Iran Hawks Down but Not Out After Geneva Talks

Iran hawks here are pushing hard for Congress, where they enjoy the greatest influence, to approve a new set of extra-territorial sanctions – albeit with some tactical adjustments to take account of the newly hopeful mood coming out of Geneva – before the next round...

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Fractured Opposition Could Derail Syria Talks

Despite U.S. and Western pressure on the opposition to take part in U.N.-sponsored talks aimed at halting the two-and-a-half-year-old Syrian civil war, most experts here believe the rebels are unlikely to show up any time soon. And even if they do, the results will be...

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The Failed Policy of Collapsism

When small children want something to go away, they close their eyes. Poof! The monster disappears. The spoonful of spinach vanishes. The spilled milk evaporates. Except that they don’t. U.S policymakers indulge in a similar variety of child’s play called collapsism....

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American Apocalypse

I don’t believe in God. However, I do believe in divine retribution. Without going into the specifics of this somewhat counterintuitive theology, suffice to say here that its central axiom is the idea that actions have consequences. One cannot go on committing evil...

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Iraq Eid Attacks: 76 Killed, 229 Wounded

Although the Eid al-Adha holiday began rather quietly, militants unleashed a torrent of violence today that left 76 people dead and 229 more wounded. The capital suffered several bombings, but so did towns in the ethnically diverse north. Also, fugitive vice president Tareq al-Hashemi offered to return to Iraq if the European Union will help guarantee him a fair trail.
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