Month: June 2007

While President George W. Bush appears, however belatedly, to be embracing recommendations by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG) to begin withdrawing U.S. combat troops by early 2008, he has implicitly rejected the ISG’s call to renounce any intention to establish permanent military bases in Iraq. Indeed, confirmation by his spokesman, Tony Snow, this week … Continue reading “Bush’s Iraq-Korea Analogy Sparks New Debate”

Earlier this year, when China blasted one of its satellites into thousands of little floating pieces, it was condemned by Washington as a provocative act. But some arms-control experts believe Beijing was baring its teeth to send the White House a different message. They say that China, which has consistently opposed the weaponization of space, … Continue reading “U.S. Ramps Up Missile Tests in the Pacific”

Updated at 12:20 a.m. EDT, June 3, 2007Although the number of casualties was moderate today, significant events are taking place, including further posturing by Turkey. At least 78 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 59 were injured in violent attacks. Also, two GIs were killed in separate incidents. And, a British soldier was wounded … Continue reading “Saturday: 2 GIs, 78 Iraqis Killed; 59 Iraqis Injured”

Is there anything worse than a President launching a War of Aggression to "remove" what he knows to be a non-existent threat to Americans? Well, how about a President launching a war of aggression to "remove" what he knows to be a non-existent threat to non-Americans? We all now know that our President did launch … Continue reading “Answering Prayers”

If you want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about how the CIA and later the United States as a whole coped with the terrorist threat posed by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda and later invaded Iraq on specious grounds, this relentlessly self-justifying book by former CIA Director George Tenet is … Continue reading “Hardly the Whole Truth but…”

BAGHDAD – Reports of the poor health among high-ranking Iraqi politicians are being seen as symbolic of the popular mood here about the US-backed government. In late February, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was flown to neighboring Jordan for medical treatment amid conflicting reports about his health. Sources in Amman and from Talabani’s office in Baghdad … Continue reading “Sick of Iraq’s Government”

ARBIL, Iraq – US-Iranian talks about Iraq have been received with skepticism and some foreboding here, with some calling for limitations on the extent of issues that the two countries can negotiate regarding Iraq. The ice-breaking ambassador-level talks Monday between the two countries, which have had hostile relations since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, signal a … Continue reading “Anxiety in Wake of US-Iran Talks”

I didn’t watch any of the Memorial Day events on television. Memorial Day, it seems to me, should be only for the families of the dead. It’s really impossible to remember someone we never knew. Of course, these days Memorial Day gets larded with politics and pseudo-patriotism. It’s nauseating to watch a bunch of actors, … Continue reading “Dying for Nothing”

A few weeks ago, I offered Tomdispatch readers, “Close Your Eyes,” my fantasy graduation speech for the class of 2007, given from the podium of some university of my mind. Mark Danner, however, recently stood at an actual podium at the University of California, Berkeley, and gave a genuine commencement address to a group of … Continue reading “Words in a Time of War”

One of the many quirks of the nineteenth century’s intellectual heritage was the great intensification of nationalism and – to quote one expert – the creation of "nation-ness," the consequences of which have varied dramatically all the way from the negligible to the crucial (as in the case of Israel) to war and peace in … Continue reading “Israel: Mythologizing a 20th Century Accident”