Month: November 2006

With the change in party control in Congress and with the Iraq Study Group co-chaired by Bush 41 Secretary of State (and all-around fixer) James Baker, most Americans expect at least a course correction in the Iraq war, if not necessarily the beginning of substantial troop withdrawals. Unfortunately, the debate has already become constricted, with … Continue reading “Withdrawal: Why Wait?”

with Ali al-Fadhily RAMADI – U.S. military tank fire killed scores of civilians in Ramadi, capital of Al-Anbar province, late Monday night, according to witnesses and doctors. Anger and frustration were evident at the hospitals and during the funerals in the following days. Iraqi doctors and witnesses at the scene of the attack said U.S. … Continue reading “Locals Accuse US of Massacre in Ramadi”

You may recall that shortly after taking office as Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert came to our nation’s capital to pay tribute to his presumptive protector, President George Bush, and to address a joint session of what some cynics have labeled “The Best Congress Money Can Buy.” On that occasion, Olmert told Congress how … Continue reading “Is the Next Congress For Sale?”

"Two, Three, Many Vietnams!" was Che Guevara’s famous call to arms. Today we remain in the throes of our third Vietnam, Iraq. This is the third time since World War II that hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops have been sent abroad in a neo-colonialist war (1). The first "Vietnam" was in fact Korea. And … Continue reading “The Korea, Vietnam, Iraq Syndrome”

Al-Jazeera, the Arab television network that the Bush administration hates so passionately, has launched its English-language service but is, of course, having trouble finding an American cable or satellite system willing to carry it. The British Broadcasting Corp. had a man watch the first day’s broadcast (it’s being distributed in Europe) and gave it a … Continue reading “Al-Jazeera and the Truth”

David Grossman’s widely publicized speech at the annual memorial rally for Yitzhak Rabin earlier this month has prompted some fine deconstruction of his "words of peace" from critics. Grossman, one of Israel’s foremost writers and a figurehead for its main peace movement, Peace Now, personifies the caring, tortured face of Zionism that so many of … Continue reading “Hollow Visions of Palestine’s Future”

Updated at 12:40 p.m. EST, Nov. 18, 2006 Fridays are relatively calm in Iraq. It is the day of prayer, and curfews limiting driving activity tamp down on the amount of car and roadside bomb attacks. However, at least 59 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and five were injured. In southern Iraq, yesterday’s … Continue reading “Friday: 59 Iraqis, 2 Foreign Contractors Killed”

Things are always complicated. In the Washington Post, for instance, James Mann, author of Rise of the Vulcans, recently suggested that it was far “too simplistic” to claim “the appointment of Robert M. Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld [represents] the triumph of Bush the Father’s administration over Bush the Son’s.” Still, I prefer the analysis … Continue reading “What It Means to ‘Salvage US Prestige’ in Iraq”

The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party Ryan Sager Wiley, 2006 248 pp. The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get it Back Andrew Sullivan HarperCollins, 2006 294 pp. Religious Americans always have been involved in politics. In recent years, evangelicals have become more active. … Continue reading “Readings in the Age of Empire”

They mugged Jack Murtha, and the voters, Thursday morning. As the House Democratic caucus voted to install Rep. Steny Hoyer in the number-two leadership spot, over at the liberal Huffington Post they were running a large picture of Speaker Nancy and Hoyer making nice for the cameras, in a let’s-join-hands photo-op veritably oozing with phoniness. … Continue reading “The Mugging of Murtha”