Month: September 2007

Despite the addition of 30,000 US troops to enhance security in the country, the freedom of average Iraqis to practice their religions deteriorated sharply during the past year, according to a report released Friday by the US State Department. The ninth "Annual Report on International Religious Freedom,” which covers 198 countries, described continued violence targeting … Continue reading “Iraqi Religious Violence Spiking, State Dept Says”

President Bush wants to establish an "enduring relationship" with Iraq, similar – he has reportedly said – to the one we have with South Korea. Weird, because only last week the South Koreans again signaled they would like very much to end their relationship with us, which has – in their opinion – endured far, … Continue reading “Beginning-Ending Enduring Relationships”

BAGHDAD – As another school year begins in Iraq, parents approach it with dread, fearing for the safety of their children. With the security situation grimmer than ever all over the country, just stepping out of one’s house means a serious threat to life. "God knows how we could send our kids to school this … Continue reading “Back to School, Back to Horror”

It’s sensible to be afraid of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. These people are killers who will murder women and children and not bat an eye. I predicted we’d be hit by terrorism in a column I wrote in August 2001. I had no idea, of course, that the attack would come so soon afterward. … Continue reading “Shock and Horror”

The September morning six years ago that saw three hijacked jetliners slam into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon has often been called "the day everything changed." What really changed was Americans’ skepticism of their own government – a fact that has been abused ever since. The man from Crawford who campaigned on the … Continue reading “The War Empire Forgot”

Updated at 11:11 p.m. EDT, Sept. 14, 2007At least 43 Iraqis were killed and 20 more wounded. Among the incidents was a suicide bombing in Baiji that killed or wounded over two dozen people. A roadside bomb killed four GIs in Diyala province today. Three GIs were wounded in combat in Garma; usually, GI injuries … Continue reading “Friday: 4 GIs, 43 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded”

In what was at least a symbolic blow to George W. Bush, a prominent Iraqi tribal sheikh and self-styled leader of the "Sunni Awakening" movement against al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was assassinated just hours before the US president was to make his latest appeal for public support for his Iraq strategy. The death in an … Continue reading “Sheikh’s Killing a Blow to Bush”

BAGHDAD – US occupation authorities and successive US-backed Iraqi governments have done little to stem the flow of Iraqis fleeing their war-torn country since the beginning of the occupation. Syria, Jordan and Egypt have accepted millions of Iraqis to stay under state controlled regulations that have varied between loose and strict in accordance with whatever … Continue reading “No Refuge Within or Outside the Country”

President Bush has won the Battle of September. When he turns over the presidency on Jan. 20, 2009, there will likely be as many U.S. troops in Iraq as there were when Congress was elected to bring them home in November 2006. That is the meaning of Gen. Petraeus’ recommendation, adopted by President Bush, that … Continue reading “Stopping the Next War”

I often think of the letters that come into the Tomdispatch email box as the university of my later life – messages from around the world, offering commentary, criticism, encouragement, but mainly teaching me about lives (and versions of life) I would otherwise know little or nothing about. Then again, the Internet has a way … Continue reading “Despite Backlash, Many Jews Are Questioning Israel”