As Chairman Carl Levin of Senate Armed Services conceded Sunday, Congress is not going to de-fund the war in Iraq, even if Bush vetoes every Democratic timetable for withdrawal. The war will go on backed by a Democratic Congress. If Majority Leader Reid is not...
A US-Made Mess in Somalia
The media often reports overseas developments but doesn't always explore their underlying causes, which, in many cases, conveniently lets the U.S. government off the hook. The recent internecine violence in Somalia provides a classic example. The U.S. media has...
Iraqi Refugees Languish in Neighboring Countries
DAMASCUS - Salim Hamad, 33, glances at the sprawling buildings of the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus and sees business. He has set up a small tea shop at the camp. "I left everything behind," he told IPS. "I have no idea what became of my house."...
Syria, Elliot Abrams, and the Contras All Over Again
It has an all-too-familiar ring to it. A crisis area in this case, the Middle East finds itself in desperate need of a peace process capable of tamping down the forces of violence and destabilization which the United States itself has played a central...
Tuesday: 4 GIs, 74 Iraqis Killed; 16 GIs, 115 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 12:40 a.m EDT, April 11, 2007Yesterday’s reprieve from violence has definitively ended. At least 74 Iraqis were killed or found dead, and another 115 Iraqis were wounded, mostly today . Also, four U.S. soldiers were killed in separate incidents...
How Much Is the Iraq War Costing You?
In a previous article, "How Much is the Iraq War Costing You? Part 1," I laid out the facts and figures about the monetary cost of the Iraq war to U.S. taxpayers, assuming conservatively a low-end estimate of annual spending on the Iraq war. I concluded that the main...
Easter Holiday Break
The Easter holiday celebration took up a lot more of my Sunday afternoon than I had planned, and so there's no column today: sorry about that. I do, however, have a new column at Taki's Top Drawer that I think you'll like, so please check it out. I'm also going to be...
Monday: 6 GIs, 33 Iraqis Killed; 61 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 12:45 a.m. EDT, April 10, 2008Demonstrations and car bans marked the fourth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, while a war of words continued between Turkish officials and Iraqi Kurds. Baghdad and Najaf were under a 24-hour driving ban. Overall, at least...
Sunday: 11 GIs, 73 Iraqis Killed; 95 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 12:50 p.m. EDT, April 8, 2007At least 73 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 95 were wounded in violent attacks. Two significant bombings occurred, one in Baghdad and the other in Mahmudiya. Also, the U.S. military reported on the deaths of 11 more...
Trouble at the Pottery Barn
The twenty-first century has already had its share of "fuzzy math," and the following are five examples of ideas that do not hold up to logical analysis. 1. You Break It = You Bought It Colin Powell is said to have famously introduced this fatally flawed...


