Month: December 2006

Updated at 12:25 p.m. EST, Dec. 11, 2006 Four American soldiers were killed today and another three injured when they were blasted by separate roadside bombs in or just west of the capital. This brings the total for December to 42 American servicemember deaths. One death was reported late Sunday night and the other three … Continue reading “Sunday: 127 Iraqis, 4 GIs Killed; 47 Iraqis, 3 GIs Wounded”

with Ali Al-Fadhily FALLUJAH (IPS) – People living in areas where resistance to U.S.-led occupation is mounting are facing increased levels of collective punishment from the occupation forces, residents say. Siniyah town 200 km north of Baghdad with a population of 25,000 has been under siege by the U.S. military for two weeks. IPS had … Continue reading “Cornered US Military Takes to Desperate Tactics in Iraq”

Updated at 7:20 p.m. EST, Dec. 9, 2006 A pair of separate car bombs, including one near an important shrine, added to today’s tally of Iraqi victims of violence. Overall, at least 59 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 51 were wounded. Also, U.S. military authorities reported that one Marine died today in … Continue reading “Saturday: 59 Iraqis, 1 Marine Killed; 51 Iraqis Wounded”

With the administration of President George W. Bush under mounting pressure to alter U.S. strategy in Iraq and the Middle East, a new public opinion survey quietly released this week found strong popular support for pursuing new diplomatic avenues as proposed by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG). The poll, which was conducted at the … Continue reading “Public Found Likely to Support Baker Report”

What it looks like to me – and to some people in Houston a friend and I have talked to who are in a much better position to know firsthand – is that Daddy called on his old friend and consigliere to save Junior from himself. Jim Baker, impelled by friendship and other ties, saw … Continue reading “Nice Try, Daddy”

ARBIL – In a strongly worded statement, the president of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region rejected in its entirety the report by the Iraq Study Group, and threatened that Kurds would opt for secession from Iraq should Washington try to implement some of the key recommendations of the report regarding Kirkuk, federalism and the constitution. The … Continue reading “Kurds Reject US Study Group’s Report”

An early impulse of Bush administration officials after the attacks of September 11, 2001 was to take off “the gloves,” or, as CIA Director George Tenet put it (so Ron Suskind tell us in his book, The One Percent Doctrine), “the shackles.” Those were the “shackles” that they believed had been placed on the imperial … Continue reading “Impunity and Immunity”

I wish I could say that the Democratic takeover of Congress gives me hope for an end to the war in Iraq. But it doesn’t. Since winning an overwhelming victory at the polls this November, the Democrats have done nothing to engender optimism in the peace camp. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has ruled out … Continue reading “Democrats Let Gates Slide”

Perhaps it is fitting that the Iraq Study Group chose to make its report public on “Pearl Harbor Day,” calling on, inter alia, President Bush to seek Iran’s help in extricating us from the mess he got us into by his “preemptive” attack on oil-rich Iraq’s non-existent nuclear weapons program. Perhaps even Bush will pause, … Continue reading “Remember Pearl Harbor”

On Wednesday, December 6, 2006, the Iraq Study Group finally presented its much-anticipated report on Iraq to the President and the country. It seems the President needs advice, and so he welcomed the formation of the Iraq Study Group when it was formed last March. The Group has been described as a team of elder … Continue reading “The Iraq Study Group: None Dare Call It Treason”