Month: October 2003

Following in the footsteps of Bill Clinton, two more former Imperial dignitaries have toured the occupied Balkans this past weekend. Onetime stepfather of Bosnia Richard Holbrooke and former Kosovo viceroy Bernard Kouchner visited Sarajevo and Pristina, reminiscing about their glory days. The adulation of local media and politicians must have made them believe they actually … Continue reading “Visiting the Vassals”

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The neo-conservatives in and around the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush may be on the defensive, but Washington’s reaction to the Israeli attack on Syria Sunday shows that they remain in the driver’s seat at the White House. The fact that Bush has himself refused to in any way criticise the Israeli attack … Continue reading “Bush Stance on Syria Hit Shows Neocons Still Hold Sway”

The idea that, because of the Plame Affair, conservative columnist Bob Novak may be called on to reveal his sources – perhaps even be subpoenaed – leads to an interesting question: Did the leaker (or leakers) hope to ensnare Novak in a legal and ethical web – and discredit him as a reporter – when … Continue reading “HANDS OFF BOB NOVAK!”

The war on the war, so to speak, is going rather well these days, with numerous standard journalistic organizations fascinated with the CIA-White House leak and showing signs of eventually getting it right. In addition, the interim report from former UN weapons inspector David Kay was reduced to noting plaintively that the absence of (miscategorized) … Continue reading “Meeting Al Jazeera, Hearing Hamid Karzai”

One has to feel sorry for Republicans. Although they control both houses of the U.S. Congress and the White House, they must think they’re living through a bad dream. Consider Republicans on Capitol Hill in particular: After campaigning for a constitutional amendment that would require the federal government to balance its budget, they’re forced to … Continue reading “Washington APlame, or The Lady’s Not for Burning”

anti-Americanism n: a neurosis associated with the followers of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Quincy Adams anti-Semite n: 1 : a person who concedes that Arabs might be human 2 : whomever David Frum happens to be arguing with at any given time Ba’athist n: an Iraqi who favors self-determination for his or her … Continue reading “Dude, You Got, Like, Totally Plamed”

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, and it looks like we may be in for a possible replay of that horrific disaster in which tens of thousands lost their lives. Yesterday, Israel bombed alleged “terrorist camps” in Syria. The excuse: yet another suicide bombing in Israel, this time taking 19 innocent … Continue reading “ISRAEL IS THE PROBLEM”

A blue-ribbon panel on U.S. public diplomacy is calling on President George W Bush not only to sharply increase funding to more effectively explain U.S. policy to an increasingly hostile Islamic world, but also to narrow the gap between U.S. values and what Washington actually does in the region. That is the distinct – albeit … Continue reading “It’s the Policy, Stupid”

So there’s a Presidential election Sunday in Chechnya. Haven’t heard that much about it? Not surprising; it’s not much of a contest, really. As the Radio Netherlands website drolly put it in an article entitled “Soviet-style Polls in Chechnya," “There’s no question that Akhmad Kadyrov will win Sunday’s presidential election in Chechnya. The current head … Continue reading “Looking Into Putin’s Soul”