Month: January 2007

As part of a massive staff shakeup of Bush’s Iraq team last week, it was announced that John Negroponte, the current U.S. National Intelligence Director who has also conveniently served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq from June 2004 to April 2005 is being tapped as the new Deputy Secretary of State. It is a … Continue reading “Managing Escalation: Negroponte and Bush’s New Iraq Team”

In our world, the Pentagon and the national security bureaucracy have largely taken possession of the future. In an exchange in 2002, journalist Ron Suskind reported a senior adviser to President Bush telling him: “that guys like me were ‘in what we call the reality-based community,’ which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions … Continue reading “Baghdad 2025: The Pentagon Solution to a Planet of Slums”

The new year began on the hopeful note that Bush’s illegal war in Iraq would soon be ended. The repudiation of Bush and the Republicans in the November congressional election, the Iraq Study Group’s unanimous conclusion that the US needs to remove its troops from the sectarian strife Bush set in motion by invading Iraq, … Continue reading “The Surge: Political Cover or Escalation?”

Updated at 12:45 p.m EST, Jan. 9, 2006 At least 99 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 88 were injured during violent attacks; two Yemeni citizens associated with a militant group were also killed. U.S. military authorities also reported that two American soldiers were killed in separate events on Sunday. And, Iraqi … Continue reading “Monday: 99 Iraqis, 2 GIs Killed; 88 Iraqis Injured”

Most Americans believe that Bush’s Iraqi misadventure is over. The occupation has lost the support of the electorate, the Congress, the generals and the troops. The Democrats are sitting back waiting for Bush to come to terms with reality. They don’t want to be accused of losing the war by forcing Bush out of Iraq. … Continue reading “Is Bush’s War Winding Down or Heating Up?”

The twisting and turning, the double- and triple-talk, the obfuscation and evasion – is there any limit to the Democrats’ duplicity when it comes to ending the Iraq war? Apparently not. Listen to newly-installed Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, appearing on this Sunday’s Face the Nation, as she tries to make some dubious “distinction” … Continue reading “Defund the War”

One of the late Gerald Ford’s favorite sayings during his first few weeks of office was that he was "a Ford, not a Lincoln." Ford meant it as a statement of his humility. Ford’s humility was, in fact, one of his best character traits. But in pardoning Richard Nixon a month after becoming president, Ford … Continue reading “Ford: A Lincoln and an Imperial(ist)”

Updated at 11:55 p.m. EST, Jan. 7, 2006 In Iraq today, at least 62 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 42 wounded in violent attacks. Also, three GIs and one British soldier were killed in separate incidents; another two Britons and one American were wounded. Three U.S. airmen were killed and one was … Continue reading “Sunday: 62 Iraqis, 3 GIs, Briton Killed; 42 Iraqis, 2 Britons, GI Injured”

Updated at 12:45 a.m. EST, Jan. 7, 2007 Although the week began relatively peacefully, violenge surged today, in part due to a renewed effort to control sectarian violence in the capital. At least 130 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 11 were wounded in violent attacks. Military authorities announced the deaths of … Continue reading “Saturday: 130 Iraqis, 2 GIs Killed; 11 Iraqis, 2 Coalition Soldiers Wounded”

So what are we to make of all those apparently significant changes both in the Bush foreign policy team and his top military commanders? The question is whether he is clearing the decks for action or rearranging the deck chairs. Given that the Bushlet is supposed to unveil his latest strategy for the war in … Continue reading “Clearing Decks or Rearranging Deck Chairs?”