The Obama administration has engaged in a staggering military buildup in the Persian Gulf and at U.S. and allied bases around Iran (not to speak of in the air over that country and in cyberspace). Massive as it is, however, it hasn’t gotten much coverage lately. Perhaps, after all the alarms and warnings about possible …
Continue reading “The Urge to Bomb Iran”
A reporter found the evidence of our folly in the ruins of the American consulate in Benghazi, scattered on the floor where it had been overlooked by looters. Amid the rubble and ashes were documents left there since the attack — clearly State Department correspondence — including “two unsigned draft letters” both dated Sept. 11: …
Continue reading “The Mystery Behind the Benghazi Attack”
A period of relative quiet continued in Iraq, but so did the meting out of death sentences to fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi. The timing of this respite and the Hashemi ruling could be related. Fugitive Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was handed a fourth death sentence in an Iraqi court accused of bias. It is …
Continue reading “Mosul Focus of Iraq Violence”
At least eight Iraqis were killed and six more were wounded since the beginning of the month.
Dov Zakheim, Mitt Romney’s top foreign policy advisor, wants us to know the neocons aren’t in charge of RomneyWorld: “One of the favorite canards that Obama activists and surrogates hurl at Mitt Romney is that he is surrounded by a group of wild-eyed George W. Bush neo-cons who cannot wait to bomb Iran and bring …
Continue reading “Romney’s Neocons”
Two years ago, Turkey was on its way to being a player in Central Asia, a major power broker in the Middle East, and a driving force in international politics. It had made peace with its regional rivals, partnered with Brazil to take a serious stab at a peaceful resolution of the Iran nuclear crisis, …
Continue reading “Turkey Haunted by Hubris”
Alongside the Washington Post’s latest blockbuster reports on the Obama administration’s drone kill list is a new graphic, depicting US covert strikes since 2002. Based on reports by monitoring organisations, the graphic lists hundreds of US drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, in what the paper says will be a regularly updated project. Also …
Continue reading “How the Washington Post Strips Casualties From Drone data” 
