Month: January 2008

No one knows what’s in George W. Bush’s mind as he heads off for Israel and Palestine. Perhaps he himself doesn’t know exactly why he’s making the trip. But if he is really going to burnish his legacy by moving both sides closer to peace, as the pundits say, he faces enormous problems on both … Continue reading “Bush’s Israel Problem – And Ours”

What, one wonders, can possibly inspire the neoconservatives’ hate for Americans, their history, their traditions, and their ideas? In the context of this question, George Weigel’s new book, Faith, Reason, and the War against Jihadism. A Call to Action, is more troubling than Norman Podhoretz’s viciously anti-American World War IV. The Long War Against Islamofacism … Continue reading “George Weigel’s Anti-American Jeremiad”

Gao Wenqian, Zhou Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary (New York: Public Affairs, 2007) 345 pp. Mao Zedong became the symbol of the communist revolution in China. Leading the famed Long March, proclaiming the new People’s Republic of China, sending forth Red Guards waving a little red book of his quotations, meeting Richard Nixon when the … Continue reading “Zhou Enlai: The Last Perfect Revolutionary“

Updated at 11:10 p.m EST, Jan. 10, 2008At least 25 Iraqis were killed and 24 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. Most of them were gunmen or security personnel. Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration reported that only a trickle of Iraqi refugees has returned home. Also, millions of Iraqis are observing … Continue reading “Thursday: 25 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded”

It is by now almost routine. With recurring frequency, US leaders tour the Middle East depicting Iran as the region’s greatest threat. As such, President George W. Bush’s visit to the Middle East this week has historic precedent. But while the message often fell on receptive ears in the past, regional players today have misgivings … Continue reading “Will Naval Incident Undermine Bush’s Iran Message?”

BAQUBA – It’s turning out to be about the hardest winter Abu Muslih has known. Too often it’s a choice between buying food and medicines, and buying kerosene to keep his children warm. "I see them feeling cold, so I go out to buy kerosene at any price," Muslih, a 49-year-old city employee told IPS. … Continue reading “Fuel Crisis Freezes Iraqi Life”

A piece in the December 27, 2007 Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Vote on fate of Kirkuk postponed," by Tina Susman and Asso Ahmed of the L.A. Times, reported that "Kurdish lawmakers agreed Wednesday to a six-month delay in a referendum on whether the oil-rich city of Kirkuk should join the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan or remain … Continue reading “Kicking the Can Down the Road”

I recently highlighted the irony of sending nearly $1 billion overseas in military earmarks as we close down bases here at home to save money. Our government’s flawed foreign policy troubles me especially in light of recent events in Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto’s assassination was a great tragedy. Pakistan is now more than ever teetering on … Continue reading “The Ties That Strangle”

Updated at 6:30 p.m. EST, Jan. 9, 2008Nine American soldiers were reported killed on an otherwise extremely quiet newsday. At least 25 Iraqis were killed, mostly gunmen, and 10 Iraqis were wounded in separate events. Also, the World Health Organization released their report on the number of civilian casualties since the invastion. They say that … Continue reading “Wednesday: 9 US Soldiers, 25 Iraqis Killed; 10 Iraqis Wounded”

Consider the debate among four Democratic presidential candidates on ABC News last Saturday night. In the previous week, the price of a barrel of oil briefly touched $100, unemployment hit 5 percent, the stock market had the worst three-day start since the Great Depression, and the word “recession” was in the headlines and in the … Continue reading “The $100 Barrel of Oil vs. the Global War on Terror: The Bush Legacy (Take Two)”