Month: December 2008

The incoming Obama administration is scrambling to distance itself from the scandal emanating from the president-elect’s home state. It is still too early to tell how much Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s alleged attempt to sell the president-elect’s Senate seat in exchange for $1 million may taint Obama advisers. But we may soon discover the answer … Continue reading “Will Obama End Pay-to-Play
in Mideast Policy?”

Hit Me Baby One More Time There’s an ambiguous undercurrent to the catchy pop smash that introduced a pigtailed Britney Spears to the world in 1999 – so much so that Jive Records changed the song’s title to "… Baby One More Time" after executives feared that it would be perceived as condoning domestic violence. … Continue reading “A History of Music Torture in the ‘War on Terror’”

The powerful Israel Lobby, with its support of the Iraq war and its insistence that Iran be denuclearized, by force if necessary, is a major constituent of the War Party in the United States. Some Americans who wish to remake the Middle East also believe that supporting Israel includes providing its government with U.S. defense … Continue reading “Israel’s ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Card”

Updated at 6:31 p.m. EST, Dec. 15, 2008At least 24 Iraqis were killed and 36 more were wounded in the latest violence. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, an Iraqi journalist has become a hero to many Iraqis a day after throwing his shoes at U.S. President Bush. Also, the U.N. is asking Iraqis to … Continue reading “Monday: 24 Iraqis Killed, 36 Wounded”

KARACHI – While NATO and United States forces have downplayed raids in Peshawar by pro-Taliban militants, destroying hundreds of their military vehicles and supply containers destined for Afghanistan, analysts here believe that the damage is significant. On Saturday the militants destroyed 11 trucks and 13 containers in the latest of a series of attacks over … Continue reading “Taliban Raids on NATO Convoys Crippling, Say Analysts”

Did you, too, get that frisson of déjà vu when you first heard about the bank bailout and its rationale? If you don’t hand over untold trillions of dollars in the next five minutes, the economy is going to explode. This was how the PATRIOT Act got rammed through Congress in record time, before anyone … Continue reading “The Crisis-Mongers”

Of course it would hardly do to consider a report [.pdf] from a congressional committee the last possible word on a past event or series of events. What makes a report this week from the Senate Armed Services Committee last Thursday of special interest is that it was bipartisan in nature, with no minority report, … Continue reading “From the Top,
as We Suspected”

Updated at 9:15 p.m. EST, Dec. 14, 2008U.S. President Bush made a secret to Baghdad, where he met with Prime Minister Maliki and President Talabani to sign the new security agreement between the two countries. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said that the country is ready for next month’s provincial elections. Little violence and no … Continue reading “Sunday: 1 Iraqi Killed, 19 Wounded”

At least seven Iraqis were killed and nine were wounded in the latest round of violence. No Coalition deaths were reported, but U.S. Secretary Gates is in Iraq to facilitate the change in direction that a security agreement will mean for U.S. troops. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Iraq to meet with U.S. commanders … Continue reading “Saturday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 9 Wounded”

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, someone "close" to President-elect Obama told them that the Obama-Biden-Hillary administration intends to offer Israel a "nuclear umbrella." Now, you know what an ordinary umbrella is. And if you can find it and unfurl it in time, if the rain is coming straight down out of the sky, and … Continue reading “Nuke Umbrellas”