The Iran Crisis in Global Context

At a moment when the North Koreans claim to have just "harvested a nuclear reactor for weapons fuel," the latest flare-up in the Iranian/European Union negotiations involving the "Iranian bomb," well described below by Dilip Hiro, only highlights the increasingly...

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John Bolton’s Yellowcake

What role did John Bolton play in the Bush administration's efforts to manufacture the intelligence needed to justify the invasion of Iraq? As it turns out, a hidden but important role. Remember the "yellowcake from Niger"? Briefly reported last week in Steve...

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Iraq Falls Apart

There was panic in the streets of Washington, the Capitol emptied, and Congress scattered in fear – all because a small plane had entered the airspace over the Imperial City. "Run, run, run!" It was, of course, nothing to laugh or gloat about. All of us remember...

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Tired of Empire?

Last week I wrote about some of the reasons it is just possible that we won't see another major imperial military adventure during the Bushlet's second term. The reasons ranged from the second-term blues that afflicts most two-term presidencies, to the resources tied...

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The Coming Shi’ite Showdown

Even as the Bush administration was hailing the heroism of the Iraqi Shi'ite majority for going to the polls last Jan. 30, it was secretly preventing the new Shi'ite government from having full control over its own intelligence services. The reason, it has now been...

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A Terrorist Comes Home to Roost

The sudden and untimely arrival on U.S. territory of a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset and admitted terrorist, Luis Posada Carriles, poses an embarrassing challenge to the credibility of the Bush administration's war on terrorism. Posada, who in an...

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The Once and Present War

World War Two, Still Fought in the Balkans On May 8, 1945 Nazi Germany surrendered, ending what would later be called the Second World War in Europe. For the next 45 years, the victorious Soviets and their erstwhile Atlantic allies faced off across the line dividing...

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Dominoes or Dominance?

Thirty years after the last chopper left the Saigon embassy, Americans still don't know why this country fought in Vietnam. According to the dominant explanation, U.S. policymakers believed unquestioningly in the "domino theory," which held that noncommunist countries...

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