Obama has already announced plans to escalate the war by sending 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. But in his address to Congress, he acknowledged he was still working to "forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan." It would have been...
Efforts to address the North Korean nuclear crisis have followed a "one step forward, two steps back" pattern. Despite 15 years of threats, negotiations, and occasional breakthroughs, what began with fears of a nuclear weapons research program progressed to an actual...
I'm not quite sure why I am not red-faced with anger at the fact that President Obama has set such a long tentative timetable for removing U.S. troops from Iraq. It's to be 19 months before all "combat" troops are out, and after that 35,000-50,000 will be left,...
I suppose progressives and others hopeful for a more rational foreign policy are going to have to be content, for the moment, with crumbs from the presidential table, such as Barack Obama's recent statement to the New York Times that we might consider negotiating with...
Updated at 7:35 p.m. EDT, March 9, 2009 At least 12 Iraqis were killed and 20 more were wounded in the latest attacks. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, an Iraqi state minister for women's affairs says she will withdraw her resignation thanks to the offer...
BAGHDAD - Prompt medical care is at last on offer in Iraq, for those who can find the dollars for it. "Why would I want to go to government-run hospitals where there is no care, no functioning instruments, long lines, and in the end the same doctor who treats you...
Updated at 6:53 p.m. EDT, March 8, 2009At least 61 Iraqis were killed and 84 more were wounded across the country. While a suicide bombing in Baghdad was the most significant incident of the day, a mass grave gave up almost as many dead in Khalis. Meanwhile, 12,000...
A motley crew – assembled by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and misleadingly labeled The Presidential Task Force on Iranian Proliferation, Regional Security, and US Policy– has just issued President Obama a warning: "If the international...
A new report on how the United States should "resist and deter" Iran's alleged ambitions to acquire a nuclear-weapons capability by a think tank closely tied to the so-called "Israel Lobby" has been endorsed by two key officials who are expected to...
Updated at 5:02 p.m. EST, March 7, 2009At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 20 more were wounded in the latest violence. One U.S. soldier was killed during an attack in Salah ad Din province as well. Meanwhile, the prime minister called for a stronger, non-sectarian...
