Month: February 2009

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) just released its latest report on Iran’s nuclear program. The report states that all of Iran’s nuclear materials, research, and development are under the Agency’s containment and surveillance, and all the nuclear materials are safeguarded. The Agency also reported that there has been no divergence of nuclear material, in … Continue reading “Iran’s Détente Gesture to Obama? “

RAMALLAH – Negotiations for the political endgame of the recent Gaza war have proven much more difficult than – presumably – the Israeli cabinet imagined last December, when it took the final decision to start the war. Now, the negotiations to stabilize the fragile twin cease-fires that went into effect Jan. 18 have become deeply … Continue reading “Mideast Peace Talks on Hold Amid Dual Power Struggles”

Barack Obama entered the presidency as one of the most rhetorically pro-civil liberties politicians in recent memory.  And shortly after taking office, he drew applause from friends of liberty for promulgating executive orders closing Guantánamo and CIA secret prisons, ending CIA torture, suspending kangaroo proceedings at military tribunals, and pledging more openness than the secretive … Continue reading “Obama’s Policy on Civil Liberties: Bush Lite?”

Former Antiwar.com columnist Doug Bandow writes this week in The National Interest Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is off on her first foreign trip, and the destination of Asia is well-chosen. Economic, cultural and political ties with Europe remain strong, but Asia is likely to dominate the future, containing two possible superpowers as well as … Continue reading “The Asian Century”

Updated at 5:58 p.m. EST, Feb. 20, 2009The weekly prayer day was fairly quiet, only nine Iraqis were reported killed and three more were wounded. Meanwhile, a U.S. Army medic accused of murdering four Iraqi detainees was found guilty today. In a message read during Friday prayers at a Sadr City mosque, Shi’ite cleric Moqtada … Continue reading “Friday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 3 Wounded”

"The situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating," said President Obama, as he announced deployment of 17,000 more U.S. troops. "I’m absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region, solely through military means." "(T)here is no military solution in Afghanistan," says Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. … Continue reading “The Long Retreat”

The United States is planning to send an additional 17,000 troops to one of the world’s most battle-scarred nations – Afghanistan – long described as "a graveyard of empires." First, it was the British Empire, and then the Soviet Union. So, will the United States be far behind? "With his new order on Afghanistan, President … Continue reading “Afghanistan, the Next US Quagmire?”

As U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder prepared for his first trip to the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, next week, human rights advocates suffered a stinging defeat when a federal appeals court ruled that 17 Chinese Muslims scheduled for release from the Caribbean detention center could not enter the U.S. and must remain in … Continue reading “Court Passes the Buck on Fate of Chinese Muslims”

Eighteen U.S. human rights groups Thursday joined a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and a retired top diplomat in calling on President Barack Obama to appoint a nonpartisan commission of leading citizens to examine and report on the treatment of detainees held by the United States during President George W. Bush’s … Continue reading “Calls Mount for Obama to Appoint ‘Truth Commission’”

After eight years of the closest possible relations, the United States and Israel may be headed for a period of increasing strain, particularly given the likelihood that whatever Israeli government emerges from last week’s election will be more hawkish than its predecessor. While Iran, with which Barack Obama has pledged to engage in a "constructive … Continue reading “U.S.-Israel Storm Clouds Ahead?”