Month: March 2007

Updated at 12:25 a.m. EST, Mar. 6, 2007Although violence was lighter today, pilgrims traveling to Karbala for the Arbain observance continued to be targeted. Overall, at least 96 Iraqis were reported killed or found dead and 104 were injured during separate attacks. Also, three American soldiers were killed when they came across a roadside bomb … Continue reading “Wednesday: 96 Iraqis, 3 GIs Killed; 104 Iraqis Injured”

A majority of people from around the world hold predominantly negative views of Israel, Iran, and the United States, according to a survey [.pdf] of more than 28,000 respondents in 27 countries. The survey, which was sponsored by the BBC World Service and designed by Globescan and the Washington-based Program for International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), … Continue reading “Israel, Iran, US
Least-Liked Countries”

U.S. casualties (dead and wounded) have now reached 27,000 in a war that was supposed to be a "cakewalk," over in a few weeks. If what four-star Gen. Wesley Clark, former supreme commander of NATO, told Amy Goodman in a March 2 interview is correct, U.S. casualties are yet in their early days. Gen. Clark … Continue reading “How Much More Harm Can Bush Do?”

If you want to know why and how the vice president’s chief of staff came to be convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice and now faces up to 20 or so years in jail and a hefty fine, then let’s go back to the winter of 2005, when prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald announced Scooter … Continue reading “A Corrupt Endeavor”

Let’s start with the obvious waste. We know that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have lost their lives since the Bush administration invaded their country in March 2003, that almost 2 million may have fled to other countries, and that possibly millions more have been displaced from their homes in ethnic-cleansing campaigns. We also know … Continue reading “The Last Hot-Button Issue for the Bush Administration”

The numbers are not good. By every conceivable measure, the United States, which only six years ago was positively perceived and admired by many people around the world, is now almost universally disliked and frequently feared. The Pew Global Attitudes Project June 2006 polling reveals that even among America’s closest traditional allies in Europe, with … Continue reading “Clueless in Gaza”

Updated at 7:45 p.m. EST, Mar. 6, 2007 At least 215 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 406 Iraqis were wounded in various incidents. Many of the dead and injured were pilgrims on their way to Karbala for a religious observance. In a dramatic jailbreak in Mosul, over 140 militia members were … Continue reading “Tuesday: 10 GIs, 215 Iraqis Killed; 4 GIs, 406 Iraqis Wounded”

TEHRAN – As a Shia majority country with several large ethnic groups like the Kurds, Arabs, and Baluchis that follow the Sunni faith, Iran has for years been vulnerable to unrest, riots, and terrorist attacks that officials routinely attribute to foreign powers. "Iranian intelligence services have acquired information that show the United States, Britain, and … Continue reading “Iranians Blame the West for Sunni Unrest”

The bulk of expert opinion predicts that the Bush administration’s escalation strategy in Iraq will fail. The void created by the administration’s lack of a backup plan for that outcome has been filled with proposals from pundits, academics, and think-tank analysts, who recommend containing Iraq’s civil war. Most of these analysts suggest removing U.S. troops … Continue reading “Containing Iraq’s Civil War
Is Not the Answer”

The Bush administration is very focused these days on Iran’s nuclear program. This focus has only sharpened in the aftermath of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s recent report that Iran continues to enrich uranium in defiance of a UN Security Council demand. "A nuclear-armed Iran is not a very pleasant prospect for anybody to think … Continue reading “Who’s Afraid of Nuclear Disarmament?”