Month: June 2007

Reports that US President George W. Bush has asked outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to act as the Quartet’s special envoy for Middle East peace are adding to speculation that Washington plans to intensify peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians, despite last week’s takeover of Gaza by Hamas. But whether those peace efforts … Continue reading “Will Bush, Blair Intensify Mideast Peace Efforts?”

One of the more persistent misconceptions about the current Emperor is that he is from Texas. He may have lived there for many years, may have even been the governor of the state, but he was in fact born in Connecticut. A real Texan would know a thing or two about playing poker. There is … Continue reading “Imperial Poker”

In a development that underlines the tensions between the anti-Iran agenda of the George W. Bush administration and the preoccupation of its military command in Afghanistan with militant Sunni activism, a State Department official publicly accused Iran for the first time of arming the Taliban forces last week, but the US commander of NATO forces … Continue reading “New Iran Arms Claim Reveals Cheney-Military Rift”

BAGHDAD – The second bombing of the Shi’ite shrine of al-Askari in Samarra, Iraq, last week brought reprisal attacks, but it also brought solidarity against the occupiers. The golden shrine, located in downtown Samarra which is 125 km north of Baghdad, was first bombed on Feb. 22, 2006. The attack, which nearly totally destroyed the … Continue reading “Iraqis Skeptical After Second Shrine Attack”

Lying Us Into War, Again Charlie I love this bit: "Finally, of course, there is the matter of deterrence. Deterrence worked against the Soviet Union’s 30,000 nuclear weapons and the means of delivering them." You Americans do not get it even now. Deterrence worked for the Soviets not for you. The U.S. is the only … Continue reading “Backtalk, June 21, 2007”

Updated at 12:25 a.m. EDT, June 21, 2007Although violence has subsided from the levels seen over the last two days, at least 116 Iraqis were reported killed and 33 Iraqis were wounded. Many of today’s reported deaths are from yesterday’s re-evaluated casualty figures. Also, one British and three American servicemembers were killed in separate incidents … Continue reading “Wednesday: 3 GIs, 1 Briton, 116 Iraqis Killed; 33 Iraqis Wounded”

ARBIL – Iraq is again haunted by the ghosts of Samarra, with last week’s attack on the Shia-revered al-Askari mosque raising fears that it could touch off a new wave of sectarian violence in a country already crippled by large-scale violence and political crisis. In a similar move last year, al-Qaeda in Iraq bombed the … Continue reading “What Next After Samarra Bombing?”

The idea that we invaded and occupied Iraq and launched a bid to "transform" the Middle East because we wanted to install liberal, democratic societies in the region is just not believable on many levels, and certainly recent headlines about the Palestinian coup by Fatah against Hamas – and the president’s endorsement of the Abbas … Continue reading “Nihilism and Neoconservatism”

ISTANBUL – Turkey is beefing up military preparedness against Iraq-based Kurdish rebels as a prelude to a possible cross-border incursion that is opposed by the United States, the European Union, and the Iraqi government. Three Turkish provinces bordering Iraq have already been declared "special security" zones, limiting civilian access in the wake of an increase … Continue reading “Turkey: Into the Iraq Quagmire?”

One of the greatest fears in the post-9/11 world is the prospect of nuclear terrorism. Indeed, President Bush used this fear to gain public support for U.S. military action to depose Saddam Hussein: "If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy, or steal an amount of highly enriched uranium a little larger than a … Continue reading “Cooperative Threat Reduction Is Worth the Cost”