Month: August 2005

Anyone who still believes that the U.S. neoconservatives who led the drive to war in Iraq are diabolically clever geo-strategic masterminds should now consider Iran’s vastly improved position vis-à-vis its U.S.-occupied neighbor. Not only did Washington knock off Tehran’s arch-foe, Saddam Hussein, as well as the anti-Iranian Taliban in Afghanistan, but, with this week’s completion … Continue reading “Iran’s Growing Sway in Iraq Defies Neocons’ Logic”

President Bush’s speeches this week before a couple of carefully selected military audiences indicate that even the administration is becoming aware that in terms of domestic opinion we may be getting close to a tipping point in terms of support for the Iraq war. Polls show that a majority of Americans now believe the invasion … Continue reading “For Immediate Withdrawal”

Terry Michael, the founder-director of the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism, bemoans the “nondebate” over the Iraq war that takes place in the “mainstream” media: “The most influential interpreters of our public affairs are accepting, rather than expanding, a noose-tight frame the Washington political culture is enforcing to limit permissible discourse on the war … Continue reading “Iraq: The Democrats Are
Just As Bad”

As Cindy Sheehan supporters continue their vigil in Crawford, and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) plans hearings on her resolution calling on the administration to begin planning an exit strategy for Iraq, it’s useful for the growing number of concerned citizens to recall that their friends, neighbors, and family members opposed to the war were right … Continue reading “The Peace Movement: Right Before the War, Right Today”

While Republicans voice growing unease over U.S. President George W. Bush’s vow to "stay the course" in Iraq, Democrats remain deeply divided about their position on a conflict that most of them privately describe as a major foreign policy disaster. Despite the plunging popularity of the war – and of Bush’s approval ratings – leading … Continue reading “Democrats Fumble Iraq Policy”

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity SUBJECT: Recommendation: Try a Circle of "Wise Women" By way of reintroduction, we begin with a brief reminder of the analyses we provided you before the attack on Iraq. On the afternoon of Feb. 5, 2003, following Colin Powell’s speech before the UN Security Council … Continue reading “Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity: Memo to President”

PREAMBLE We the sons of Mesopotamia, land of the prophets, resting place of the holy imams, the leaders of civilization and the creators of the alphabet, the cradle of arithmetic: on our land, the first law put in place by mankind was written; in our nation, the most noble era of justice in the politics … Continue reading “Iraqi Draft Constitution”

Some American pundits are suggesting that a major transformation has been taking place in the direction of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. “The Bush Doctrine has collapsed, and the administration has consequently embraced realism,” Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, argued in a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times. Rose and other … Continue reading “Realism in Washington? Don’t Hold Your Breath”

You find anti-Semitism in the strangest of places – the Democratic Leadership Council, for example. Perusing the online pages of Blueprint, the DLC house organ, I came upon this filthy piece of anti-Semitic propaganda from Will Marshall, the head of the Progressive Policy Institute and a well-known DLC fellow traveler: "As they catalogue the administration’s … Continue reading “Dying for Israel”

President Bush has shown a remarkable persistence in defending his ongoing Iraq mission. "Our troops know that they’re fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere to protect their fellow Americans from a savage enemy. They know that if we do not confront these evil men abroad, we will have to face them one day in our … Continue reading “Trapped in His Own Roach Motel”