Month: May 2007

ARBIL, Iraq – A United Nations report on Iraq’s human-rights situation has provoked mixed reactions in the northern Kurdistan region. Officials accuse the UN of "exaggeration and inaccuracy" while human rights activists say the "actual extent of violations has been understated by the UN." The report by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) … Continue reading “UN Human-Rights Report Sparks Uproar in Kurdistan”

BEIRUT – As reconstruction resumes in the heavily bombed southern Beirut district Dahiyeh, the signs are evident of a rebuilding of resistance against Israel and the U.S.-backed government, largely by way of increased support for Hezbollah. Hezbollah is leading much of the reconstruction. Dahiyeh was bombed by the Israelis last year because it was seen … Continue reading “In Beirut, Resistance Being Rebuilt Too”

The Bush administration and Congress have put too much faith in governments – the U.S. as well as the Iraqi – to remedy the chaos in Iraq. To keep the pressure on the administration for eventual U.S. troop withdrawals, the Democrats have already begun to blame the Iraqi government for not meeting benchmarks for progress … Continue reading “Time for Iraqi Self-Determination”

The true story of the foiled "fertilizer plot," in which Muslim radicals planned to bomb a shopping center and a famous London nightclub using over a half ton of ammonium nitrate, has finally emerged. The jihadist cell in Crawley, a small town south of London, was dismantled thanks to the largest British counter-terrorism effort to … Continue reading “Explosive Revelations in UK ‘Fertilizer Plot’”

A few reminders: Iraq is not our country. Our invasion and occupation are illegal, being in violation of both international law and our own traditions. We were lied into war. We are still being lied to. Both the Bush administration and the Democrats intend to maintain American troops in Iraq indefinitely. The catchy little phrase … Continue reading “FYI: Iraq Is Not Our Country”

Updated at 12:56 a.m. EDT, May 8, 2007After a bloody weekend in Iraq, the White House warned Americans to expect more troop casualties and blamed the increase in soldier deaths on a surge of troops used in a 10-week-old security crackdown in Baghdad. Meanwhile, the U.S. military reported that an American soldier was killed during … Continue reading “Monday: 2 GIs, 128 Iraqis Killed; 90 Iraqis Wounded”

I have been to many demonstrations in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, even when it was still called “Kings of Israel Square." I was at the legendary “Demonstration of the 400,000” after the Sabra and Shatila massacre (actually, there were around 200,000, which is still an impressive number). I was there when Yitzhak Rabin was shot. … Continue reading “Israel’s Exercise in Escapism”

In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2002-2003, oil was seldom mentioned. Yes, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz did describe the country as afloat “on a sea of oil” (which might fund any American war and reconstruction program there); and, yes, on rare occasions, the president did speak reverentially of preserving “the … Continue reading “Preserving Iraq’s ‘Patrimony’”

In contemplating how and why we got where we are today – stuck in the quagmire of Iraq and faced with a relentless assault on our civil liberties at home – three major failures come to mind, three institutions that imploded under enormous pressure. Like the steel girders that held up the World Trade Center … Continue reading “The Failure of the ‘Mainstream’”

Many people, including many of my students at the Naval Postgraduate School, worry that economic growth in China will make China a formidable competitor to the United States. My students typically raise this concern when we talk about free trade, and they worry about people in China "taking our jobs." I manage to assuage this … Continue reading “A Capitalist Peace With China”