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With the billions of dollars appropriated by the United States for Iraqi reconstruction almost spent, Japan, Australia and other nations in U.S. President George W. Bush’s "coalition of the willing" are likely to be asked to shoulder much of the burden for funding the large number of unfinished projects. Getting others to take up the … Continue reading “Bush’s New Multilateralism”

There is a “revelation” in James Risen’s latest book – State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration – that is perhaps more revealing than anyone intended. According to Risen, back in February 2000, the CIA finally found a job for one of their assets – a Russian "defector," long … Continue reading “Planting Evidence”

With Isam Rashid BAGHDAD – The Association of Muslim Scholars, a Sunni organization that was created in the aftermath of the Iraq invasion, was again targeted by the United States military last Sunday. The raid on its mosque served only to alienate Sunnis further. The Association of Muslim Scholars, now considered the highest Sunni authority … Continue reading “Another Raid Brings Further Alienation”

If U.S. President George W. Bush is looking for good news, he should be talking less about Iraq and more about Afghanistan, according to the latest survey results from that country. Despite grinding poverty, a widening divide between rich and poor, and the continued empowerment of regional warlords, more than four out of five Afghans … Continue reading “Afghan Survey Finds Broad Support for Govt”

2006 is sure to be the year of living dangerously – for the Bush administration and for the rest of us. In the wake of revelations of warrantless spying by the National Security Agency, we have already embarked on what looks distinctly like a constitutional crisis (which may not come to a full boil until … Continue reading “Bush v. Reality”

Three years ago, the United States undertook an invasion – a war of choice, not necessity – of Iraq, a country about which most Americans, and most American policymakers, knew very little. Saddam Hussein had been properly demonized by officials and most of the U.S. media, of course, but even if he had possessed the … Continue reading “History’s Burden in Iraq”

As the U.S. gets ready to move on Iran, under the pretext of a gathering Iranian nuclear threat, the news that the War Party got creative when WMD were nowhere to be found in Iraq should give us pause. According to a report in Raw Story by Larisa Alexandrovna, the Office of Special Plans (OSP) … Continue reading “War, Lies, and Videotape”

With Isam Rashid BAGHDAD – More than 400 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the occupation began in March 2003. Many more Iraqis have been kidnapped, but it is the abduction of foreigners that makes news, and makes them particular targets. Last week, another American was kidnapped in Baghdad. Jill Carroll, a reporter for … Continue reading “Iraq Kidnappings Worse ‘Than Ever Before’”

Pat Robertson and 20 million American fundamentalists are not alone. The new president of Iran also believes that the end of the world is nigh and "believers" can help speed it up. His government has now allocated millions of dollars for the Jamkaran mosque to help believers prepare for the event. It is staffed by … Continue reading “Their Armageddonites,
and Ours”

The limits of U.S. presidential power emerged as a central issue in the Senate confirmation hearings for Samuel A. Alito to become a new associate justice on the Supreme Court – even as President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney continued to vigorously defend their use of secret electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens. … Continue reading “Bush Nominee Probed on Executive Powers”