At his confirmation hearings two weeks ago, Gen. Stanley McChrystal said reducing civilian deaths from air strikes in Afghanistan was "strategically decisive" and declared his "willingness to operate in ways that minimize casualties or damage, even when it makes our task more difficult." Some McChrystal supporters hope he will rein in the main source of …
Continue reading “McChrystal Looks to Spin Afghan Civilian Deaths Problem”
Jeremy Scahill wonders where the real opposition is
Joshua Frank says time to toss those Obama shirts
Updated at 6:55 p.m. EDT, June 17, 2009
At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 10 were wounded in the latest violence. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, an arrest has been made in connection with last week’s prominent murder of a Sunni politician. Back in the U.S., the House passed a $106 billion war-funding bill.
Amid rising tensions with North Korea, U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday assured visiting South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak that Washington was firmly committed to their nearly 60-year alliance and their mutual determination not to yield to Pyongyang’s demands that it be recognized as a nuclear power. "We have not come to a conclusion that North …
Continue reading “Obama Affirms Alliance With S. Korea Amid Rising Tensions”
William Pfaff on the two impending revolutions in Islam
Ira Chernus examines Netanyahu’s narrative
At the end of a hectic week at Guantánamo, which saw the Obama administration overcome its previous inability to release prisoners (just two were released from January to May), it was announced that, following the release of four Uighurs to Bermuda, the return of Guantánamo’s youngest prisoner, Mohammed El-Gharani, to Chad, and the repatriation of …
Continue reading “Empty Evidence”
Why the about-face? asks Nebojsa Malic
At least one Iraqis was killed and eight more were injured in light violence. A U.S. soldier was killed in an explosion near Samawa as well. Another U.S. soldier was wounded in an I.E.D attack in Baghdad. Meanwhile, Egypt has named its first ambassador to Iraq in four years.
