Month: August 2008

Updated at 10:55 p.m. EDT, Aug. 20, 2008Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, paying a one-day visit to Iraq, began the process of normalizing relations between the two countries. At least nine Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded in today’s attacks. One U.S. Marine died in a non-combat incident Sunday. The U.S. and Iraq … Continue reading “Wednesday: 1 Marine, 9 Iraqis Killed; 8 Iraqis Wounded”

With the conflict between Georgia and Russia lowered to a simmer after the signing of a cease-fire agreement, questions still remain about the U.S. role and positions on the start of the conflict as well as where it stands moving forward toward a resolution. Ten days ago, a full-scale war broke out when Russian and … Continue reading “Kosovo Casts Shadow on
South Ossetian Standoff”

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s resignation Monday brings to an end an extraordinarily close relationship between Musharraf and the George W. Bush administration, in which Musharraf was lavished with political and economic benefits from the United States despite policies that were in sharp conflict with U.S. security interests. It is well known that Bush repeatedly praised … Continue reading “Bush Covered Up Musharraf Ties With al-Qaeda, Khan”

The degeneration of journalism into “infotainment” has been bemoaned by the mandarins of the profession ever since the cable news revolution knocked the networks off their pedestal. Now the Internet is overtaking the cable channels as the place news consumers go to get their infotainment fix – or, alternatively, where they go to find out … Continue reading “The Narrative Versus the News”

The United States is in a huge foreign policy muddle in the Middle East. It wants to dominate and control Iran, but it requires the support of the world community to accomplish its aims. Diplomacy and sanctions require only a low level of support. On the other hand, to launch a military attack or green-light … Continue reading “Big Three Block Iran Attack”

In 2005, Col. Lawrence Franklin was indicted alongside two executives of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for allegedly violating the 1917 Espionage Act. Franklin later pled guilty to passing AIPAC a classified presidential directive and other secrets concerning America’s Iran policy. AIPAC then allegedly forwarded the highly sensitive information to Israeli government officials … Continue reading “Why Bush Will Pardon AIPAC for Espionage”

The first crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program arose in late 1994. It was obvious there was not much the United States could do to step in unilaterally and disarm the North Korean regime. Sanctions, the normally inevitable option short of war, had no meaning – the United States had no trade with the North … Continue reading “The Most Dangerous Man in America”

Updated at 10:55 p.m. EDT, Aug. 19, 2008At least 66 Iraqis were killed and another 26 more were wounded. Among the dead were PKK rebels killed by Turkish forces. A mass grave was also found. Also, the governor’s office in Diyala province was raided by security forces or gunmen dressed as policemen. One U.S. servicemember … Continue reading “Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 66 Iraqis Killed; 26 Iraqis Wounded”

After suffering a series of stinging defeats of its detention policies in four years of Supreme Court decisions, the George W. Bush administration may be in for yet more bad news. In what legal scholars describe as a highly unusual move, a federal appeals court in New York last week decided to rehear a case … Continue reading “Arar Faces Uphill Legal Battle”

The American people should be eternally grateful to Old Europe for having spiked the Bush-McCain plan to bring Georgia into NATO. Had Georgia been in NATO when Mikheil Saakashvili invaded South Ossetia, we would be eyeball to eyeball with Russia, facing war in the Caucasus, where Moscow’s superiority is as great as U.S. superiority in … Continue reading “Who Started Cold War II?”