Month: January 2009

How will history describe the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza? Another Holocaust, this time perpetrated by the descendants of the victims? An election ploy by ambitious Israeli politicians to win votes in the February 10 elections? A test range for new American weapons? An effort to lock the new Obama Administration into an … Continue reading “How to Inflame the Entire Muslim World”

On Inauguration day, Muslims and citizens worldwide optimistically and anxiously began purging the sordid memory of the disastrous and obtuse arrogance of the Bush administration. Even Obama, the "chosen one," cannot completely cleanse the collective stain of the "Bush Era" that squandered global good will with two failed wars, a belligerent rhetoric of "clash of … Continue reading “Obama and the Muslims: An Inauguration of a New Era?”

Updated at 3:05 p.m. EST, Jan. 21, 2009The discovery of buried bodies in Diyala province inflated the number of reported deaths in Iraq. At least 33 Iraqis were killed, including those found in the graves, and 17 more were wounded. No Coalition deaths were reported, but the scheduled withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq is … Continue reading “Wednesday: 33 Iraqis Killed, 17 Wounded”

In the last days before Israel imposed a unilateral cease-fire in Gaza to avoid embarrassing the incoming Obama administration, it upped its assault, driving its troops deeper into Gaza City, intensifying its artillery bombardment, and creating thousands more displaced people. Israel’s military strategy in Gaza, even in what its officials were calling the “final act," … Continue reading “Israel Intensified Assault in Final Days”

When Israel went on a military rampage during its 22-day air strikes and artillery attacks on Gaza, it largely singled out residential neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, and UN buildings on the pretext of targeting Hamas fighters. But John Ging, director of operations for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), based in Gaza, kept insisting there … Continue reading “UNRWA Chief Appalled at Israeli Destruction in Gaza”

Speaking before a record crowd estimated at between two and three million people at his inauguration Tuesday, U.S. President Barack Obama promised a foreign policy of "humility and restraint" and "greater cooperation and understanding between nations." In his first address as president, Obama also said he will take "bold and swift" action to address the … Continue reading “Obama Offers Internationalist Vision”

As a new administration takes power in Washington and the promise of "change" is in the air, we have to ask ourselves: when-oh-when is it coming? When will the dam break on the sclerotic foreign policy thinking of the past eight – heck, the past 50 – years? The first place to begin is, of … Continue reading “False Dawn”

At least seven Iraqis were killed and another 35 were wounded in today’s attacks, which including an assassination attempt on a deputy minister in Baghdad. No Coalition deaths were reported, but two U.S. soldiers were wounded during a bombing in the capital. Back home, U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with military officials tomorrow to … Continue reading “Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 35 Wounded”

RAMALLAH – Humanitarian aid is being rushed into Gaza as Israel and Egypt open their borders temporarily to allow convoys of aid to pass through. While Israeli drones circle the skies above, Hamas security men are back on the streets attempting to restore some semblance of law and order. Policemen are directing traffic. Several looters … Continue reading “Gazans Do Not Blame Hamas”

Perhaps never in human history have the hopes of so many people for positive change in international relations rested on one person as they do on Barack Obama, who is to be inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States at noon Washington time. That is one way of reading a new 17-nation poll … Continue reading “Around the World, High Hopes for Obama”