Month: May 2007

Updated at 12:15 a.m. EDT, May 20, 2007At least 89 Iraqis were reported killed or found dead today and another 42 were injured during violence. Included are two Iraqi ABC news reporters who were ambushed in the capital while on their way home after work. Also, five American servicemembers were killed in separate events in … Continue reading “Friday: 5 GIs, 89 Iraqis Killed; 42 Iraqis Wounded”

More than three months into the implementation of U.S. President George W. Bush’s "surge" strategy, skepticism over the likelihood of its success is still running high here. Except among neoconservatives, who have been the strategy’s most enthusiastic champions, most analysts believe it is doomed to failure in the absence of major moves – of which … Continue reading “Surge Strategy Shows Weaknesses”

It was the decisive moment of the South Carolina debate. Hearing Rep. Ron Paul recite the reasons for Arab and Islamic resentment of the United States, including 10 years of bombing and sanctions that brought death to thousands of Iraqis after the Gulf War, Rudy Giuliani broke format and exploded: “That’s really an extraordinary statement, … Continue reading “But Who Was Right – Rudy or Ron?”

Religion, not patriotism, truly is the last refuge of the scoundrel. While most believers want to worship God and serve their fellow human beings, a few people twist the sacred for personal and political profit. Indeed, claiming that “God is on my side” plays the ultimate trump in any dispute. Yet ambitious fraudsters are usually … Continue reading “Who Would Jesus Kill?”

One of the maxims that you learn in Politics 101 is that exerting leadership doesn’t require the use of coercion and force, and that in fact the most successful politicians and statesmen are those who can defend and advance their goals through guidance and persuasion. When heads of state resort to ordering the police to … Continue reading “The Wolfowitz Touch – or How to Lose US Credibility”

It’s now common knowledge that Osama bin Laden escaped from Afghanistan in December 2001 and is still at large, still at al-Qaeda’s helm calling the shots. Even Rush Limbaugh knows it, and has stopped trying to convince dittoheads that President Bush has the terror kingpin’s body on ice somewhere. How we let bin Laden get … Continue reading “Bush’s Tora Bora Bull”

I’ve been waiting for this moment for quite a long time, but I have to say I don’t feel a whole lot of satisfaction about having been proved so indubitably right: "As the U.S. stumbles, or is pushed, into another unwinnable land war in Asia, the anti-war protestors of the future will come from the … Continue reading “The Season of Hope”

Updated at 12:35 a.m. EDT, May 18, 2007 At least 78 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 36 more were wounded. Another 12 people were abducted as well. Also, three U.S. soldiers were killed today when a roadside bomb blasted them south of Baghdad.In Baghdad, a mortar or rocket fell in the Green … Continue reading “Thursday: 3 GIs, 78 Iraqis Killed; 36 Iraqis Wounded, 12 Kidnapped”

Newly proposed legislation would expand existing Pentagon security and military aid programs in Iraq and Afghanistan to "coalition partners" in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Building Global Partnerships Act of 2007 would authorize the secretary of defense, in consultation with the secretary of state, to allocate up to $750 million to help foreign governments … Continue reading “Bill Shields Pentagon Aid Boost from Oversight”

Updated at 1:00 a.m. EDT, May 17, 2007Violence today was marked by heavy clashing in the Nasariya area and a chorine truck bomb in Abu Saida. At least 147 Iraqis were killed and 243 were injured in those and other attacks throughout the country. At least 21 people were kidnapped as well. No foreign deaths … Continue reading “Wednesday: 147 Iraqis Killed, 243 Wounded, 21 Abducted”