How It All Began

The U.S., after training and egging on the Ethiopians to intervene in the Somali civil war, is now bombing and strafing Somalis. The government “suspects” they might be al-Qaeda. That is a load of horse apples. You can’t identify people, much less their politics, from an airplane or a helicopter. Air power always kills innocent … Continue reading “How It All Began”

Mistakes Were Made

The goal of American foreign policy has long been the replacement – by force, if “necessary” – of existing “criminal” regimes, with regimes sycophantic to us. Criminal regimes. Like that of the late Saddam Hussein. What makes a regime criminal? Well, for self-styled liberal interventionists, it’s human rights abuse, ethnic cleansing and genocide. For self-styled … Continue reading “Mistakes Were Made”

Bush’s Sacrificial Americans

On January 4th, the Pentagon “announced the identities” of six American soldiers who had died between December 28th and New Year’s Eve. It was just one of many such listings over these last years and, like similar announcements, this one had a just-the-facts quality to it – spare to the bone, barely more information than … Continue reading “Bush’s Sacrificial Americans”

Friday: 41 Iraqis Killed, 10 Injured

Updated at 12:35 p.m. EST, Jan. 12, 2007 Violence is generally lighter on Friday prayer days, and this week was no different. Only 41 people were killed or found dead and 10 were wounded in violent acts. No foreign deaths were reported. Coalition authorities reported that U.S. helicopters helped break up a gathering of militants; … Continue reading “Friday: 41 Iraqis Killed, 10 Injured”

Bush Isolates Himself Further

President George W. Bush’s decision to escalate U.S. military intervention in Iraq and issue new threats against Syria and Iran appears to have left him politically more isolated than ever. Both Democrats and Republicans expressed regret that Bush appeared to reject the central recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG), particularly its call to … Continue reading “Bush Isolates Himself Further”

Sick, Literally, of Fighting in Iraq

Susan Tileston hasn’t seen her son, Levi Moddrelle, in more than two years. Levi served in the 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and then Iraq, where he was stationed for almost a year. He returned home for Christmas in 2003, but wasn’t the same. “I don’t know what happened to him in Iraq, but he … Continue reading “Sick, Literally, of Fighting in Iraq”

Iraqi Media Under Growing Siege

BAGHDAD – The U.S. administration continues to tout Iraq as a shining example of democracy in the Middle East, but press freedom in Iraq has plummeted since the beginning of the occupation. Repression of free speech in Iraq was already extreme under the regime of Saddam Hussein. The 2002 Press Freedom Index of the watchdog … Continue reading “Iraqi Media Under Growing Siege”

The ‘Surge’ Is A Red Herring

Bush’s "surge" speech is a hoax, but members of Congress and media commentators are discussing the surge as if it were real. I invite the reader to examine the speech. The "surge" content consists of nonsensical propagandistic statements. The real content of the speech is toward the end where Bush mentions Iran and Syria. Bush … Continue reading “The ‘Surge’ Is A Red Herring”