Month: January 2008

As President George W. Bush seeks to deeply entrench US military forces in Iraq, the Congress and foreign policy pundits are looking beyond his term and debating the future of US foreign policy there. Violence is down in Iraq, and Bush hopes to use the apparent success of his surge strategy to solidify the relationship … Continue reading “Critics Fear Pact Will Tie Next President’s Hands”

Nobody except the occasional reporter willing to suspend disbelief and listen to U.S. spokespeople as if they were operating in the real world believed that President Bush’s recent trip to the Middle East would bring substantial progress either in terms of stability in the region or the forwarding of U.S. interests as Bush defines them. … Continue reading “The Imperial Pretension”

Well, you have probably been wondering what prompted the Chief of the Armed Forces General Staff, General Yury Baluevsky, to announce last week that Russia was re-thinking its national security policy and that although "We have no plans to attack anyone. But we consider it necessary for all our partners in the world community to … Continue reading “Unleash NATO”

BAQUBA – Broken promises have brought a dramatic increase in anti-US sentiment across the capital city of Iraq’s Diyala province. Many people in Baquba, capital of Diyala 40 km northeast of Baghdad, had supported US forces when they ousted former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. But failed reconstruction projects and muddled policies mean the US has … Continue reading “Iraqis: ‘US the Biggest Producer of Terror’”

Twenty-six-year-old Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Qadir bil-Qasim began his journey in Darnah, Libya. He traveled to Egypt and arrived in Syria, where he paid a man named Abu Umar 2,000 Syrian pounds to smuggle him across the Iraqi border. Qasim was an Arabic language teacher and a weapons expert back home, he told the al-Qaeda clerk who interviewed … Continue reading “Al-Qaeda in Iraq Records Shed Light on Foreign Recruits”

When young American men and women sign up to serve in US military, our government makes a basic promise to them: that if they are wounded in the line of duty they will get the care they need. Unfortunately, for tens of thousands of veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, that’s a promise that only exists … Continue reading “Dear Soldiers: Your Government Lied to You”

According to FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, there is a vast black market for nukes, and certain U.S. officials have been supplying sensitive nuclear technology information to Turkish and Israeli interests through its conduits. It’s a scathing allegation which was first published by the London Times two weeks ago, and Edmonds’ charge seems to be on … Continue reading “Why Bush Wants to Legalize the Nuke Trade with Turkey”

Updated at 1:10 a.m. EST, Jan. 26, 2008Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today announced a major offensive against al-Qaeda in Mosul, where a major bombing killed about three dozen people two days ago. Mosul is considered al-Qaeda’s last urban stronghold in Iraq. Elsewhere, at least 55 Iraqis were killed and another four were wounded in attacks … Continue reading “Friday: 1 US Soldier, 55 Iraqis Killed; 4 Iraqis Wounded”

Almost exactly five years after it reached its zenith with the invasion of Iraq, the influence of neoconservatives has waned sharply in Washington, as their nemeses, the "realists" in the national security bureaucracy, have increasingly asserted control over US foreign policy. While battered, however, neoconservatives have not yet been forced from the field. And while … Continue reading “Neocons Shaken, But Not Deterred”

BAQUBA – Continuing curfew has brought normal life to a standstill in Baquba, capital of the restive Diyala province north of Baghdad. Through nearly three decades of rule under Saddam Hussein, Iraqis witnessed only two curfews; for the census in the 1970s and 1980s. Under the US-led occupation of Iraq, curfews are commonplace, enforced whenever … Continue reading “Baquba: Under Curfew, This Is No Life”