The political maneuvering between President Barack Obama and his top field commanders over withdrawal from Iraq has taken a sudden new turn with the leak by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus – and a firm denial by a White House official – of an account...
President Barack Obama has cast doubt on his promise to put an end to secret government by allowing his Justice Department to follow a path frequently taken by his predecessor. Before a federal appeals court in San Francisco Monday, lawyers from the Obama Department...
Updated at 8:06 p.m. EST, Feb. 10, 2009As French President Nicolas Sarkozy traveled to Baghdad for a surprise visit with Iraqi leaders, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded to accusations from U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden that the Iraqis are not moving fast...
The votes are not officially tabulated yet, and it will take a while for the implications [.pdf] of the recent provincial elections in Iraq to become apparent. But it is not too early to take note that they were conducted almost entirely by the Iraqis themselves,...
On the same day as President Barack Obama's inauguration, China issued a white paper outlining its national defense strategy. In that paper, China pointed to a security situation that was "improving steadily" overall. At the same time, the paper explicitly referred to...
Remember Kyrgyzstan? Longtime readers of this space will recall our extensive coverage of that country's "Tulip Revolution," also dubbed the "Pink Revolution," way back in those heady days when George W. Bush's "global democratic revolution" was said to be the wave of...
Updated at 8:58 p.m. EST, Feb. 9, 2009Four U.S. soldiers were killed in a suicide bombing in Mosul. At least 9 Iraqis were killed and another 29 were wounded in various attacks, including one Iraqi who was an interpreter for the Americans who were killed. Also, Iraqi...
Just Foreign Policy has prepared this brief but excellent video about recent Western intervention in Iran. Most Americans are unaware that the U.S. and UK orchestrated a coup against a democratically elected Iranian government in the 1950s. Antiwar.com urges everyone...
Updated at 11:50 a.m. EST, Feb. 9, 2009New attacks left at least 8 Iraqis killed and another 26 wounded. Baghdad suffered a series of roadside bomb attacks, but Ninewa and Diyala provinces also saw violence. A U.S. soldier died from non-combat incident as well....
"I am a creature of Congress," said Leon Panetta with a broad smile, which was returned by equally wide smiles from members of the Senate intelligence committee meeting yesterday to consider his nomination to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency. I...
