Month: April 2007

On Tuesday, meeting with the press in the White House Rose Garden, the president responded to a question about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Syria this way: “[P]hoto opportunities and/or meetings with President Assad lead the Assad government to believe they’re part of the mainstream of the international community, when, in fact, they’re a … Continue reading “What If Iran Had Invaded Mexico?”

There’s a certain perverse charm to President George W. Bush’s charge that Democrats are “more interested fighting political battles in Washington than providing our troops what they need.” In the same vein, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that “the president is going to, as commander in chief, need to do what the country needs … Continue reading “Congress Must End the Iraq War”

It is understandable that intelligent people should be preoccupied with the crises reported in the daily press, but they are best comprehended in their historical context. That context, and the crucial causes and motives guiding American foreign policy since 1950, are crucial to understanding the often bewildering and multidimensional events since the year 2000. George … Continue reading “A Rational Perspective on Our Present Crises”

Updated at 11:57 p.m EDT, Apr. 5, 2007Coalition soldiers took heavy casualties today: Six U.S. and four British soldiers, plus a Kuwaiti translator, lost their lives in separate incidents. A U.S. helicopter was downed as well. Also, at least 83 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 55 Iraqis were wounded in various … Continue reading “Thursday: 6 GIs, 4 Britons, 83 Iraqis Killed; U.S. Helicopter Shot Down”

Increasingly anxious about the course of U.S. foreign policy under President George W. Bush, particularly in Iraq, the country appears to be moving toward a "full-blown crisis of public confidence," according to the latest "Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy" survey designed by veteran pollster Daniel Yankelovich released here Tuesday. Among other findings, the survey, the … Continue reading “Public Anxiety Over Foreign Policy Nears ‘Crisis’”

Updated at 12:40 a.m. EDT, Apr. 5, 2007At least 54 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and another 52 were wounded in attacks. In three separate incidents, 48 more people have been kidnapped, and Baghdad’s overnight curfew was eased by two hours beginning today. Also, the Dept. of Defense announced that three more Americans … Continue reading “Wednesday: 3 GIs, 54 Iraqis Killed; 52 Iraqis Wounded, 48 Kidnapped”

The human rights community has responded angrily to the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear the cases of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, until they have exhausted all other legal avenues. The effect of the high court’s decision Monday is to deny civil judicial review to the 300-plus prisoners still held at the controversial U.S. … Continue reading “Guantanamo Detainees Dealt a Legal Blow”

The title of Dorothy Rabinowitz’s Wall Street Journal screed defending two accused spies, "First They Came for the Jews," telegraphs the strategy apologists for Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman will be using when the two AIPAC officials’ trial on charges of espionage, scheduled for June 4, finally begins. It is also a smear so outrageous … Continue reading “First They Came for the Spies”

As the dispute over Iran’s seizure of British sailors continues to twist and turn, what may have been an isolated incident at the outset is quickly developing into yet another move in the geopolitical chess game between the West and Iran. The incident took place on March 23 in a disputed waterway between Iraq and … Continue reading “Dueling for Leverage in the Persian Gulf”

At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner the other night, Karl Rove was called up on stage and asked to identify himself. “Peter Fitzgerald,” he promptly said. Then, he corrected himself, “Patrick Fitzgerald.” (That is, Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, who had just convicted Vice President Cheney’s former right-hand man, I. Lewis Libby.) The Rove act then … Continue reading “Karl Rove’s Danse Macabre“