Month: December 2009

Pentagon’s War Pitch Belied by Taliban-Qaeda Conflict

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen argued in Senate Testimony Wednesday that the 30,000-troop increase is necessary to prevent the Taliban from giving new safe havens to al Qaeda terrorists. But that argument is flatly contradicted by the evidence of fundamental conflicts between the … Continue reading “Pentagon’s War Pitch Belied by Taliban-Qaeda Conflict”

Saturday: 6 Iraqis Killed, 13 Wounded

Updated at 9:45 p.m. EST, Dec. 5, 2009 At least six Iraqis were killed and 13 more were wounded in attacks across Iraq. Meanwhile, lawmakers have apparently reversed an elections law amendment that had delighted Kurd citizens but enraged their Sunni counterparts; however, a conflicting report notes that a quorum was not reached in parliament, imperiling the passage of the law.

Trial and Error

World Court Ponders Kosovo "Independence" In October 2008, the government in Belgrade gloated for one whole day because the UN General Assembly allowed it to request an advisory opinion from the World Court (International Court of Justice) concerning the "independence" of its occupied province of Kosovo. Only Albania and three South Pacific states joined the … Continue reading “Trial and Error”

Neocons Get Warm and Fuzzy Over ‘War President’

U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan for a 30,000-troop surge and a troop withdrawal timeline beginning in 18 months has caught criticism from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers. But a small group of hawkish foreign policy experts – who have lobbied the White House since August to escalate U.S. involvement in Afghanistan – are christening Obama … Continue reading “Neocons Get Warm and Fuzzy Over ‘War President’”

O=W

"O=W" is a bumper sticker beginning to show up on liberals’ cars. After the president’s speech Tuesday night at West Point, I suspect it will spread rapidly. For eight years, conservatives endured the agony of watching President George W. Bush attach the label "conservative" to a host of policies that were anti-conservative: Wilsonian wars, American … Continue reading “O=W”

Friday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded

Updated at 4:13 p.m. EST, Dec. 4, 2009 At least four Iraqis were killed today and six more were wounded in the latest attacks. With many Iraqi politicians still on holiday, Parliamentary speaker Iyad al-Samarrai fears that a lack of a quorum will prevent discussion of the elections law impasse. Also, Lt. Gen. Sir Anthony Pigott, former deputy chief of the defense staff, testified at a British inquiry, stating that U.S. forces were premature in declaring victory in Iraq.

Obama’s Exit Strategy

If actions speak louder than words, President Obama is cutting America free of George Bush’s wars and coming home. For his bottom line Tuesday night was that all U.S. forces will be out of Iraq by mid-2011 and the U.S. footprint in Afghanistan will, on that date, begin to get smaller and smaller. Yet the … Continue reading “Obama’s Exit Strategy”

Obama’s War: The Reaction

I’m actually pretty surprised to see that many liberals and progressives are not climbing on board Obama’s war wagon – notably Rachel Maddow, who made a stinging criticism of the escalation by comparing the rhetoric of the Bush administration and that of the New Obama, concluding that the latter had adopted and even extended the … Continue reading “Obama’s War: The Reaction”