Month: February 2009

The appointment of Dennis Ross as a special advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has found a cool reaction in Tehran and some U.S. policy circles. "The appointment of Ross is an apparent contradiction with [President Barack] Obama’s announced policy to bring change in United States foreign policy," said Iran’s State Radio on … Continue reading “Obama’s New Iran Envoy Met With Skepticism”

In a stunning reversal, Britain’s government admitted Wednesday that it participated in the "extraordinary rendition" to Afghanistan of two terror suspects captured in Iraq. British Defense Secretary John Hutton told Britain’s House of Commons that the two individuals were captured by British forces in Iraq, transferred to U.S. detention and later moved to a U.S. … Continue reading “Britain Admits Complicity in U.S. Rendition”

RAMALLAH – "They started smashing down doors at 2am last Wednesday before moving through homes and destroying property," says the mayor of Jayyus, Muhammed Taher Shamasni. "Residents were assaulted, money was stolen, computers confiscated, over 60 young men arrested and the village placed under curfew. The Israeli soldiers came into my home and threw the … Continue reading “Trapped Between the Wall and the Green Line”

I see that the Pentagon has reversed its old policy of refusing to allow photographs of those flag-draped coffins as our dead soldiers return from the battlefield. One wonders, however, how much interest there will be in taking and publishing such photos now that President Barack Obama is in office. One also wonders how long it … Continue reading “The Silence of the Liberals “

In the midst of an economic crisis that’s getting scarier by the day, it’s time to ask whether the nation can really afford some 1,000 military bases overseas. For those unfamiliar with the issue, you read that number correctly. One thousand. One thousand U.S. military bases outside the 50 states and Washington, DC, representing the largest collection … Continue reading “Start Closing Overseas Bases Now”

It is not entirely surprising that Amos Gilad, an Israeli general who once sued his own government for "irreversible mental damage" caused by his role in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, has publicly courted controversy again.  On Monday, Ehud Olmert, Israel’s outgoing prime minister, suspended Mr. Gilad as his envoy to Egypt, responsible for negotiating … Continue reading “Israel’s Military Mephistopheles”

I‘m still shocked, even though I shouldn’t be, when people call me a pacifist.  They look at the facts that I write regularly for Antiwar.com and that I oppose every war the U.S. government is involved in, as well as virtually every war the U.S. has been in since the revolutionary war.  (I’m not sure … Continue reading “Peacemaking at a Raiders’ Game”

Former Antiwar.com columnist Doug Bandow writes this week in The National Interest After a rough start with the EP-3 spy plane confrontation, the Bush administration forged a good relationship between the United States and China. Washington realized that it needed Beijing’s help in dealing with North Korea, winning UN Security Council approval for U.S. objectives, … Continue reading “Balancing Beijing”

Updated at 7:23 p.m. EST, Feb. 26, 2009President Obama will address the nation tomorrow in what is expected to be a speech outlining his war plans. Back in Iraq, violence left at least three Iraqis killed and another 21 wounded. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti foreign minister made an official trip to … Continue reading “Thursday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 21 Wounded”

Strong majorities of people in predominantly Muslim countries reject terrorism but support key goals of al-Qaeda, notably expelling U.S. military forces from the Islamic world, according to a major new study of public opinion in seven nations and the Palestinian territories released here Wednesday. Nearly 90 percent of Egyptian respondents, 65 percent of Indonesians, 62 … Continue reading “Many Muslims Reject Terror Tactics, Back Some Goals”