At least 21 Iraqis were killed and 40 more were wounded in attack mostly against government targets. Two U.S. soldiers were killed during operations in southern Iraq. Also, Iraqis are preparing themselves for a post-U.S. future by loading up on arms. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says he will reduce the size of the government, a plan his critics will likely see as more power consolidation for Maliki.
read moreThe Founders Were Antiwar
The 2012 presidential election cycle is underway. With the Democratic candidate a foregone conclusion, there is not much uncertainty about where the Democratic Party is going. For better or worse, Democrats will likely continue to “dance with who brung them,” meaning...
Diplomat: I Helped Lose Hearts and Minds in Iraq
Peter Van Buren is not your typical American bureaucrat. As a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department, he does not put his head down, he does not keep his mouth closed, and he doesn’t put his 23-year career in front of the good of the country. He...
Monday: 13 Iraqis Killed, 33 Wounded
At least 13 Iraqis were killed and 33 more wounded in the latest violence. Meanwhile, back in the United States, a federal grand jury is investigating claims that C.I.A. agents were involved in some abuse cases.
read moreNetanyahu: Stupid Like a Fox?
My hero of the year (for now) is a young, brown-haired Palestinian refugee living in Syria called Hassan Hijazi. He was one of hundreds of refugees who held the demonstration on the Syrian side of the Golan border fence, to commemorate the Naqba—“Disaster”—the exodus...
In 2012, Don’t Get Fooled Again
A few weeks back, the opening shots of Obama’s presidential campaign slammed through the thorax and right frontal lobe of Osama bin Laden, an electoral milestone astutely noted at the time by Alexander Cockburn. The second volley was discharged with the media...
90% of Petraeus’s Captured ‘Taliban’ Were Civilians
During his intensive initial round of media interviews as commander in Afghanistan in August 2010, Gen. David Petraeus released figures to the news media that claimed spectacular success for raids by Special Operations Forces: in a 90-day period from May through July,...
Guam Libre!
Guam, currently a US dependency, is mulling going its own way. The impetus: a plan by the US military to transfer 8,000 American soldiers from Okinawa to the tiny Pacific isle. Fourteen thousand US troops currently occupy the island, and there are plans to upgrade...
Sunday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 28 Wounded
At least nine Iraqis were killed and 28 were wounded as their representatives spent the day bickering in parliament.
read moreSaturday: 38 Iraqis Killed, 53 Wounded
At least 38 Iraqis were killed and 53 more were wounded in today’s violence. Mosul was the hardest hit. Meanwhile, relations between Iraq and one U.S. lawmaker have created some new tensions in the last day.
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