Month: February 2009

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently briefed President Barack Obama on Afghanistan and the Pentagon’s proposal to send 15,000 more troops there by late spring. Obama is expected to accept the plan as a “down payment” on his pledge during the campaign to put more troops into the fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban insurgents. … Continue reading “Why Obama Should Reconsider
His Afghanistan Pledge”

For the sake of all the people who have either lost their jobs, seen their mortgages turned upside-down, or at least been plunged into anxiety, one certainly hopes that the $790 billion "stimulus" package, the most expensive piece of legislation ever passed, will do whatever it is supposed to do to the economy. Unfortunately it … Continue reading “The War Recession”

Updated at 9:00 p.m. EST, Feb. 15, 2009At least seven Iraqis were killed and 35 more were wounded in the latest round of violence. Another 18 victims were found in new mass graves. Two U.S. soldiers were killed as well. Meanwhile, the Iraqi election commission concluded that some fraud took place in last month’s elections, … Continue reading “Sunday: 2 US Soldiers, 25 Iraqis Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded”

Iraqi forces deployed 5,000 additional security personnel to thwart attacks against Arbaeen pilgrims on their way to the holy city of Karbala. Over 60 have been killed in three successive days of attacks. Today, at least eight Iraqis were killed and another five were wounded in light attacks; however, 40 bodies were found in a … Continue reading “Saturday: 8 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded; 40 Bodies in Mass Grave”

In 1991, when inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency were allowed back into Iraq – after United Nations forces ejected the Iraqi invaders from Kuwait and Saddam Hussein had agreed to comply with certain UN Security Council resolutions – they quickly discovered that Saddam had been in violation of the Iraqi IAEA Safeguards Agreement. … Continue reading “Tenet’s Greatest Hit a Miss”

A prominent British-American lawyer who represents an Ethiopian-born Guantánamo detainee is charging that U.S. Defense Department officials are intentionally concealing evidence of his client’s rendition and torture from President Barack Obama. The lawyer is Clive Stafford Smith, director of the legal charity Reprieve. He says he sent a letter to Obama through the Defense Department … Continue reading “Rendition Case Enters ‘Bizarre’ Realms of Secrecy”

President Barack Obama and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair did not appear to be on the same page this week when they talked about Iran’s nuclear intentions. Obama referred in his news conference to Iran’s "development of a nuclear weapon or their pursuit of a nuclear weapon," but Blair said "we do not know … Continue reading “Intel Estimate Muddied Iran’s Nuclear Intent”

Africa was always the continent (one of the few) that even the usually interventionist U.S. national security analysts deemed as non-strategic to U.S. interests.  Not anymore. The Pentagon’s new Africa Command bureaucracy, which was created largely to defend oil produced on the West African coast (itself a dubious objective), has already branched out to fight … Continue reading “Battling Christian Terrorists”

Updated at 6:40 p.m. EST, Feb. 13, 2009A female suicide bomber entered a tent filled with Arbaeen pilgrims and killed dozens in a third day of significant sectarian attacks. Overall, at least 45 Iraqis were killed and another 91 were wounded across the country. One British soldier was also killed during a shooting incident in … Continue reading “Friday: 1 UK Soldier, 45 Iraqis; 91 Iraqis Wounded”

The day before Richard Holbrooke arrived in Kabul, eight suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Justice and Education ministries, killing 26 and wounding 57. Kabul was paralyzed, as the Taliban displayed an ability to wreak havoc within a hundred yards of the presidential palace. The assault came as President Obama is both conducting a strategic … Continue reading “Obama and the Great Game”