Month: February 2019

One of every three members of Congress boarding a jetliner on a privately-funded all-expense paid trip overseas has Israel as their final destination. Only one out of a hundred ever visits Palestinian territories as a final destination. Analysis of Gift Travel Filings made to the US House of Representatives Office of the Clerk over the … Continue reading “Do Members of Congress Take Too Many Private Trips to Israel With AIPAC?”

The short month of February saw 194 people killed and 95 others wounded across Iraq. Another 143 bodies were discovered in mass graves.

UPDATED BELOW As the leaders of the two most powerful nations on earth meet in a city that was once the center of resistance to Western dominance of the region, it is being pointedly ignored in Washington, DC, to the extent such an extraordinary event can be ignored. Instead, the petty complaints of partisan hacks … Continue reading “The Western Gaze: Look Toward the East”

John Bolton has never made a secret of his burning desire to stoke a war between the United States and Iran. But Bolton is not the only one on Donald Trump’s national security team who dreams of such a military confrontation. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has joined with Bolton in recent months to prepare … Continue reading “The Right May Finally Get Its War on Iran”

Mortars left casualties near Baghdad.

To the vast majority of Americans, including the foreign policy establishment, the question posed in the title may seem something of a joke. After all, absolute military superiority over Russia and other potential rivals for global influence has been the objective of US military policy for the last twenty-five years or more, at vast budgetary … Continue reading “The Kremlin’s Military Posture Reconsidered”

On February 18, members of extremist Jewish groups raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem). They clashed with Palestinian worshippers, as the settlers attempted to shut down the gate of Al-Aqsa itself. The clashes involved the Israeli army and police as well, who opened fire and brutally assaulted Palestinians, leading to scores of … Continue reading “War on Al-Aqsa: What Price Netanyahu’s Victory”

A bomb in Anbar province killed and injured several construction workers.

We are deeply saddened by the resignation of Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Monday afternoon, which occurred just hours after he met with our 28-person American peace delegation led by CODEPINK: Women for Peace. Zarif talked at length about how dissatisfied the Iranian people had become with the Iran nuclear agreement, and the pressure … Continue reading “Iran Foreign Minister Javad Zarif Resigns Hours After Meeting With US Peace Delegation”

My contrarian view of Venezuela’s regime change drama – that it’s regime change theater put on by President Trump for purely domestic political reasons – was confirmed on the big day when the conflict was supposed to come to a head, when the looming confrontation proved to be … dueling concerts! Regime change as entertainment … Continue reading “The Chef Boyardee War: Venezuela’s Clueless Opposition”