In Afghanistan, Death Comes Cheap

A crazy woman stalks the streets near Afghanistan’s parliament. When a warlord’s rocket killed her family during the early 1990s she lost her mind. Now she moves between the cars and people looking for it, another of the living dead trapped in her own...

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Is Washington Being Sidelined on the Middle East?

Once upon a time, an American president would have been a leader in the effort to bring peace between Israel and its neighbors, since, after all, such reconciliation would bring stability to the Middle East and serve long-term U.S. geopolitical interests. In that...

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From Horror, an Opportunity for Peace

NEW DELHI - Horrific as it was, the fire-bombing of a speeding India-Pakistan train, killing 68 civilians from the two countries, is being seen as an opportunity for their governments to cooperate on anti-terrorism operations and reconceptualize security issues....

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The Unraveling

The edifice of lies in the Balkans, built up by the Empire over the past decade and a half, is beginning to crumble. Croatia is wrestling with ghosts of World War Two, most recently awakened through a spat with Rome over atrocities against ethnic Italians, and a...

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Old Europe and the Mullahs

There has been a noticeable shift in the rhetoric emanating from the proponents of war with Iran, almost certainly due to the perception that armed conflict with Tehran will not be as easy a sell as was Iraq. The shift is most marked within the Bush Administration...

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From China to Cairo

There were few constants during my stay in Egypt. One was the wiggling of the eyebrows and winks of passersby, an abbreviated version of an Egyptian's first words to most any visitor: "Welcome." Another was the gently put yet insistent question of religion....

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So What if Iran Is
Interfering in Iraq?

Anti-warriors and even formerly gullible reporters are taking issue with Bush's claims that Iran is supporting the Iraqi insurgents, but this could represent a serious strategic mistake in our efforts to prevent another war. Choose your battles wisely. We are...

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Scooter Libby and
World War III

Cowed into funding a war neither they nor the majority of Americans believe in, congressional Democrats are taking the line that what's needed are some "benchmarks" – well-defined criteria by which to assess whether our efforts are paying off. The idea...

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