Today, Michael Klare, expert on war and energy, and author of the indispensable book, Blood and Oil, gives us an unprecedented sense of what it means when the Pentagon fills its own tank (as well as its tanks). It is, after all, the Hummer of Defense Departments, the...
These are the "birth pangs" of a "new Middle East," said Condi Rice last summer, as Israel pounded Lebanon. Unfortunately, the new Middle East may make us all pray for the return of the old. Hamas is today engaged in savage street-fighting with Fatah for control of...
TEHRAN - As Iran reluctantly begins implementing Thursday a plan to reduce consumption of mostly imported gasoline by cutting massive consumer subsidies, it is with an eye to possible tightening of international sanctions for the country's controversial nuclear...
Updated at 12:50 a.m. EDT, June 16, 2007Curfews already in place have remained in effect or been extended. Basra instigated its own curfew following a shrine bombing there as well. These curfews have kept the violence to a minimum or at least made it difficult to...
Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them John Mueller Free Press, 2006 259 pp. Sept. 11 changed everything, it is said, and nowhere has its effect been more significant than on U.S. foreign...
Updated at 1:25 a.m. EDT, June 15, 2007Thanks to increased security presence and curfews, violence was kept somewhat in check following yesterday’s bombing of the Golden Mosque. However, at least 56 Iraqis were killed and 34 were wounded anyway. A number of...
Looking idly at the front page of last Wednesday's Washington Post Express as I rode the Metro to work, I received a shock. It showed a railroad station in Iraq, recently destroyed by an American air strike. So now we are bombing the railroad stations in a country we...
The U.S. Vets Westside Residence Hall is a hulking eight-story structure a few blocks from Los Angeles International Airport. It's the largest transitional housing and employment center for homeless veterans in the country, hosting 700 veterans annually. Michael Hall...
Sometimes it really is déjà vu all over again. Those who have hoped for a peaceful resolution of the outstanding issues between the United States and Iran must have been discouraged to watch the June 5 Republican presidential candidates' debate. With the honorable...
I see that Zbigniew Brzezinski is stealing my ideas and not giving me credit, but, what the heck, I'm in a generous mood – and he puts his own gloss on it – so I don't mind (via Matthew Yglesias): "Zbigniew Brzezinski at the conference says the U.S. and...
