Month: July 2008

Iran’s provocative missile tests 10 days ago again fueled the debate on the likelihood of aerial strikes against Iran. Since last week’s thaw, however, an attack on Iran by the end of President Bush’s tenure no longer appears in the offing. Moreover, the narrow, exclusively military focus of the debate misses the broader picture. The … Continue reading “Iran Isolation Attempts Backfire”

Civil liberties advocates have lost no time in asking a federal court to stop the government from conducting surveillance under the new wiretapping law passed by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush last week. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and a coalition of other groups declared that the new law "gives the … Continue reading “New Spying Law Quickly Challenged”

Are 400,000 Terrorists Trying to Attack the United States? I‘ve always wondered why the list is secret. If the intent is to make us safer, then why not publicize the list so that the bad guys know that they will be hassled at the airport? They will not show up with their current identity and … Continue reading “Backtalk, July 23, 2008”

Barack Obama and John McCain are currently engaged in a bidding war to see who can promise more troops in Afghanistan. In an op-ed published by the New York Times last week, Obama wrote that if he is elected president he will provide "at least two additional combat brigades [roughly 10,000 troops] to support our … Continue reading “Bidding War Over Afghanistan”

Updated at 11:58 p.m. EDT, July 22, 2008 At least eight Iraqis were killed and 29 were wounded. A unknown number of wounded were left after an armed attack in Tikrit. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, parliament passed an "election law" meant to allow elections to occur later in the year; however, the law … Continue reading “Tuesday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 29 Wounded”

This weekend’s surprise endorsement by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Sen. Barack Obama’s call for U.S. combat forces to leave Iraq by mid-2010 marks a serious setback to Sen. John McCain, who has tried hard to depict his Democratic rival as "naïve" on foreign policy, especially with respect to Iraq. That Maliki’s endorsement in an … Continue reading “McCain Knee-Capped by Maliki”

As the long-awaited trial of Guantanamo detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan opened this week at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, human rights groups filed suit demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) produce documents related to the U.S. government’s ghost detention, torture, and extraordinary rendition program. Attorney General Michael Mukasey also called on Congress to … Continue reading “Hamdan Case to Test Military Tribunals”

FALLUJAH – U.S. and Iraqi forces are preparing another siege of Fallujah under the pretext of combating "terror," residents and officials say. Located 40 mi. west of Baghdad, the city that suffered two devastating U.S. attacks in 2004 has watched security degrade over recent months. "Ruling powers in the city fighting to gain full control … Continue reading “Fallujah Braces for Another Assault”

By now the structure of the U.S. game with Iran is clear. In the first move, the United States and Iran make some small progress toward improved relations. In the counter move, hardliners in the United States and Israel launch attacks against Iran in order to sabotage these improving relations. In the latest iteration of … Continue reading “Playing Games With Iran”

Why are Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, William Perry, and Sam Nunn writing opinion pieces in the Wall Street Journal calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons? Keep in mind, these four people are not just major defense hawks. People like Kissinger and Nunn helped push through the single most dangerous and destabilizing innovation in nuclear … Continue reading “An Uncomfortable Conversation About Nukes”