Month: October 2007

Counting to Three At least Caesar was just commenting on reality when he wrote that “all Gaul is divided into three parts.” Last week, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joe Biden attempted to create reality when an overwhelming majority of the U.S. Senate voted for his non-binding resolution to divide Iraq into three parts – Shi’ite, … Continue reading “Having a Carnage Party”

President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush, joined by Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the leading presidential candidates, human right activists, and Christian evangelists, have been condemning the violent crackdown on protesters led by Buddhist monks in Myanmar. While they have called for taking more steps to diplomatically isolate the military regime there and … Continue reading “The Costs of Isolating Myanmar”

Once upon a time, White House economic adviser Larry Lindsey estimated that the cost of going to war in Iraq might be as much as $200 billion. For daring to voice such an opinion, he was rebuked by Mitch Daniels – then director of the White House budget office – who called Lindsey’s estimate “very, … Continue reading “Misunderestimating the Price of Iraq”

Updated at 7:05 p.m. EDT. Oct. 2, 2007After a quick visit with troops in Basra, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrived in Baghdad today. Reports of violence unsurprisingly picked up in the capital. Overall, 46 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 49 more were wounded throughout the country. Also, an American soldier was killed … Continue reading “Tuesday: 1 GI, 46 Iraqis Killed; 46 Iraqis Wounded”

Bolstered in part by major new arms agreements with Pakistan, the United States reclaimed its ranking as the developing world’s biggest supplier of conventional arms in 2006, according to a new report [.pdf] by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Washington agreed to transfer a total of $10.3 billion in arms to developing countries in 2006, … Continue reading “US Firms Up Spot as No. 1 Arms Supplier to South”

History will not be kind to Condi Rice. The United States has had a number of distinguished secretaries of state since World War II, but she will not be counted among them. Although it would be unfair to compare Rice to George Marshall, the architect of the Marshall Plan, which began economic integration in Western … Continue reading “Condoleezza’s Legacy”

Updated at 10:25 p.m. EDT, Oct. 1, 2007At least 48 Iraqis were killed and 22 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Security forces killed numerous suspects throughout the country, but civilians were also the targets of violence. Also, four GI deaths were reported. Yesterday in the capital, an MND-B soldier was killed and 10 … Continue reading “Monday: 4 GIs, 48 Iraqis Killed; 22 Iraqis Wounded”

Sometime during the demonstrations against the Republican National Convention, which renominated George W. Bush in August 2004, I went on a media protest march down the Valley of the Imperial Media, Sixth Avenue, in the Big Apple. I had certainly been on enough marches in my life, but I was amazed. Back in the Vietnam … Continue reading “The Mean Streets of the Homeland Security Statelet”

This past Wednesday, I was among a group of American religious leaders and scholars who met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York. In what was billed as an inter-faith dialogue, we frankly shared our strong opposition to certain Iranian government policies and provocative statements made by the Iranian president. At the same time, … Continue reading “My Meeting With Ahmadinejad”

Editor’s note: Justin Raimondo’s column will return Friday, Oct. 5. It seems to have fallen down the memory hole or been consigned to the purgatory of forgotten news stories: the indictment of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two top officials of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). More than three years ago, the news … Continue reading “The Lobby on Trial”