Jim Lobe

While Wednesday’s test-firing by Iran of nine medium- and long-range missiles was strongly denounced by Israel and the United States, there appears to be a growing consensus here that the chances for war, at least between now and the US elections in November, have actually receded in recent days. The State Department charged that the … Continue reading “Despite Fireworks, War Clouds Recede”

Six and a half years since the ouster of the Taliban, U.S. media attention is returning to Afghanistan, where more U.S. and NATO troops were killed in June than in any previous month. Indeed, as noted by both the New York Times and the Washington Post Wednesday, June was the second month in a row … Continue reading “Afghanistan Moves Back into the Limelight”

If President George W. Bush wants to boost Republican chances of holding on to the White House and keeping Democratic gains in Congress to a minimum in the November elections, he might consider taking an attack on Iran before the end of his administration "off the table." Of course, that’s probably the last thing Bush … Continue reading “Does Iran Have Bush Over a Barrel?”

While, in his dreams, US President George W. Bush might have seen a "Mission Accomplished" banner unfurled as the cooling tower at North Korea’s plutonium-producing plant was blown up, Friday’s internationally televised fireworks at Yongbyon offered merely a glimmer of possible success in a foreign policy legacy that seems to be getting darker by the … Continue reading “Even the Rare Bush Success Leaves a Sour Taste”

On the eve of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, a bipartisan group of some 200 religious leaders and former top US national security and military officers launched a campaign for a presidential order to outlaw torture and cruel and inhumane treatment of all detainees. The campaign, consisting of a "Declaration of … Continue reading “Anti-Torture Campaign Wins Influential Backers”

Weak states already close to collapse at the end of 2006 moved closer to the brink last year, even before the latest explosion of food and fuel prices that are certain to feed instability in vulnerable countries, according to the latest edition of the annual "Failed States Index" released Monday by Foreign Policy magazine. The … Continue reading “Weak States Got Weaker in 2007”

Despite a marked reduction in violence due in part to more aggressive US counterinsurgency efforts in 2007, Iraq was the biggest source of the world’s newest refugees for the third year in a row, according to the latest annual report of the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) released here Thursday. Last year’s exodus … Continue reading “Iraq Still a Major Source of Refugees in 2007”

While historians debate whether George W. Bush has been the worst president in U.S. history, a global consensus that he inspires the least confidence of all the world’s major leaders appears to have emerged. An average of two out of three respondents in 20 nations whose combined population make up 60 percent of the world’s … Continue reading “Bush Inspires Least Confidence as World Leader”

Claims by US President George W. Bush and other top administration officials before the 2003 invasion of Iraq regarding Baghdad’s ties to al-Qaeda and its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program were generally not supported by the evidence that the US intelligence community had at the time, according to a major new report by the … Continue reading “Senate Finds Pre-War Bush Claims Exaggerated, False”

While seven Palestinian Fulbright scholars now appear more likely to get their chance to study in the United States, hundreds of other university students who have received invitations to study abroad remain trapped at home by Israeli security restrictions, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and two national academic associations. In a letter to Secretary … Continue reading “US Urged to Push Israel Harder on Gaza Students”