Jim Lobe

In a potentially significant setback to President George W. Bush’s efforts to sustain Republican support for his "surge" in Iraq, three key senators this week have called on the White House to revise U.S. strategy there before September. The defections, which were set off by a major policy address Monday on the floor of the … Continue reading “Bush Suffers More Defections on Iraq”

Friday’s unprecedented – albeit relatively low-profile – visit to the White House by a Vietnamese head of state marks the culmination of a lengthy normalization process between two countries that ended their war 32 years ago. But while President Nguyen Minh Triet wants to talk mainly about how Washington can spur more US investment his … Continue reading “Visit by Vietnamese President Signals Normalization”

Reports that US President George W. Bush has asked outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair to act as the Quartet’s special envoy for Middle East peace are adding to speculation that Washington plans to intensify peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians, despite last week’s takeover of Gaza by Hamas. But whether those peace efforts … Continue reading “Will Bush, Blair Intensify Mideast Peace Efforts?”

Four years after the emergence of the first signs of a serious insurgency in Iraq, US President George W. Bush finds himself beset with major crises stretching from Palestine to Pakistan. With US-backed Fatah forces routed by Hamas in Gaza this week, Bush’s five-year-old vision of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict now looks … Continue reading “Bush Faces Crises from Palestine to Pakistan”

Friday’s announcement that Gen. Peter Pace will not be nominated for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. armed forces marks the latest in a series of moves by Pentagon chief Robert Gates to transform the leadership of the Pentagon and consign his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, to distant … Continue reading “Gates Overhauls Rumsfeld’s Pentagon”

Three human rights groups sued the US government Thursday to force it to disclose what it knows about the fate of more than three dozen detainees in the "global war on terror" who are believed to have been held by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in secret prisons at some point over the past five … Continue reading “Groups Sue US Over Fate of 39 ‘Disappeared’”

Tuesday’s sentencing to 30 months in prison of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby by a federal judge for lying to government investigators about his role in leaking the identity of a CIA operative marks the latest in a series of blows to Vice President Dick Cheney. Sometimes known as "Cheney’s Cheney," Libby served as the vice … Continue reading “Aide’s Sentence Caps Star-Crossed Year for Cheney”

While President George W. Bush appears, however belatedly, to be embracing recommendations by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group (ISG) to begin withdrawing U.S. combat troops by early 2008, he has implicitly rejected the ISG’s call to renounce any intention to establish permanent military bases in Iraq. Indeed, confirmation by his spokesman, Tony Snow, this week … Continue reading “Bush’s Iraq-Korea Analogy Sparks New Debate”

Despite President George W. Bush’s victory last week in his protracted battle with Congressional Democrats for unconditional funding for the Iraq war at least through September, his administration appears to have given up hope that it can maintain his "surge" strategy well into next year and even beyond. A slew of news articles and columns … Continue reading “Surge Dirge”