Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says al-Qaeda’s power base in Iraq has been squeezed by a lack of funds and a power vacuum at the top. Despite al-Qaeda weakening, attacks continue to vex Iraq. At least 21 Iraqis were killed and 72 more were wounded in new violence. Also, Iraq lodged complaints with Iran over reports that Iranian troops have crossed the border and started to erect a new fort as part of their operations against Kurdish rebels.
Within an hour after Israel commandos hijacked the Free Gaza Movement flotilla on the high seas and killed at least nine relief workers, Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted to its Web site a “legal background” to the attack. The short, 12-point statement makes a low-key, matter of fact argument why the law is on Israel’s side. …
Continue reading “Drowning in the Law of the Sea”
On the high seas, outside territorial waters, the ship was stopped by the navy. The commandos stormed it. Hundreds of people on the deck resisted; the soldiers used force. Some of the passengers were killed, scores injured. The ship was brought into harbor; the passengers were taken off by force. The world saw them walking …
Continue reading “Exodus 2010”
One of my readers, in the comments section below, wrote the following in response to my last column on Israel’s hijacking of the Gaza flotilla: “Again I ask the question: What do the Israelis have on our politicians that makes them such whores? Dirty pictures? Threats of withholding campaign contributions? It’s really embarrassing as well …
Continue reading “Our Enemies, the Israelis”
Updated at 9:09 p.m. EDT, June 6, 2010
A spate of attacks focused on Baghdad and surrounding communities. Overall, at least 12 Iraqis were killed and 46 more were wounded in those and other attacks across the country. Meanwhile, a lack of water could fuel Iraq’s next insurgency. Also, cross-border attacks between Turkish forces and the PKK continue in the north.
Updated at 7:55 p.m. EST, June 5, 2010
At least 10 Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded in attacks that included two political assassinations of Iraqiya candidates. In Diyala province, meanwhile, relations between Sunni fighters and the Shi’ite council deteriorated after a call to disarm them. Also, Kurdish officials reported another armed incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan by Iranian troops chasing Party For A Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) rebels.
If, as expected, the U.N. Security Council remains politically impotent and refuses to penalize Israel for the killings of nine pro-Palestinian civilians on a ship carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, what is the next course of action? A global civil society campaign to delegitimize Israel? Formal or informal sanctions by individual states? Worldwide arrest warrants? …
Continue reading “A Global Civil Society Campaign to Delegitimize Israel?”
BRUSSELS — Within three days of Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Monday, the pro-Israel lobby in Brussels was already seeking to deflect attention from the killing of nine peace activists in international waters. The European Friends of Israel, a grouping of parliamentarians, issued a statement Jun 3, which made no reference to the …
Continue reading “Flotilla Raid Fires Up Israel Lobby”
Nebojsa Malic on yet another meaningless summit
At least five Iraqis were killed and 12 more were wounded in prayer day violence. Also, a U.S. soldier died in Baghdad on Wednesday after an accident that is under investigation.
