Imagine being seized in Afghanistan or Pakistan, where you were, perhaps, a completely innocent man sold for a bounty, or a Muslim soldier fighting other Muslims in a civil war whose roots lay in the resistance to the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, which was partly...
Decline and Fall
As I read the latest headlines reporting the ongoing implosion of the domestic economy and the ominous signs of a pending explosion in the international sphere, I watch a leaf fall from a very great height. The redwoods out here are like the pillars of a temple built...
Palestinian Factions Silence Opposition Media
GAZA CITY - So much is missing as you walk down the street along the shops of Gaza: food and medicines kept out by the blockade enforced by Israel, but also newspapers, once a part of the street landscape. Al-Hayat-al-Jadeeda and al-Ayyam, two newspapers loyal to...
Wednesday: 1 US Soldier, 43 Iraqis Killed: 35 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 11:31 p.m. EDT, Sept. 24, 2008At least 43 Iraqis were killed and another 34 were wounded in the latest violence. Among them were 35 security personnel who were killed in a bold attack in Diyala province. Also, the Department of Defense reported that a U.S....
Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 19 Iraqis Killed; 27 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 8:10 p.m. EDT, Sept. 23, 2008At least 19 Iraqis were killed and 27 more were wounded in the latest attacks. The bombings continue in Baghdad, but not as many were reported there as in recent days. Also, a U.S. soldier was killed during a small arms attack...
Ashes of Empire
Earlier this month Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that time is running out in Afghanistan. Though emphasizing the need for reconstruction and noting that "we cannot kill our way to victory," he also announced that a new...
Whose Iraq Predictions Have Come True?
On Sept. 10, 2002, I asked 35 questions regarding war with Iraq. The war resolution passed on Oct. 16, 2002. Now today, as some of my colleagues try to reestablish credentials regarding spending restraint, I want to call attention to my 18th question from six years...
Calling Gitmo What It Is
The following is an excerpt from Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations by Iraq Veterans Against the War and Aaron Glantz. From March 13-16, hundreds of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans gathered in Silver Spring, Md., to testify...
Palestinian Politics on the Road to Nowhere
RAMALLAH, West Bank - Israeli-Palestinian peace talks appear to have hit a dead end, while efforts to bridge the yawning chasm that divides Hamas and Fatah politically and ideologically appear to be going nowhere. The two main streams of Palestinian politics are...
Backtalk, September 22, 2008
Cornering the Russian Bear The article "Cornering The Russian Bear " is a great article. I really loved it. It looks like nowadays politicians are insane. For almost half a century the U.S. had a cautious policy toward Moscow. When Stalin, back in 1948, encircled...


