillion dollars when the long-term costs of caring for soldiers wounded in action, military and economic aid for the Iraqi government, and ongoing costs associated with the 190,000 troops stationed … Continue reading “As Iraq Costs Soar, Contractors Earn Record Profits”

Newly proposed legislation would expand existing Pentagon security and military aid programs in Iraq and Afghanistan to "coalition partners" in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Building Global Partnerships Act of 2007 would authorize the secretary of defense, in consultation with the secretary of state, to allocate up to $750 million to help foreign governments … Continue reading “Bill Shields Pentagon Aid Boost from Oversight”

Although 57 percent of the U.S. public now believes that sending troops to Iraq was a mistake, the military budget request that President George W. Bush submitted to Congress is the largest since World War II – and little money is earmarked for domestic security. The budget requests 623 billion dollars for military spending for … Continue reading “Record Military Budget Ignores Security ‘Big Picture’”

The announcement earlier this month that the United States will pursue the design and construction of new nuclear weapons has not been warmly embraced by the rest of the world. In fact, most people outside the country view the move as more evidence of a policy favoring unilateralism and the pursuit of absolute military superiority, … Continue reading “US Nukes Plan Viewed as Provocative”

Pre-trial hearings that began Tuesday at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of prisoners taken in the U.S. "war on terrorism" are "designed to convict," says one expert. The lack of attorney-client confidentiality, absence of an appeals process, classified testimony and the two and a half years that many detainees have been held … Continue reading “Gitmo Trials ‘Designed to Convict’”

The war in Iraq and other foreign affairs are more important to voters in the coming presidential election than the economy, marking the first time since the Vietnam era that U.S. citizens are putting more weight on foreign policy than domestic concerns, according to a poll released Wednesday. Forty-one percent of voting-age adults rated "war, … Continue reading “War Overtakes Economy as US Voters’ Top Concern”

U.S. President George W. Bush unveiled Monday one of the largest planned troop redeployments since the onset of the Cold War 50 years ago. In a speech to a veterans’ group in Ohio, where he faces a tight race to win November’s presidential election, Bush said the move would create a "more agile and flexible … Continue reading “US Military to Reach Into ‘Arc of Crisis’”