[Note for Readers: This is the third in TomDispatch's "by the numbers" series, leading up to this week's White House "Progress Report" from the U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. The first, in July, was "Iraq by...
The Mystery of al-Qaeda
Six years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the entity known as al-Qaeda remains largely a mystery: its intent, its ideology, its leadership, and its inner workings are all largely unknown to the American people. Experts study them and interpret the arcane meanings of...
Monday: 13 GIs, 77 Iraqis Killed; 132 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 12:20 a.m. EDT, Sept. 11, 2007At least 77 Iraqis were killed and 132 Iraqis were wounded during the latest violence. Thirteen GIs were killed and at least 16 injured in separate incidents, including a pair of vehicular accidents. Also, the holy city of...
Sunday: 2 GIs, 59 Iraqis Killed; 34 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 11:35 p.m. EDT, Sept. 9, 2007At least 59 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 34 more were wounded during various incidents that included at least three suicide bombings. In Baghdad, an MND-B soldier was killed today; two other soldiers and an Iraqi...
Waiting for Gen. Petraeus
So all of Washington (and maybe even a few of those out in the rest of the country) is waiting for Gen. David Petraeus to deliver his report on the "surge" and how things are going in Iraq. It is a curious phenomenon whose curiosity has been too little...
Neocons Put on a Surge-Stravaganza
With US General David Petraeus's eagerly anticipated final report on Iraq due on Sep. 15, supporters of the troop surge are busily trying to set the stage for the report that they believe will refute their opponents. The media blitz in Washington is unfolding under...
Saturday: 66 Iraqis Killed, 60 Wounded
Updated at 12:15 a.m. EDT, Sept. 9, 2007During the latest round of violence, 66 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 60 more were wounded. No foreign military were reported killed, but the British military announced a troop reduction. Also, a small Sunni bloc has...
Are Petraeus and Westmoreland Birds of a Feather?
The killing in Hawijah, Iraq of 18-year old Corporal Jeremy Shank of Jackson, Missouri (population 12,000) merited an article in the Southeast Missourian. Cpl. Shank was killed on Sept. 6, 2006 and I was in that part of Missouri when his body came home for burial....
Rogue Regulator?
Days after Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei made his most recent "confidential" report to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Cheney Cabal sycophantic editorialists at the Washington Post charged ElBaradei with being a...
Five-Nation Naval Drill Presages ‘Asian NATO’?
NEW DELHI - India's hosting of large-scale military exercises involving four countries led by the United States has triggered spirited protests by left-wing parties that prop up the country's ruling coalition. The naval exercises, underway since Tuesday, are the...


