Jim Lobe

In a significant defeat for President George W. Bush, the House of Representatives Friday voted 246 to 182 to "disapprove" his plan to add an estimated 30,000 U.S. troops to the 140,000 marines and soldiers already deployed in Iraq. Seventeen Republicans voted with the majority Democrats to approve the nonbinding resolution. The vote, which capped … Continue reading “Bush Suffers First Iraq Defeat in Congress”

A new survey of more than 100 U.S. foreign policy experts – both Republicans and Democrats, as well as retired military and intelligence professionals – has found deep pessimism over the "global war on terror" and even deeper pessimism over the war in Iraq. According to the survey, the second in the last six months … Continue reading “National Security Experts Grim on Terror War”

Tuesday’s deal between North Korea and five other nations, including the United States, to take the first concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament in exchange for aid and normalized relations marks a long-awaited diplomatic breakthrough for U.S. President George W. Bush and a clear victory for "realists" in his administration. The deal, which was announced after … Continue reading “Korea Deal Marks Big Victory for Realists”

U.S. and Israeli hopes of forging of a Sunni Arab alliance to contain Iran and its regional allies may be misplaced, at least at the popular level, according to a major survey of six Arab countries released here Thursday. The face-to-face survey of a total of 3,850 respondents in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia … Continue reading “Arabs Less Worried About Iran”

How big is President George W. Bush’s proposed 2008 Pentagon budget? At nearly $623 billion for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, its size earned nothing but editorial superlatives and a scramble for historical precedents that could put the sum in perspective. "Bush’s Defense Budget Biggest Since Reagan Era," headlined the Washington Post, which … Continue reading “Proposed ’08 Pentagon Earns Superlatives All Around”

Meet Richard Wade Vague. Tall, friendly, dressed in a dark, finely tailored suit, with a firm, confident handshake and a ready, if surprisingly modest, smile, he looks like the quintessential successful 51-year-old self-described "conservative" corporate executive that he is. Co-founder and CEO of First USA Bank, which, until he sold it, was the single largest … Continue reading “One CEO’s Dissent From the War on Terror”

A long-awaited study [.pdf] by the U.S. intelligence community released here Friday concludes there is little, if any, light at the end of tunnel in Iraq. The report, which comes on the eve of an unprecedented Senate debate on President George W. Bush’s plan to add at least 21,500 more troops to the 140,000 U.S. … Continue reading “No Light at Tunnel’s End”

Increasingly concerned about the escalating rhetoric against Iran by senior U.S. officials, including President George W. Bush, members of Congress are trying to put limits on his ability to attack the Islamic Republic. Their efforts so far have primarily taken the form of what one lobbyist refers to as "Resoliferation" – that is, the proliferation … Continue reading “Lawmakers Move to Restrain Bush on Iran”

For the first time in its history, Africa is poised to get its very own US military command. The advent of "AFRICOM," which will be heralded next week when US President George W. Bush submits his 2008 budget request to Congress, marks an official acknowledgement that a variety of ostensible threats in Africa require more … Continue reading “Africa to Get Its Own US Military Command”

Two incidents involving U.S. forces in predominantly Shia southern Iraq over the past week appear to demonstrate the growing complexities and dangers of the country’s civil conflict. Sunday’s day-long battle near Najaf, in which two U.S. pilots were killed when their military helicopter was shot down, was first reported as an attack by Sunni insurgents … Continue reading “Who Is the Enemy?”