Month: October 2008

The Israeli army officer in charge of the occupation of the West Bank, Gen. Gadi Shamni, has lambasted extremist Jewish settlers, blaming rising levels of violence on the encouragement of their leadership and right-wing rabbis. It is rare for a senior commander to speak so critically of the settlers, many of whom themselves serve in … Continue reading “Israel’s Army and Settlers Fall Out”

Updated at 5:13 p.m. EDT, Oct. 3, 2008A day after Baghdad was rocked by multiple bombings, quiet seemingly returned to the city; however, it is the prayer day so many reporters have taken the day off to worship. One U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in Amara. At least four Iraqis were killed … Continue reading “Friday: 1 US Soldier, 3 Iraqis Killed; 3 Iraqis Wounded”

While the US Senate’s approval of a controversial nuclear deal with India was hailed by the White House Thursday as a major advance in Washington’s "strategic relationship" with the South Asian giant, weapons experts warned that it dealt a serious blow to more than 30 years of US and international nonproliferation efforts. "This is a … Continue reading “Senate Passes Nuke Deal Over Escalation Fears”

The $700 billion bailout for the Wall Street poobahs looks ready to sail through the House of Representatives, which earlier – and uncharacteristically – listened to the popular will and voted a resounding “No!” heard ‘round the world. After going back to the drawing boards, and doing what they did with the war funding vote … Continue reading “The Bubble Boys”

America Between the Wars: From 11/9 to 9/11 Derek Chollet and James Goldgeier PublicAffairs 412 pp. The end of the Cold War – the dissolution of the Soviet Union, crash of the Eastern European Soviet satellites, collapse of the Warsaw Pact, and fall of the Berlin Wall – was an extraordinary moment in human history. … Continue reading “America Between the Wars“

Updated at 6:32 p.m. EDT, Oct. 2, 2008As the faithful were observing the Eid, suicide bombers struck at a pair of Sistani-led mosques in Baghdad. Overall, at least 39 Iraqis were killed and 65 more were wounded in attacks across the country. No Coalition deaths were reported, but four U.S. soldiers were injured during a … Continue reading “Thursday: 39 Iraqis Killed, 65 Wounded”

Many years ago, Nobel Prize-winning author Ivo Andric wrote about a peculiarity of Sarajevo; none of the bell towers in the Old City tolled at the same time. However slight, there would always be a lag between the chimes of the Catholic cathedral, the Orthodox basilica, and the Turkish clock tower that rises alongside the … Continue reading “The Harsh Constant”

One way to look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is to see them as one war with two fronts. Germany fought two-front wars twice in the 20th century, and it was almost able to prevail because it had the advantage of interior lines. The German Army could quickly shift divisions and corps from … Continue reading “War on Two Fronts, Without Railways”

Andy Worthington, author of The Guantánamo Files, looks at recent disturbing developments in the Military Commission trial system at Guantánamo, and traces a chain of command that runs from the Commissions’ supposedly impartial "Convening Authority" all the way to the Office of the Vice President. A Prosecutor Resigns On September 24, Col. Lawrence Morris, the … Continue reading “The Dark Heart of the Guantánamo Trials”

It takes half a million dollars per year to maintain each sergeant in combat in Iraq. Thanks to a Senate committee inquiry, an authoritative government study finally details the costs of keeping boots on the ground. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in its report Contractors’ Support of U.S. Operations in Iraq, compared the costs of … Continue reading “The Cost of Boots on the Ground in Iraq”