Six months into Barack Obama’s presidency, the U.S. public’s display of antiwar sentiment has faded to barely a whisper. Despite Obama’s vow to withdraw all combat forces from Iraq before September 2011, he plans to leave up to 50,000 troops in "training and advisory" roles. Meanwhile, nearly 130,000 troops remain in that country and more …
Continue reading “Soldiers Who Just Say No”
Time to play catch-up, says Kelley Vlahos
How many Marines and soldiers will die in Afghanistan before the mainstream media dares to speak the truth and ask questions based thereon? Yes, it is the mainstream media that is keeping us locked in Afghanistan, and they are doing so for two reasons: They will do almost anything to avoid asking President Obama a …
Continue reading “Questions on the Eve of the Afghan Election”
Gen. Petraeus is biding his time, says Jeff Huber
Updated at 5:54 p.m. EDT, Aug. 17, 2009
The U.S. Commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, revealed that he’s been in talks with Iraqi and Kurdish officials about deploying U.S. troops to disputed territories in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, at least 23 Iraqis were killed and 28 more were wounded in violent attacks across the country. Also, Human Rights Watch has asked the Iraqi government to stop abuse targeting Iraqi homosexuals.
Back in September 2005, when I first began researching Guantánamo for my book The Guantánamo Files, the prison was still shrouded in mystery, even though attorneys had been visiting prisoners for nearly a year, following the Supreme Court’s ruling, in June 2004, that they had habeas corpus rights. Researchers at the Washington Post and at …
Continue reading “Bagram: Gitmo All Over Again”
In those heady days of 2003, when the War Party was really feeling its oats and the neocons, the "warbloggers," and the television talking heads were triumphantly hailing the invasion of Iraq as an unqualified success, one Iraqi pretty much summed up the Arab response to the "liberation," as reported by the New York Times: …
Continue reading “Afghan Election 2009: Freedom, Fraud, and Fornication”
For years the United States has used military force as a Band-Aid for a wide-range of global problems ranging from the removal of dictators to ensuring access to global trade partners. Yet it’s clear that this has not been successful. For all of the money, time, and lives we have spent to maintain a colossal …
Continue reading “Intervention Begets Insecurity”
The ancient port of Acre is now the object of a fierce battle. The Arab inhabitants of the town want the port to bear the name of an Arab hero, Issa al Awam, a general under Saladin, the Muslim leader who defeated the Crusaders. The municipality of Acre, which of course is dominated by the …
Continue reading “Abridged Histories of the Holy Land”
Updated at 5:30 p.m. EDT, Aug. 16, 2009
At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 46 more were wounded in the latest violence. A Shabak leader survived an assassination attempt with light injuries, but his fellow Arab and Kurd councilmembers used the attack to heighten their own rivalry. This complicated situation in the northern provinces has left the country’s planning minister with no choice but to postpone the first full census in over two decades. The fear is that the count could further intensify sectarian tensions ahead of January’s national election.
