Risking an explosion of public anger in Okinawa, the U.S. Marine Corps is sending crash-prone MV-22 Osprey aircraft, which take off and land like a helicopter but fly like an airplane, to the islands. The white-hot opposition to the aircraft on the islands goes much deeper than just the possibility of a few civilians being …
Continue reading “Strengthening Alliances in East Asia Is the Wrong Way to Go”
At least eight Iraqis were killed and five more were wounded today. Also, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq will terminate Turkey’s presence in northern Iraq.
Several friends of mine are among the 35 American activists assembling in Pakistan in recent days in an effort to seek ground truth on the impact of U.S. drone strikes on civilians there. I will be holding them and their Pakistani hosts and co-travelers in the Light, as my Quaker friends like to say, and …
Continue reading “Silence of the Drones”
WASHINGTON — There are learning curves and then there are learning curves, and there seems to be no greater disadvantage than the one the American media is suffering from when it comes to Iran. Me included. Fancy that. Engaging Iran, with which we have had this powerfully emotional and ultimately dysfunctional relationship going back decades, …
Continue reading “My Iranian Learning Curve”
When world leaders packed their bags and headed home last week, there was one lingering memory of the General Assembly’s high-level debate: Benjamin Netanyahu’s dramatic presentation of a cartoonish nuclear red line, which hit the front pages of most mainstream newspapers in the United States. The Israeli prime minister warned Iran against crossing that red …
Continue reading “Israel’s Hypocrisy on a Nuclear Middle East”
Three days after Ambassador Chris Stevens was assassinated, Jay Carney told the White House press corps it had been the work of a flash mob inflamed by an insulting video about the Prophet Muhammad. As the killers had arrived with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons, this story seemed noncredible on its face. Yet two days …
Continue reading “The Unraveling of Obama’s Foreign Policy”
The Iraqi government released its official casualty figures for September. At 365 dead, the toll is the highest in two years. Meanwhile, insurgents began adding to the October toll. New attacks left at least 23 killed and 16 wounded today.
