Barack Obama is getting plenty of flak for not acknowledging that he was wrong about the "surge," i.e. the wisdom of escalating a war we should never have started in the first place and this is being compared to John McCain's stubborn refusal to admit...
No Flip-Flopper: Obama Has Always Been Belligerent on Iran
John Pilger and Joshua Frank have written on Obama's centrist positions and I would like to add my supporting views. Senator Obama's views of late toward Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict are not shifts to the center or flip-flopping in his policies. The senator has...
Bosnia, Hysteria Politics, and the Roots of International Terrorism
Since he was arrested in Belgrade last week, there have been miles and miles of newspaper commentary on Radovan Karadzic: on his bloody past; his role in Srebrenica; his bouffant; his limp handshake; his transformation from war leader to bearded hippy therapist. Yet...
Backtalk, July 30, 2008
The War Party's Credo Great essay. The problem on the left is, of course, Marx. There are far too many who believe that Marxism failed because of (well, fill in the blank) but notwithstanding the murder, mayhem, and environmental destruction, Marxist analysis is still...
Tuesday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 10 Wounded
Updated at 5:08 p.m. EDT, July 29, 2008Shi'ite pilgrims descended on Baghdad for the culmination of a religious observance. A vehicle curfew in the city has caused newspapers there to cease publication for the day, so reports of violence are scant. At least three...
Bush Forced al-Maliki to Back Down on Pullout in 2006
Many official and unofficial proponents of a long-term US military presence in Iraq are dismissing Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's demand for a US timeline for withdrawal as political posturing, assuming that he will abandon it under pressure. But that demand...
Obama’s War?
"We have to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in," says Barack Obama of the U.S. war in Iraq. Wise counsel. But is Barack taking his own advice? For he pledges to shift two U.S. combat brigades, 10,000 troops, out of Iraq and into...
Conspiracy to Kill Iraqis?
Checking out the news this morning I came across a news article from AFP describing charges recently filed against four US servicemen who were stationed in Iraq in 2007. The charges included conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, among others. According to the...
Livin’ la Vida Barroca
With a bit of foreign travel looming on the horizon, it was time to renew the passport of my youngest child. I gathered the requisite papers and brought them to the post office. A few weeks later, the coveted document arrived. I opened it up, expecting to find what I...
Monday: 87 Iraqis Killed, 288 Wounded
Updated at 11:55 p.m. EDT, July 28, 2008Four female suicide bombers staged attacks in two different cities today, killing and wounding hundreds of Iraqis. One attack targeted religious pilgrims, while the other focused on political demonstrators. Overall, at least 87...


