It was a stiflingly hot Friday afternoon in East Jerusalem’s Wadi Joz neighborhood on June 11, 2010. That’s where Ziad Jilani lived with his American-born wife, Moira, and his three young daughters. He had some errands to run and as he left the house, he told his wife to get the girls ready because he …
Continue reading “Ziad Jilani: a Kill Shot in Wadi Joz”
Even as President Barack Obama touts his progress in extracting the U.S. from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his administration appears to be deepening its covert and military involvement in strife-torn Yemen. Washington is worried about recent advances by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), particularly in the southern part of the country. Since …
Continue reading “US Escalating Drone War in Yemen”
In January 2009, just before Gary Samore left his position as Vice-President for Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, he summed up his rather cynical view of how Iran would conduct negotiations. "The logical position the Iranians are bound to take," he wrote in a post on the Council’s website, "is: ‘We’re happy to …
Continue reading “Understanding Iran’s Diplomatic Strategy”
During talks with Kurdish President Massoud Barzani yesterday, Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr mandate insisted that there would be no support for an overthrow of the government, but he did suggest the possibility of not renewing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s mandate as premier. At least seven Iraqis were killed and seven more were wounded today.
The neocons are back. Indeed, they never really went away: instead, they just went to ground temporarily until the smoke cleared over Iraq, and now they’re right out front pushing war with Iran, "regime change" in Syria, and hailing Obama’s (and Mitt Romney’s) favorite foreign policy book as the Received Wisdom of the Moment. Sen. …
Continue reading “Marco Rubio and Our Wretched Destiny”
Pepe Escobar on rising powers
Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Israel, by Phillys Bennis
Adam Bates on Washington’s tortured drone logic
Among the GOP victories in 2010, none was sweeter than that of Marco Rubio. The charismatic young Cuban-American challenged Gov. Charlie Crist in a Senate primary, ran him out of the party and swept to victory by 19 points in a three-way race. Among those mentioned as running mates for Mitt Romney, it is Rubio …
Continue reading “Tomorrow’s Man – or Yesterday’s?”
Attacks in and around Baghdad seemed to mimic last Thursday’s coordinated attacks against security personnel. However, today’s violence targeted gold dealers and civilians instead. At least 29 Iraqis were killed and 50 more were wounded. Meanwhile, an impromptu summit in Kurdistan could signal an intensified campaign to force Maliki to comply with a power-sharing deal.
