Month: October 2006

Updated at 6:25 p.m. EDT, Oct. 23, 2006 Six American servicemembers were killed on Sunday and another six died on Saturday. Also, a civilian contractor was killed and four U.S. soldiers were injured when a roadside bomb blasted their vehicle as it was traveling outside Baghdad. Another three GIs were wounded in the Salahuddin Province. … Continue reading “Bloody Weekend: 200 Iraqis, 12 GIs Killed; 164 Iraqis, 7 GIs Injured”

Updated at 11:13 a.m. EDT, Oct. 22, 2006 Three Marines were killed during operations in Anbar Province today; the Military reported they died "from enemy action." A soldier from El Salvador was killed and four others injured when they were blasted by a roadside bomb. Also, 82 Iraqis have been killed and 102 have suffered … Continue reading “Saturday: 82 Iraqis Killed, 102 Wounded; Three Marines Killed”

While Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s continued tenure in office has been the subject of a surge of speculation over the past week, it may be George W. Bush’s continued reign – at least over Iraq policy – that appears most endangered at the moment. While no one is talking about a classic "coup d’etat" … Continue reading “A Consensus Develops: Leave the Course”

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about North Korea conducting what U.S. intelligence now believes, on the basis of radiation sampling, was an actual nuclear test, is how little it substantively changes the strategic equation in northern Asia. North Korea is still an isolated regime that calls attention to itself from time to time by doing … Continue reading “The More Things Change…”

When George W. Bush became president, as best the on-site monitors of the International Atomic Energy Agency could determine, the North Koreans were in total compliance with The Agreed Framework Between the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea [.pdf]. In 1992, at the insistence of the Russians, the DPRK had … Continue reading “Neocrazy Media Nuke Cover-up”

More than 70 percent of the U.S. public, including nearly half of self-identified Republicans, say they prefer candidates for Congress in the Nov. 7 mid-term elections who will pursue a "new approach" to U.S. foreign policy, according to a new survey released here Friday by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA). The survey, which … Continue reading “US Public Wants New Approach on Foreign Policy”

In some ways, amid the internecine bloodletting, torture, spiking American casualties, death-dealing confusion, and general mayhem, here’s all you need to know about the Iraqi “government” of Nouri al-Maliki. When the prime minister wanted to check on whether he was going to hang onto his position, he didn’t go to parliament or to the Iraqi … Continue reading “The End of Maliki?”

The conventional wisdom in Washington is that the North Korean nuclear test is just the latest demonstration of the Bush Doctrine being challenged by an aggressive international player intent on defying the dictates of the current global hegemon. Hence, if after the Cuban Missile Crisis, John Kennedy could say that the U.S. and the Soviet … Continue reading “The Humbling of the Hegemon”

Updated at 9:55 p.m. EDT, Oct. 20, 2006 As hostilities between the Mahdi Army and local police in the Maysan Province grew in intensity, today’s number of reported casualties in Iraq climbed to 52 dead and 120 injured. Also, a U.S. soldier was killed early this morning when his vehicle was struck by an explosive … Continue reading “Friday: 52 Iraqis Killed, 120 Injured; 1 U.S. Soldier Killed”

With Ali al-Fadhily BAGHDAD – Death squads from the Ministry of Interior posing as Iraqi police are killing more people than ever in the capital, emerging evidence shows. The death toll is high – in all 1,536 bodies were brought to the Baghdad morgue in September. The Health Ministry announced last month that it will … Continue reading “Govt Death Squads
Ravaging Baghdad”