I have no idea whether the president will order an attack on Iran. Seymour Hersh, a reporter I respect, says the Bush administration has decided it would be easier to sell an attack on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards than on Iran's nuclear facilities. Certainly all...
Bush-Rice Enduring Victory
Well, according to the New York Times editorialists, the "good news" is that President Bush and Condi Rice are apparently "so eager for an enduring foreign policy victory, in hopes of offsetting their failures in Iraq" that they have agreed to be a...
Friday: 4 GIs, 62 Iraqis Killed; 62 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 11:50 p.m. EDT, Oct. 5, 2007In an unusually active Friday, 62 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 62 more were wounded. Two incidents involving U.S. forces are the focus of controversy today as innocent civilians may have been killed. Police sources in...
The Price of Promiscuous Intervention
The Republican Party once professed to promote fiscal responsibility. It sought to limit government growth, expected program benefits to exceed costs, and refused to give any agency a blank check. No longer. If there is a Republican Party consensus –...
The Blackwater Massacre
On September 16, as a car approached Nisour Square, all the folly and tragedy of the Iraq war was enacted on a Baghdad street. In the vehicle were two Iraqis: Ahmed Haithem was driving his mother, Mohassin, to the local hospital, where her husband worked as a...
Saving the Military from Itself
When, in mid-September, General David Petraeus testified before Congress on "progress" in Iraq, he appeared in full dress uniform with quite a stunning chestful of medals. The general is undoubtedly a tough bird. He was shot in the chest during a training-exercise...
Sputnik, 50 Years Later: The Launch of Techno-Power
This is an excerpt from Norman Solomon's new book Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America's Warfare State. A story could start almost anywhere. This one begins at a moment startled by a rocket. In the autumn of 1957, America was not at war ... or at peace....
Thursday: 1 GI, 68 Iraqis Killed; 112 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 11:57 p.m. EDT, Oct. 4, 2007As Baghdad and Tal Afar were rocked by numerous bombings, the cities of Iskandariya, Samarra, Suwayra and Hilla were plagued with assassinations. Overall, at least 68 Iraqis were killed and 112 more were wounded during the latest...
Will the Election Make a Difference?
Almost surely President George W. Bush will keep the American military in Iraq until he leaves office. He will kick the war down the calendar and leave it to the incoming president. So what should the president do when he or she takes office? The president can retain...
Wednesday: 60 Iraqis Killed, 51 Wounded; Polish Envoy Attacked
Updated at 11:25 p.m. EDT, Oct. 3, 2007Today’s most significant event left the Polish ambassador wounded and his bodyguard dead in Baghdad. Overall, 60 Iraqis were killed and 56 more were wounded during the latest violence. No foreign military deaths were...