Month: December 2015

At least 120 people were killed in Iraq as the Army continued its clearing operations in Ramadi.

The death of six US soldiers in Afghanistan on December 21 at the hands of a Taliban suicide bomber brings to 21 the number of US combat deaths there in 2015. Once again we must confront the question of national purpose in waging war without debate or declaration. Like all other battlefield deaths in the … Continue reading “Endless War, Undeclared and Undebated”

The Iraqi Army declared victory over the Islamic State militants in Ramadi on Sunday, after a government complex had been retaken. The complex is being slowly secured due to fears of booby traps. Security forces say there could still be pockets of resistance in the city, but they do not expect any new fighting will … Continue reading “Ramadi Declared Liberated; 31 Killed, 100 Wounded in Iraq”

At least 77 people were killed in Ramadi and across Iraq.

It’s the time of year when people sing about peace and goodwill. Unfortunately in the United States, too little thought accompanies the nice words. Otherwise Americans would be in the streets demanding that President Obama shut down the war machine. They would also be repudiating every presidential candidate who endorses the fundamentals of America’s criminal … Continue reading “The Season of Peace Requires Action Not Songs”

At least 240 people were killed, mostly in Anbar province.

Today is the anniversary of the Christmas Truce of 1914, a spontaneous soldiers’ truce that broke out on Christmas Eve all along the Western Front in France, lasting in places until the day after Christmas. French, British and German soldiers, intrigued by the sound of Christmas carols from the enemy trenches, first tentatively refrained from … Continue reading “Remembering the Christmas Truce of 1914”

At least 84 people were killed across Iraq. Militants blew up several Christian homes and a nunnery in time for Christmas.

John Bolton is a tarnished character. The once United States Ambassador to the United Nations is now promoted as a “scholar” in the pro-Israel lobby group, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Bolton is not a peacemaker, nor, in his defense, did he ever try to appear as if one. When he was appointed as the … Continue reading “Beware ‘Sunni-Stan’: Neocons Are Back and Their ‘Vision’ Is Darker Than Ever”

There has been a lot of consternation expressed in the media at a series of statements by Republican presidential candidates during their most recent debate and elsewhere in which a number of them appeared to be advocating the large-scale killing of civilians through aerial bombardment as a legitimate means of defeating the so-called “Islamic State.” … Continue reading “Republican Candidates Defend Killing Civilians To Fight Terrorism – and So Do Democrats”