Updated at 5:54 p.m. EDT, Aug. 17, 2009
The U.S. Commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, revealed that he’s been in talks with Iraqi and Kurdish officials about deploying U.S. troops to disputed territories in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, at least 23 Iraqis were killed and 28 more were wounded in violent attacks across the country. Also, Human Rights Watch has asked the Iraqi government to stop abuse targeting Iraqi homosexuals.
read moreBagram: Gitmo All Over Again
Back in September 2005, when I first began researching Guantánamo for my book The Guantánamo Files, the prison was still shrouded in mystery, even though attorneys had been visiting prisoners for nearly a year, following the Supreme Court's ruling, in...
Afghan Election 2009: Freedom, Fraud, and Fornication
In those heady days of 2003, when the War Party was really feeling its oats and the neocons, the "warbloggers," and the television talking heads were triumphantly hailing the invasion of Iraq as an unqualified success, one Iraqi pretty much summed up the...
Intervention Begets Insecurity
For years the United States has used military force as a Band-Aid for a wide-range of global problems ranging from the removal of dictators to ensuring access to global trade partners. Yet it's clear that this has not been successful. For all of the money, time, and...
Abridged Histories of the Holy Land
The ancient port of Acre is now the object of a fierce battle. The Arab inhabitants of the town want the port to bear the name of an Arab hero, Issa al Awam, a general under Saladin, the Muslim leader who defeated the Crusaders. The municipality of Acre, which of...
Sunday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 46 Wounded
Updated at 5:30 p.m. EDT, Aug. 16, 2009
At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 46 more were wounded in the latest violence. A Shabak leader survived an assassination attempt with light injuries, but his fellow Arab and Kurd councilmembers used the attack to heighten their own rivalry. This complicated situation in the northern provinces has left the country’s planning minister with no choice but to postpone the first full census in over two decades. The fear is that the count could further intensify sectarian tensions ahead of January’s national election.
read moreSaturday: 9 Iraqis Killed, 19 Wounded
At least nine Iraqis were killed and 19 more were wounded in the latest attacks. The recent surge in violence has frightened Iraqis, and they are now worried about next year’s U.S. withdrawal.
read moreBarack W. Obama: Strengthening NPT
Cheney’s New Gambit
Israel Begins Sell-Off of Refugees’ Land
TZIPORI, Israel -- Amin Muhammad Ali, a 74-year-old refugee from a destroyed Palestinian village in northern Israel, says he only feels truly at peace when he stands among his ancestors' graves. The cemetery, surrounded on all sides by Jewish homes and farms, is a...
