Month: October 2008

Updated at 6:48 p.m. EDT, Oct. 8, 2008At least 19 Iraqis were killed and 34 more were wounded in the latest violence. The DoD reported the death of a U.S. soldier in an non-combat vehicular accident as well. Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry said they were ready to handle security should U.S. forces withdraw. Also, Prime … Continue reading “Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 19 Iraqis Killed; 34 Iraqis Wounded”

U.S. human rights and civil rights groups lauded a federal court decision Tuesday that orders the release of 17 Muslim minority Chinese men who have been held without charges for seven years at the infamous U.S. military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. But despite the praise of the organizations, it is uncertain whether the … Continue reading “Judge Orders Release of Uighurs at Guantanamo”

Calling Pakistan the "greatest single challenge" to the next U.S. administration, a bipartisan group of South Asia experts recommends cutting aid to the Pakistani army unless it commits itself to the counter-insurgency struggle against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. "The Pakistan military should understand that its failure to embrace this fundamental shift in outlook will significantly … Continue reading “Pakistan ‘Greatest Single Challenge’ to Next President”

I have to admit once being not enamored of, but hopeful about the candidacy of Barack Obama. In “The Year of the Insurgents,” I underlined why I thought the conventional wisdom about this election year was dead wrong, and I was right about that. But what I wasn’t right about was the extent to which … Continue reading “Have No Illusions”

As the U.S. courts put pressure on the government to justify the long detention of prisoners at Guantánamo without charge or trial (following the Supreme Court’s ruling, in June, that they have constitutional habeas corpus rights, and that the government must justify their imprisonment), two of Guantánamo’s oldest prisoners have been quietly repatriated: 51-year-old Sudanese … Continue reading “Two 50-Year-Olds Released From Guantánamo”

In colloquial Israeli Hebrew, when someone discovers something that everybody else already knows, we say: "Good morning, Elijahu!" Why Elijahu? I don’t know. Now one could say: "Good morning, Ehud!" That’s what I said to myself when I read the sensational interview that Ehud Olmert gave this week, on the eve of the Jewish New … Continue reading “Good Morning, Ehud!”

Updated at 7:45 p.m. EDT, Oct. 7, 2008At least 14 Iraqis were killed and 20 more were wounded. Two U.S. soldiers were killed in separate incidents as well. Meanwhile, Turkey continued to pound northern Iraq with air strikes. Also, Iraq has now formally approved the provincial elections law, while U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John … Continue reading “Tuesday: 2 US Soldiers, 14 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded”

As the United States steps up border raids into Pakistan, troops from both countries have commenced a deadly game of brinkmanship. Although aimed at asserting each other’s military presence along the Pakistan-Afghan border, the skirmishes risk outright hostilities. U.S. strikes in Pakistan are nothing new. Washington has conducted unilateral missile strikes since soon after its … Continue reading “Pakistan and the US on Brink of War?”

In August 2002, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK), an armed Iranian opposition group listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization but supported by the neoconservatives within and without the Pentagon, provided the first concrete evidence of the existence of Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in Natanz. In February 2003, Iran formally declared the existence of … Continue reading “Iran, the IAEA, and the Laptop”

The issue of John McCain’s health has been somewhat muted thus far in the presidential campaign, possibly because no mainstream media talking head wants to appear to be picking on someone who is old and sick, not to mention frequently querulous. If McCain were to be elected and then die or become incapacitated, Alaska’s Gov. … Continue reading “Palin Goes Ballistic”