Iran and the US: A History of Mistrust

By his own admission, U.S. Ambassador John W. Limbert's ordeal as a captive during the Iranian hostage crisis began with a monumental failure of negotiation. "In 1979, somebody thought it would be a good idea to the let the shah [of Iran] into the U.S. for...

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Annapolis Hopes Withered by Gaza Crisis

As President George W. Bush returned from his visit last month to Israel to reinvigorate the Annapolis process, the international media was dominated by reports of Palestinian militants firing rockets into Gaza, and Israel's response – an unprecedented blockade...

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Assassination Jars Nascent US Détente With Syria

When the George W. Bush administration asked Damascus to attend last month's Annapolis conference, Emad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, was stunned, he admits. "[The U.S.] was really obsessed with making wars. Then we heard that it's not...

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‘Laptop of Death’: Revising the NIE on Iran

Nearly one week after a U.S. intelligence report revealed that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, the saber-rattling inside the Washington Beltway appears to have receded for the moment, and with it, the George W. Bush administration's strongest pretext...

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Why Annapolis Is About Iran

It was initially billed as a "peace conference" to decisively address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But as President George W. Bush's ambitious Annapolis gathering approached – his most intensive effort to restart peace talks in seven years –...

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The Nuclear Cowboys

What do the current Pakistani political crisis, Israel's September air strike against Syria, and Iran's continued pursuit of nuclear enrichment all have in common? All three events reflect the aggressive policies adopted by the George W. Bush administration to deal...

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Nuke Watchdog Report No Brake on Sanctions

The United Nations atomic watchdog issued a report Thursday saying that Iran had been generally truthful about key aspects of its past nuclear activities, but warned that knowledge of Tehran's program was "diminishing." The International Atomic Energy Agency...

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