Month: June 2008

The pundits agree that this election is all about "change," so naturally we have two presidential nominees who present identical positions on the major foreign policy issue of the day: the looming prospect of the U.S. launching a "preventive" war against Iran. Shmuel Rosner, the U.S. correspondent for Ha’aretz, notes: "The Washington Institute for Near … Continue reading “You Want Change?”

Updated at 10:20 p.m. EDT, June 15, 2008At least 19 Iraqis were killed and 29 more were wounded in the latest violence. Several more people were wounded during a bombing in Baghdad; however, no Coalition casualties were reported. Meanwhile, Iran continues to shell border regions in Iraq as part of their campaign against PJAK rebels. … Continue reading “Sunday: 19 Iraqis Killed, 29 Wounded”

As statistics go, at least 655,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the occupation, now in its fifth year. Every one of them has left behind once loved ones to mourn the loss and to think of what might have been. This is the land of the Arabian Nights, and of love stories that … Continue reading “Iraq: The Love Stories Are Gone”

Updated at 4:30 p.m. EDT, June 14, 2008 At least 12 Iraqis were killed and 89 were wounded in the latest attacks, which centered largely around Diyala Province. US forces also killed a “suspected terrorist” of unknown nationality during a raid on a building in Mosul. 15 others were arrested. In Central Mosul, an off-duty … Continue reading “Saturday: 12 Iraqis Killed, 89 Wounded”

The assumption that the US should exploit its military dominance to exert pressure on adversaries has long dominated the thinking of the US national security and political elite in the past. But this central tenet of conventional security doctrine was sharply rejected this week by a senior practitioner of crisis diplomacy at the debut of … Continue reading “Coercive Diplomacy Disputed at Centrist Meet”

Recently, hundreds of thousands of South Koreans filled the streets of Seoul near the U.S. Embassy to protest the South Korean government’s decision to resume imports of American beef. The imports had been halted since the much overblown scare of "mad cow" disease of 2003. The accusation that the American beef is so tainted is … Continue reading “Ungrateful Allies”

Members of the House of Representatives have voted to refer the Articles of Impeachment [.pdf] introduced by Dennis Kucinich [D,OH] – requesting that George W. Bush be impeached by the House for specific violations of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States – to the House Judiciary … Continue reading “Conyers: Stop the War Crimes”

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. military intervention in Lebanon, and 25 years after a second U.S. military intervention which left hundreds of Americans and thousands of Lebanese dead, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a resolution by a huge bipartisan majority which may lay the groundwork for a … Continue reading “Lebanon Intrusion”

Those who cherish the United States’ historical adherence to the rule of law – myself included – were delighted to hear that the US Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, in the case of Boumediene v. Bush (PDF), that the prisoners at Guantánamo "have the constitutional right to habeas corpus," enabling them to challenge the basis … Continue reading “The Supreme Court’s Guantánamo Ruling: What Does It Mean?”

Updated at 10:25 p.m. EDT, June 13, 2008At least 20 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 14 more were wounded in the latest violence. It is the prayer day, so reports are lighter than usual. Two American deaths were reported. The DOD reported that a U.S. soldier died at an army hospital in Texas, … Continue reading “Friday: 2 US Soldiers, 20 Iraqis Killed; 14 Iraqis Wounded”