While most of the rest of us celebrate the holidays with family and friends, several hundred thousand U.S. troops will – once again – be separated from their loved ones. Currently, there are some 117,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and another 68,000 in Afghanistan, with...
Did we win? Sunday marked the first anniversary of the Gaza War, alias Operation Cast Lead, and this question fills the public space. Within the Israeli consensus, the answer has already been given: Certainly we won; the Qassams have stopped coming. A simple, not to...
At the end of each year I typically award the "Freeby" to the person who has done the most in the service of civil liberties. As dusk fell on 2008 and the reign-of-error Bush administration was packing up its jackhammers, I felt then that I could have...
It just wouldn’t be Christmas in the age of terror if we didn’t have a visitation, ostensibly from al-Qaeda, now would it? 'Tis the season, and all that. Recall Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber," arrested on December 22, 2001, for trying to blow up American...
Officials estimate that six to eight million pilgrims were in Karbala for the climax of Ashura observances and rituals. Over 100,000 of them were foreigners. Although no incidents were reported there, attacks against pilgrims returning to their homes continued. At...
Updated at 12:58 p.m. EST, Dec. 27, 2009 Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are in Karbala to participate in the climax of Ashura observances. Despite increased security, attacks kept some pilgrims from reaching the holy city. At least 16 Iraqis were killed and 51 more...
Updated at 8:25 p.m. EST, Dec. 25, 2009 At least 27 Iraqis were killed and 83 more were wounded in both Ashura-related violence and other attacks. In northern Iraq, Shabaks and Christians fought over decorations at a church. Meanwhile, a controversial rule that would...
