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In the 1950s and 1960s, the curious profession of Kremlinologist was developed among academics and the intelligence community. These worthies made it their business to try to figure out what the less-than-scrutable folks running the Kremlin were likely to do. It seemed clear to most observers then that insofar as Moscow adhered to ideology it … Continue reading “Is Iran Next?”

Bizarre Balkans Bulletin There is a good reason most contemporary Balkans literature tends to be surreal. It is hard to write realistic fiction when reality is far more bizarre than anything literary wizards are capable of conjuring. In a place that logic and reason seem to have abandoned a while ago, ironies and absurdities abound, … Continue reading “Reality Bites”

One of the first orders of business for the new Iraqi government under Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani and Shi’ite Islamist Ibrahim Jaafari will be to strike a deal with the United States military over the terms and conditions of the 150,000-troop-strong U.S. military presence. A United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing the occupation ends in … Continue reading “New Iraqi Govt to Confront Future With US Military”

AMMAN – The Iraqi parliament that was elected some 10 weeks ago has finally picked the three-men presidium of the Republic, making Jalal Talabani the first Kurdish president of Iraq. The appointments follow a breakthrough last week when the National Assembly at last agreed on a Sunni Arab speaker. The presidency has two weeks to … Continue reading “Iraq’s Patchwork Presidency Finally Takes Shape”

Whenever the administration is challenged regarding the success of the Iraq war, or regarding the false information used to justify the war, the retort is: "Aren’t the people of Iraq better off?" The insinuation is that anyone who expresses any reservations about supporting the war is an apologist for Saddam Hussein and every ruthless act … Continue reading “Who’s Better Off?”

In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the USA PATRIOT Act, the following exchange took place between former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, now attorney general, and Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.): "GONZALES: Mr. Chairman, let me, kind of, reassure the committee and the American people that the department has no interest in rummaging through the … Continue reading “Faking Civil Society”

If Iraq has been the disaster zone of Bush foreign policy, Afghanistan is still generally thought of as its success story – to the extent that anyone in our part of the world thinks about that country at all any more. Before the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan experienced a relative flood of American attention. It … Continue reading “Drugs, Bases, and Jails: The Afghan Spring”

The (unrequited) love of my life did his basic training in an elite Israeli commando. Once, after he had been characteristically belligerent, his "merciful" commanders made him stand in the rain throughout the night, bed on back. At 19, he was a powerfully built six-foot-three. Although temperamentally not suited to obedience, no one doubted his … Continue reading “About a Boy”

Disclosure of a 75 percent increase in secret wiretaps and "sneak and peek" searches since 2000 is likely to provide ammunition for civil liberties groups determined to modify the USA PATRIOT Act when Congress begins two months of debate on the law Tuesday. The USA PATRIOT Act was hurriedly enacted shortly after the Sept. 11, … Continue reading “Cooler Heads Review PATRIOT Act in Congress”

The dramatic climax of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s visit to the United States will no doubt be his address to a joint session of Congress, where he is sure to receive a hero’s welcome. That conclave of self-serving phonies knows a kindred soul when it sees one. But the real high point (or low point, … Continue reading “Yushchenko’s Gambit”