Month: April 2008

According to Gen. David H. Petraeus’ progress report to Congress on Iraq, the latest worst threat to the shaky U.S. position is Iranian-backed "special groups." This label refers to parts of Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army, which Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his security forces ham-handedly sought to confront and undermine in Basra before the fall … Continue reading “Things Unsaid at the Petraeus Hearings”

Bob Barr’s announcement that he is making a run for the White House on the Libertarian ticket has many advocates of a non-interventionist foreign policy hopeful, even excited – and I include myself among them. A successor to Ron Paul is right around the corner, or so it seems, and the continuing education of the … Continue reading “Bob Barr: Wrong About Colombia”

Exactly as the British press predicted, last week’s congressional testimony by Gen. David Petraeus and Green Zone administrator Ryan Crocker set the propaganda stage for a Bush regime attack on Iran. On April 10 Robert H. Reid of AP News reported: "The top U.S. commander has shifted the focus from al-Qaeda to Iranian-backed ‘special groups’ … Continue reading “American Hegemony Is Not Guaranteed”

BAGHDAD – Many Iraqis have come to believe that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is just as much a dictator as Saddam Hussein was. "Al-Maliki is a dictator who must be removed by all means," 35-year-old Abdul-Riza Hussein, a Mahdi Army member from Sadr City in Baghdad, told IPS. "He is a worse dictator than … Continue reading “Iraq: From One Dictator to Another?”

Updated at 12:10 a.m. EDT, April 14, 2008At least 46 Iraqis were killed and 29 were wounded in the latest violence. Sadr City finally quieted down after a couple weeks of intense fighting, but light clashing was still reported. No Coalition deaths were reported, but at least two Coalition soldiers were injured during a friendly … Continue reading “Sunday: 46 Iraqis Killed, 29 Wounded”

GAZA CITY – "I am bleeding uncontrollably, I need an ambulance." That was not a call to emergency services, it was an appeal broadcast live on radio in Gaza City. Who knows whether there will ever be an ambulance or not. But this way the ambulance services still hear the appeal broadcast on Al-Iman FM … Continue reading “No Ambulance, Call the Radio”

At least 65 Iraqis were killed and 48 more were injured in the latest violence. More fighting took place overnight in Sadr City, and a news mass grave was found in Mahmudiya. Also, an IED killed an American soldier northwest of Baghdad today. In Sadr City, the U.S. military reported killed 13 gunmen in overnight … Continue reading “Saturday: 1 US Soldier, 65 Iraqis Killed; 48 Iraqis Wounded”

"Tell me how this ends," Gen. David Petraeus, then commander of the 101st Airborne Division, asked a Washington Post reporter during the "liberation" of Iraq almost exactly five years ago. That neither Petraeus, now commander of all US forces in Iraq, nor his civilian counterpart, Washington’s ambassador to Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, was able to offer … Continue reading “Running Out the Iraq Clock”

Several things seem obvious from this week’s appearances by Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker before several House and Senate committee and President Bush’s subsequent speech on Thursday. First is that the U.S. "strategy" in Iraq now amounts to "hold on and pray," hoping that things won’t get catastrophically worse in … Continue reading “Hold On and Pray”

Great Zot! After first “Reaffirming its commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the need for all States Party to that Treaty to comply fully with all their obligations, and recalling the right of States Party, in conformity with Articles I and II of that Treaty, to develop research, production and use … Continue reading “King George and Iran’s Inalienable Rights”