Recently, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that they had agreed on key provisions of a security arrangement that could allow some American forces in Afghanistan to remain after the NATO combat mission ends at the end of 2014. Yet no details were released on the deal, and remaining …
Continue reading “As in Iraq, Completely Withdraw US Forces from Afghanistan”
A number of suicide car bombers and other gunmen took their toll across the country today. At least 47 people were killed and 97 more were wounded.
Last week, about 90 mourners gathered to lay to rest the woman who was shot and killed by Washington police as she sat in her car, her one-year-old child, by a miracle one would say, found unharmed in the back seat. There were no television cameras, no celebrities in gratuitous displays of grief or solidarity. …
Continue reading “Ode to Miriam Carey, Post-9/11 Harbinger”
Originally posted at TomDispatch. In terms of pure projectable power, there’s never been anything like it. Its military has divided the world – the whole planet – into six "commands." Its fleet, with 11 aircraft carrier battle groups, rules the seas and has done so largely unchallenged for almost seven decades. Its Air Force has …
Continue reading “The Coming Era of Tiny Wars and Micro-Conflicts”
At least 22 Iraqis were killed today, as 52 more were wounded. Another attack on police and government buildings occurred in Anbar province. This time the attackers targeted Falluja.
There are no major stories to cover, but lots of seemingly minor ones that all point to major trends in the works. Let’s start with the news that the Heritage Foundation is "censoring" pro-surveillance material coming out of that policy-wonk factory: yes, you heard me, although "censoring" is Politico reporter Josh Gerstein’s phraseology. Funny, but …
Continue reading “The Times They Are a-Changin’”
At least 92 people were killed and 120 more were wounded in today’s attacks. Although there were not that many attacks, the severity of those in Baghdad and Rawa left behind the substantial body count.
Iran hawks here are pushing hard for Congress, where they enjoy the greatest influence, to approve a new set of extra-territorial sanctions – albeit with some tactical adjustments to take account of the newly hopeful mood coming out of Geneva – before the next round of talks between Tehran and the so-called P5+1 (the U.S., …
Continue reading “Iran Hawks Down but Not Out After Geneva Talks”
At least 15 people were killed and 28 more were wounded in the latest violence.
Despite U.S. and Western pressure on the opposition to take part in U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the two-and-a-half-year-old Syrian civil war, most experts here believe the rebels are unlikely to show up any time soon. And even if they do, the results will be unlikely to change much of anything on the ground. The …
Continue reading “Fractured Opposition Could Derail Syria Talks” 
