Month: May 2007

The war which resulted in the ouster of a dangerous despot ended and the US troops, who had fought in a bloody conflict overseas, were returning home. But the human and financial costs of the war were very high and its promise of helping to spread democracy in regions that had been ruled by authoritarian … Continue reading “Iraq War May End With an Isolationist US”

The Iraq war and the inquiry into its origins has provoked interest in a number of subjects formerly considered obscure, the discussion of which was once limited to the rarified aeries of academia and specialty journals. Some examples are neoconservatism, just war theory, and, most surprisingly, the theories of Leo Strauss, the philosophical avatar of … Continue reading “America’s Coming Dictatorship”

The death of Boris Yeltsin, who might be described as the first and apparently the last relatively democratic leader of Russia, makes one wonder whether Russia will ever have anything approaching decent governance. (I’m not sure there is any such thing as good government, but some governments are less bad than others.) When I called … Continue reading “Tragic Russia”

Victor Gold, Invasion of the Party Snatchers: How the Holy-Rollers and the Neo-Cons Destroyed the GOP (Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks, 2007), 246 pp., $26.95. The Republican party, nicknamed the “Grand Old Party,” isn’t looking so grand these days. Pompous paladins and frenetic activists alike remain shell-shocked over the GOP’s congressional losses last November. Discord is growing … Continue reading “Invasion of the Party Snatchers”

Updated at 12:59 a.m EDT, May 34, 2007Although very few reports of violence came out of Iraq today, at least one high-profile militant leader was killed and perhaps a second one as well. Overall, 43 Iraqis and four Filipinos were killed and 30 Iraqis were injured. In southern Baghdad, two U.S. soldiers were killed and … Continue reading “Thursday: 2, GIs, 43 Iraqis, 4 Filipino Contractors Killed; 30 Iraqis Wounded”

BEIRUT – The influx of refugees from Palestinian areas and the inability of the government to do much for them has strengthened a unique NGO providing essential services. The Popular Aid for Relief and Development (PARD), which began working in the early 1980s before registering as an official NGO with the Lebanese government in 1990, … Continue reading “Lebanon’s Palestinian Refugees Learn to Substitute Government”

Historians still argue over the reasons why one particular geographical region managed to achieve such overwhelming military, economic and cultural power as to subordinate the rest of the planet, but the fact remains that as late as 1914, Europe dominated the world in a way no previous civilization could. After two centuries of colonization and … Continue reading “Back in the EUSSR”

Even as American officials reluctantly agreed last month to include Syrian representatives in multiparty talks on Iraqi security issues, the Bush administration continues to block Israel from resuming negotiations with Syria over its security concerns. In 2003, President Bashar al-Assad offered to resume peace talks with Israel where they had left off three years earlier, … Continue reading “Divide and Rule: US Blocks Israel-Syria Talks”

Updated at 1:07 a.m. EDT, May 3, 2007The U.S. military announced that about 4000 fresh troops arrived in the capital as part of a security crackdown that began several weeks ago. Throughout the country today, 117 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 81 were injured in violent attacks, including 33 suspected militia member killed … Continue reading “Wednesday: 3 GIs, 117 Iraqis Killed; 81 Iraqis Wounded”

Former CIA director George Tenet is being lashed by both the pro-war neoconized Right and the antiwar Left, taking so many of the slings and arrows of a truly outrageous fortune that he’s beginning to resemble a portrait of Saint Sebastian. Indeed, there is something saint-like about his public demeanor: the air of suffering is … Continue reading “In Defense of George Tenet”