Month: April 2008

Poor Jimmy Carter. All he wanted to do was talk peace. But all he got was the shaft, from the Bush administration, the secretary of state, the Israeli government, the mainstream media, and the presidential candidates. White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe denounced his meeting with Hamas representatives from Gaza as not “useful.” Condi Rice intoned … Continue reading “Jimmy Carter Gets the Point”

Updated at 7:30 p.m. EDT Apr. 21, 2008At least 41 Iraqis were killed and 112 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Much of the violence involved continued fighting in Sadr City. Two American soldiers were killed. An IED in Salah ad Din province killed two American soldiers today. Two other American soldiers were wounded … Continue reading “Monday: 2 US Soldiers, 41 Iraqis Killed; 112 Iraqis Wounded”

Can there be any question that, since the invasion of 2003, Iraq has been unraveling? And here’s the curious thing: Despite a lack of decent information and analysis on crucial aspects of the Iraqi catastrophe, despite the way much of the Iraq story fell off newspaper front pages and out of the TV news in … Continue reading “12 Answers to Questions No One Is Asking About Iraq”

In what appears to be nothing more than propaganda masquerading as news, the U.S. military has announced, as Reuters described it, that it will "televise the Guantánamo trial of accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and five other suspects so relatives of those killed in the attacks can watch on the U.S. mainland." Army … Continue reading “Shameless Propaganda Over Gitmo 9/11 Trials”

Editorial note: What follows is the text of a speech delivered at the MidCoast Forum on Foreign Relations in Rockport, Maine, on April 21, 2008. One would think that the title of my talk – “The Middle East: Turning the Page on U.S. Foreign Policy” – is fairly noncontroversial, as such things go. Yet the … Continue reading “The Middle East: Turning the Page on US Foreign Policy”

At the passing of the 25th anniversary of the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon – the first large suicide bombing to target Americans – the time is right to ask the perennial question: has the Bush administration’s “war on terror” since 9/11 made Americans safer? Although the Bush administration regularly boasts … Continue reading “War on Terror
Dangerously Counterproductive”

Updated at 12:30 a.m. EDT, April 21, 2008Early reports from Sadr City and Baghdad suggest that fighting between the Mahdi army and security forces has increased. Meanwhile, two mass graves were found in Diyala province. At least 108 Iraqis were killed and another 60 were wounded in violence across Iraq. No Coalition deaths were reported. … Continue reading “Sunday: 108 Iraqis Killed, 60 Wounded”

Updated at 12:05 a.m. EDT, April 20, 2008At least 95 Iraqis were killed and 183 were wounded in the latest attacks. Many were killed or injured in Sadr City where fighting between the Mahdi army and security forces continues. Two American soldiers were killed in separate incidents. Meahwhile, the Australians are delaying their withdrawal, while … Continue reading “Saturday: 2 US Soldiers, 95 Iraqis Killed; 185 Iraqis Wounded”

Earlier this week a federal judge in Miami declared a second mistrial in the case of the so-called "Liberty City 7," a group of men accused of a terrorist plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago. Only six men were on trial this time because last December a jury acquitted one of the … Continue reading “Prosecuting No-Threat Stumblebums”

Well that tears it. At least for you who considered President Barack Obama our best chance to avoid a war of aggression with Iran. Apparently Obama has been invaded by the same spirit that has long been speaking through Dick Cheney. According to his campaign aides, Obama told a synagogue in Philadelphia last week that: … Continue reading “Obama Channeling Cheney”