Month: May 2009

The New Neocons

The last futile, expensive, and grotesquely immoral war launched by the United States was authored by those ideological shape-shifters and creatures of legend, the neoconservatives (neocons for short), whose storied history has been the subject of endless books, articles, and memoirs. There’s even a documentary film in which the aforesaid neocons tout their own intellectual … Continue reading “The New Neocons”

McChrystal Choice Suggests Special-Ops Strikes to Continue

The choice of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal to become the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan has been hailed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates and national news media as ushering in a new, unconventional approach to counterinsurgency. But McChrystal’s background sends a very different message from the one claimed by Gates and the news media. His … Continue reading “McChrystal Choice Suggests Special-Ops Strikes to Continue”

Back to the Balkans

A story I read years ago culminated with the protagonist holed up in a cheap hotel in the Balkans, listening unwillingly through the paper-thin wall as the man in the room next door beat his wife. As he pummeled her, she cried again and again, "Balkan! Balkan!" "Balkan," it seems, may be a term of … Continue reading “Back to the Balkans”

Pipelineistan Goes Af-Pak

Back in March, Pepe Escobar, that itchy, edgy global reporter for one of my favorite online publications, Asia Times, began laying out the great, ongoing energy struggle across Eurasia, or what he likes to call Pipelineistan for its web of oil and natural gas pipelines. In his first report, he dealt with the embattled energy … Continue reading “Pipelineistan Goes Af-Pak”

From Phnom Penh to Islamabad

Last September, during the American presidential campaign, I wrote a column declaring that the United States had again invaded Cambodia, only this time "Cambodia" was Pakistan. President George W. Bush had ordered U.S. ground attacks on the Taliban inside Pakistan’s Tribal Territories, without Pakistan’s authorization. That was also when Barack Obama’s foreign policy campaign platform … Continue reading “From Phnom Penh to Islamabad”

Tuesday: 10 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded

Updated at 7:58 p.m. EDT, May 12, 2009 At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 33 more were wounded in today’s attacks. The number of casualties in a suicide bombing in Kirkuk could rise. No Coalition deaths were reported, but authorities identified the U.S. soldier who killed five fellow soldiers yesterday in Baghdad. Meanwhile, a man claiming to be Abu Omar al-Baghdadi said he was not in Iraqi custody. Also, it seems that the central government has again changed its mind on Kurdish oil sales.

Lawmakers Try to Block New Abuse Photos

Civil libertarians are condemning a call by two influential U.S. senators for the White House to block the impending release of photographs showing detainees being abused by U.S. military personnel at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and at other U.S. detention facilities in the Middle East and elsewhere. The plea to intervene to … Continue reading “Lawmakers Try to Block New Abuse Photos”