Month: March 2008

Updated at 12:01 a.m EDT, March 23, 2008At least 22 Iraqis were killed and 37 others were wounded in the latest attacks. Three American soldiers were killed as well. Meanwhile, Iran continues to shell Iraqi territory near their border. Three U.S. soldiers were killed in an IED attack northwest of Baghdad, along with two Iraqi … Continue reading “Saturday: 3 US Soldiers, 22 Iraqis Killed; 37 Iraqis Wounded”

Sen. John McCain’s confusion in recent allegations of Iranian training of al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq is the result of a drumbeat of official propaganda about close Iran-al-Qaeda ties that the George W. Bush administration and neoconservatives have promoted ever since early 2002. McCain, the Republican nominee for the presidency, was confusing the Bush administration’s charges … Continue reading “McCain’s Gaffes Reflect Bush’s Iran-al-Qaeda Myth”

To celebrate the fifth anniversary of President Bush’s launch – in defiance of the UN Security Council – of a war of aggression against Iraq, the New York Times asked nine "experts on military and foreign affairs" to "reflect" now upon their positions taken then. Several of the nine NYT "experts" had been demanding for … Continue reading “Scott Ritter: Reflections”

McCain: The Myth of a Maverick Matt Welch Palgrave-Macmillan; 226 pages I‘m inclined to agree with a recent David Broder column. I was going to say that is not necessarily a common occurrence, but Broder is so anodyne a denizen of the middle of the establishment road that it is often difficult to disagree with … Continue reading “McCain’s Feet of Warlike Clay”

Hundreds of veterans who gathered outside Washington last weekend to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan are returning to their communities across the country with the goal of stoking resistance to the Iraq war from inside the US military. The so-called Winter Soldier gathering organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War was designed … Continue reading “Winter Soldiers Move Toward GI Resistance”

Iran’s post-revolutionary education system continues to teach children to discriminate against women and religious minorities, according to a report released Tuesday by Freedom House, a Washington-based nonprofit group that seeks to encourage democracy in the world. While lauded by supporters for its candid look at the challenges facing Iran, the report, entitled "Discrimination and Intolerance … Continue reading “A Textbook Tale of Two Reports on Iran”

GAZA CITY – The family had been mourning for 16-year-old Ahmed Abu Salamah. What was left of what was thought to be his body had been buried. After two weeks of mourning, they found Ahmed alive in the intensive care unit at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. But a boy had been buried. And, a family … Continue reading “The Son Who Did Not Die, and the One Who Did”

Updated at 11:50 p.m. EDT, Mar. 21, 2008At least 25 Iraqis were killed and 20 were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, clashes in Kut and Baghdad threaten to end a unilateral ceasefire observed by the Mahdi Army. One American soldier was killed and four more were wounded in a rocket or mortar attack south … Continue reading “Friday: 1 US Soldier, 25 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded”

Sen. John McCain might end up being elected president in November because many antiwar independents believe he’s the best person to handle that famous phone call at 3am. He’s obviously the most experienced and probably the most courageous of the remaining contenders. But he lacks temperament, philosophy, and judgment. Which means he would be the … Continue reading “John McCain: Blowing Up the World at 3am?”

What better journalistic symbol of the Beltway know-it-alls than the Washington Post? Their coverage of the Iraq debate in the run-up to invasion mirrored the uncritical assumptions and stereotyped thinking that led to our quest for “weapons of mass destruction” that didn’t exist – and their commentary in many instances epitomized the hubris that led … Continue reading “Iraq and the Virtue of Selfishness”