Month: March 2008

Five years ago last week, the U.S. military’s "shock and awe" campaign lit up the Baghdad sky. Five years later, with hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and nearly 4,000 Americans dead, we should pause and reflect on just what has been gained and what has been lost. From the beginning, the march to war was … Continue reading “The Iraq War Ledger”

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed Gallup Press, 2008 230 pp. A new book by John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed ought to have a profound and transforming influence on Americans’ view of their government’s confrontation with Islam. The book, Who Speaks for Islam? What … Continue reading “A Book Americans Must Read Before Time Runs Out”

It has sometimes been noted that the neoconservatives, conspicuously absent on the battlefield, excel at the Washington infighting that enabled their ascent in the first place. Marine and Army combat units are justifiably proud of never leaving a comrade behind on the battlefield. Neocons adhere to a somewhat different philosophy, namely putting the boot in … Continue reading “Neocon Valor Is an Act of Feith”

Updated at 8:55 p.m. EDT, Mar. 24, 2008A day after the U.S. military tally reached 4000 troop deaths, the FBI announced that the remains of two American contractors were positively identified. At least 17 Iraqis were killed and 26 more were wounded. No new Coalition deaths were reported. In Baghdad, eight people were wounded, two … Continue reading “Monday: 2 US Contractors, 17 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded”

As the U.S. death toll neared 4,000 in Iraq – four more killed this weekend – President Bush gave the country another pep talk this week on staying the course, while continuing to argue that history will wash the blood off his hands. Nothing has changed in his claim that when humans, or God, look … Continue reading “4,000 Periods and One Comma”

Well, I guess that makes it official: Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives "expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the current economic slowdown in the United States is directly related to the enormous costs of the ongoing occupation of Iraq, consigning the United States to … Continue reading “Iraq Recession – or Iraq Depression?”

Once again last week, the president and his men surged into the headlines, announcing that we had just zipped past yet another of those Iraqi “turning points.” Or, as George W. Bush put it while speaking at the Pentagon (and perhaps dreaming of the days back in 2005 when he could still happily mention “victory” … Continue reading “How to Disintegrate a City”

During the early days of the Clinton administration, Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cringed when Madeleine Albright implied that because the United States had such a big, beautiful military, it should be willing to use it promiscuously overseas. After the debacle in Iraq, the growing group of those who desire … Continue reading “Defense-Contract Reform Key to a Restrained Foreign Policy”

Why Did the US Invade Iraq? Mr. Lobe discussed and dismissed the role of Big Oil, but he does not consider (for want of a good term) peripheral oil. I mean companies that are ancillary to the big oil companies, such as Halliburton and Bechtel. These are companies whose economic fortunes are heavily tied to … Continue reading “Backtalk, March 23, 2008”

Updated at 12:45 a.m. EDT, Mar. 24, 2008With the loss of four soldiers in Baghdad today, the U.S. death tally now stands at 4000 American military deaths. At least 91 Iraqis were also killed and 152 more were wounded during the latest round of violence. In Baghdad, rockets targeting mostly the Green Zone left several … Continue reading “Sunday: 4 US Soldiers, 91 Iraqis Killed; 152 Wounded”