Month: August 2006

With Isam Rashid BAGHDAD – Iraqis are beginning to see striking similarities between Lebanese civilians and themselves three years ago. Talk on the streets of Baghdad is taking a tone of oneness with the Lebanese. Anger over the bombing of Lebanon that Iraqis say they can feel as their own has led to some of … Continue reading “Many Iraqis See Lebanon as Mirror Image”

Last week, British authorities thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up passenger planes flying between the UK and America by smuggling on board chemicals in liquid and paste form to create bombs, which is a grim reminder that airplanes are still a tempting target for terrorists. It also shows that the obsession with security to … Continue reading “Flying the Unfriendly Skies”

The Iraqi Health Ministry is threatening to sever all ties with the U.S. military after American forces attacked the Ministry, arresting its security guards. According to the Health Ministry, the U.S. military also took money meant for employees’ salaries. The raid began at 3 a.m. Sunday, when U.S. troops in Humvees and tanks cordoned off … Continue reading “Iraqi Health Ministry Severs Ties With US Over Raid”

When Israel answered the Hezbollah raid that captured two soldiers with air strikes on Lebanon’s airport, runways, gas stations, lighthouses, bridges, buses, apartment houses, and power plants, we who questioned the wisdom and morality of what Israel was doing were denounced as anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. Turns out we were right. In private, even Israeli army … Continue reading “Olmert’s War, and the Next One”

In the frenzy surrounding the exposed plot to simultaneously blow up 10 airliners flying from Britain to the United States, one line of inquiry being pursued by investigators should make the Bush administration very nervous. British and Pakistani law enforcement officials are examining whether the British plotters of Pakistani descent received money from an Islamic … Continue reading “Don’t We Have Enough Enemies Already?”

NEW DELHI – As tens of thousands of policemen in India fan out to guard "sensitive" sites and installations in preparation for Tuesday’s Independence Day celebrations, a climate of anxiety and fear has descended over the country. Central to this climate is the speculation that the fanatical al-Qaeda global network may carry out strikes in … Continue reading “Has al-Qaeda Landed?”

British authorities claim to have thwarted a "homegrown" plot wherein suicide bombers were to simultaneously destroy 10 American airliners en route to the United States. Although British residents, those arrested appeared to be "of Pakistani origin," and Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed that "Pakistan played a very important role in uncovering and breaking this international … Continue reading “Homegrown Islamic Fascists”

So what has happened to the Israeli army? This question is now being raised not only around the world, but also in Israel itself. Clearly, there is a huge gap between the army’s boastful arrogance, on which generations of Israelis have grown up, and the picture presented by this war. Before the choir of generals … Continue reading “What Has Happened to the Israeli Army?”

We hear much about “the cycle of violence” in the Middle East, with liberals and conservatives wailing that it needs to be “broken,” but never do they say who started this “cycle,” or whose brazen coercion and outright viciousness keeps it going. Yet even as the Israelis were approving UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which … Continue reading “Israel, Defeated”

The foiled terrorist plot in Britain last week has me concluding that the terrorists have won, and that President Bush has handed them their victory. "This week, America received a stark reminder that terrorists are still plotting attacks to kill our people," President Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday. "This plot is further … Continue reading “Bush Hands the Terrorists Victory”