America, Iraq, and Presidential Leadership

The enduring accomplishments of our nation’s leaders are those that are grounded in the fundamental values that gave birth to this great country. As our Founders so eloquently stated in the preamble to our Constitution, this nation was founded by "We the People… in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic … Continue reading “America, Iraq, and Presidential Leadership”

Kurds Head Towards Separation Up North

Recent developments in Northern Iraq may lead to the division of post-Saddam Iraq along ethnic lines. Kurds plan to turn their tactical gains from their role as unflinching U.S. allies in ousting Saddam Hussein into a strategic and historic one – a Kurdish federation that would include one of the world’s richest oil reserves in … Continue reading “Kurds Head Towards Separation Up North”

Understanding Fourth Generation War

Rather than commenting on the specifics of the war with Iraq, I thought it might be a good time to lay out a framework for understanding that and other conflicts. The framework is the Four Generations of Modern War. I developed the framework of the first three generations (“generation” is shorthand for dialectically qualitative shift) … Continue reading “Understanding Fourth Generation War”

Mass Demonstrations by Women, Others, Against Sudden Islamization of Iraqi Law

The Baghdad/London daily az-Zaman reports that there were widespread demonstrations on Tuesday by women against the order decreeing abolition of Iraq’s uniform civil codes in favor of religious law, which they say “repeals women’s rights” in Iraq. This story appears to have been completely missed so far by the Western news media, which is a … Continue reading “Mass Demonstrations by Women, Others, Against Sudden Islamization of Iraqi Law”

Back to the Balkans?

Is the Balkans back in Washington vogue? After a couple of seemingly isolationist years (that were, of course, nothing of the sort) when the limelight was on the Middle East, there’s been a renewed push by the forces of punditry to get the peninsula back on the Imperial agenda. Underneath dire warnings and venomous denunciations … Continue reading “Back to the Balkans?”

George W. Bush, Pod Person

The New York Times‘s newest neocon columnist, David Brooks, laptop bombardier Max Boot and others who have taken offense at the neocons–hijacked-the-White House meme have indignantly asked: doesn’t the President have a mind of his own? Plainly, now, the answer is a flat no. This President is like “a blind man in a room full … Continue reading “George W. Bush, Pod Person”

Neocons’ Manual for Global Warmongering

If hard-core neo-conservatives Richard Perle and David Frum had their way, the Bush administration would be issuing ultimatums on virtually a daily basis. In their new book, An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror, Perle, the well-connected former chairman of the Defense Policy Board (DPB), and Frum, a former White House … Continue reading “Neocons’ Manual for Global Warmongering”