It’s no wonder the Israeli Foreign Ministry initially held back from releasing a transcript of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the UN General Assembly: Bibi’s wackiness doesn’t bear close scrutiny. Perhaps “wacky” isn’t quite the right word for his 40-minute peroration, during which he pulled out a bomb “diagram” and a red marker to …
Continue reading “Bibi’s Crazy UN Speech”
Yes, and what kind of mind-boggling corruption — of the worst kind — influence peddling by a “foreign power” (as defined by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to include foreign terrorist groups) — lies hidden behind the curtain? Could some members of the MEK “foreign terrorist organization,” their murderous history magically erased, be sent …
Continue reading “‘Our (New) Terrorists’ the MEK: Have We Seen This Movie Before?”
“You’re not really going to Pakistan, are you?” “You’ve seen the State Department travel warning?” “Don’t they hate us over there?” There are questions our friends and relatives are asking as we embark on a delegation to Pakistan to protest the drone attacks that have killed so many innocent Pakistanis over the past 8 years. …
Continue reading “Americans Take Anti-Drone Stance Directly to Pakistan”
French President Francois Hollande, by reputation, is an unlikely budget hawk; as a candidate for office, he ran against austerity measures. But the realities of governing sometimes complicate politicians’ promises. After taking office, the euro crisis is now forcing Hollande to pledge to cut the French budget deficit down to 3% of GDP by the …
Continue reading “Against Stereotype, Budget Hawks and War Hawks Edition”
At least 24 Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in new attacks. The numbers from a deadly jailbreak in Tikrit are likely to rise as more reports are posted.
Remember the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel who made his mark saving aristos from the guillotine? “They seek him here, they seek him there. Those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell? That damned elusive Pimpernel.” Fortunately Baroness Orczy’s creation lived and worked in the eighteenth century. It’s not so difficult …
Continue reading “The Ubiquitous New Yorker”
With all foreign troops due to leave Afghanistan just two years from now, the news out of the Central Asian nation is becoming increasingly gloomy. Adding to the pessimism is a just-released report by one of the most astute observers of the U.S. war, Gilles Dorronsoro, an Afghanistan expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International …
Continue reading “Gloomy News, Prognosis Out of Afghanistan”
The violence slipped south of Baghdad today, where a police chief and a young girl were among the victims. Overall, at least 14 Iraqis were killed and eight more were wounded.
It came and went in a flash and now it’s long forgotten, buried in the rubble heap of history. But maybe, given recent events, a little excavation is in order. After all, as the author of Constantine’s Sword, James Carroll, wrote in 2004, looking back on the 9/11 moment, “A few days after the assault… …
Continue reading “Even Dumb Ideas Have Consequences”
Whatever one may think of our President, it has to be admitted that his speech to the United Nations showed real leadership. He took the time to explain, at length, that although the noxious Innocence of Muslims video had nothing to do with the US government, and that it represents only the views of marginal …
Continue reading “In Defense of the President” 
