Month: December 2006

Updated at 11:00 p.m. EST, Dec. 26, 2006 While several bombs rocked Baghdad today, the U.S military announced that four GIs were killed and three wounded in separate events. Also, the Iraqi appellate court upheld former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s death sentence. According to Iraqi law, Hussein could be executed within 30 days. Overall, at … Continue reading “Tuesday: 119 Iraqis, 4 GIs Killed; 147 Iraqis, 3 GIs Wounded”

With Ali al-Fadhily FALLUJAH – Ahmed Ghazi has little reason to stock Christmas toys at his shop in Fallujah. He knows what children want these days. "It is best for us to import toys such as guns and tanks because they are most salable in Iraq to little boys," Ghazi told IPS. "Children try to … Continue reading “A Grim Christmas for Iraqi Children”

In the aftermath of the Dec. 23 United Nations Security Council unanimous vote imposing sanctions or Iran for failing to suspend uranium enrichment (see text of resolution here), one has to wonder: why did Russia and China go along with it? Iran’s pursuit of uranium enrichment for civilian nuclear purposes is allowed by the Nuclear … Continue reading “The Meaning of the UNSC Iran Vote”

This Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. In Iraq, however, war rages on with no end in sight. The midterm congressional elections are over, and the Iraq Study Group report is complete. Many Americans are unhappy about the war and want a change in policy. But what we are … Continue reading “2007 Promises More of the Same”

It’s strange that little of the news coverage of Iraq addresses this question. Doesn’t it seem obvious that some groups are fomenting the chaos? Getting tribes to fight each other is often easy. Most of them have some past injustice to avenge. The British Empire ruled much of its colonial world in this way, balancing … Continue reading “Who Might Be Shooting at Both Sides?”

A recent call for a cultural boycott against Israel by John Berger and others has elicited one of its more wretched responses in the Guardian (Dec. 22), signed by Anthony Julius and Simon Schama. I confess I haven’t heard of Anthony Julius before – I am told he is a lawyer, and lawyers sometimes bend … Continue reading “The Embarrassment of the Wretched”

Updated at 11:15 p.m EST, Dec. 25, 2006 Today, U.S. military authorities reported six new American servicemember deaths in separate incidents in or near Baghdad and in Anbar province. In Basra, British troops conducted a large scale raid. Also, 83 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 46 were wounded in separate incidents … Continue reading “Monday: 83 Iraqis, 6 GIs Killed; 46 Iraqis, 5 GIs Wounded”

ARBIL – Khanzad, 26, originally Kurdish, returned to Arbil with her family in mid-2004 after 16 years of living in Baghdad. Like many coming from the violence-stricken city, she has a harrowing story to tell. A number of armed robbers broke into their house on a sunny day in summer. Khanzad and her sisters locked … Continue reading “Iraqi Refugees Run From Violence to Deprivation”

With Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Palestine already in or sliding toward civil war, one can correctly label the Bush administration’s foreign policy the most incompetent in recent memory. But the problem lies deeper than that. The hyperactive, and often counterproductive, U.S. foreign policy is a bipartisan problem, best illustrated by the sordid U.S. history in … Continue reading “Another Civil War Exacerbated”

Updated at 12:07 p.m. EST, Dec. 25, 2006 The U.S. military announced today that four GI s were killed and another two wounded in separate events. They also reported that Coalition advisors to the Iraqi army came under attack in and near Baquba. And, 83 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 138 … Continue reading “Sunday: 83 Iraqis, 4 GIs Killed; 138 Iraqis, 2 GIs Wounded”