Brazil-Turkey Deal with Iran Undermines Big Power Politics
When Brazil and Turkey clinched a deal with Iran over its disputed nuclear program last weekend, the two non-permanent members of the Security Council not only challenged the unbridled political power exercised by the five big powers but also jeopardized U.S. plans...
US Says Only Reason for Talks with Iran Is Enrichment Halt
The agreement on draft Security Council resolution sanctions against Iran has grabbed the headlines on the Barack Obama administration's response to Iran's nuclear swap proposal brokered by Turkey and Brazil. But the more consequential response is the acknowledgement...
Wednesday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 32 Wounded
At least 14 Iraqis were killed and 32 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Meanwhile, officials have denied news reports of a security wall being erected around Baghdad, and protests continue in Kurdistan, where a journalist was killed recently.
read moreBill for Afghan War Could Run Into the Trillions
The U.S. Senate is moving forward with a $59 billion spending bill, of which $33.5 billion would be allocated for the war in Afghanistan. However, some experts in Washington are raising concerns that the war may be unwinnable and that the money being spent on military...
Chomsky the Latest Jewish Thinker Targeted by Israel
RAMALLAH - When internationally renowned linguist, philosopher, and political analyst Noam Chomsky was barred from entering the West Bank, he joined a chorus of Jewish intellectuals savaged by the Israeli government for outspoken criticism. Chomsky, a strong proponent...
What Next for NATO?
The European Union doesn't know where it stands at this moment. NATO thinks it knows and is gambling. Has the EU a future, or has disintegration set in? The behavior of the Germans under the conservative Merkel government is taken by many to signal that the end, if...
Defending Everything Is Defending Nothing
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright recently led a panel of experts in coming up with a report, "NATO 2020," which will be used to draft a replacement for NATO's current strategic concept, adopted in 1999. The report [.pdf] essentially advocates a...
Not Another War, Mr. President!
Nothing, but nothing, is going to get in the way of this administration's path to war with Iran. This was brought home in a dramatic way when the Brazilians and the Turks announced Iran had agreed to implement the nuclear exchange deal proposed by the US some seven...
Drones and Democracy
ISLAMABAD - On May 12, the day after a U.S. drone strike killed 24 people in Pakistan's North Waziristan, two men from the area agreed to tell us their perspective as eyewitnesses of previous drone strikes. One is a journalist, Safdar Dawar, general secretary of the...
