Israel, to a greater degree than most democracies, is a cauldron of animosities and a clash of civilizations. This is because of the devoutness and passion with which the opposing groups cling to their beliefs. It is often said that politics is the art of compromise....
Let the Israelis Do It? Look, is it too much to ask that Gordon Prather refrain from using the phrase "go-anywhere, see-anything" in reference to his endlessly rehashing the details of the current situation with Iran and the IAEA inspections? I'm very sympathetic...
There's little point in denying, as some people were wont to do, that the election in Iraq on Sunday was a significant step toward the possibility of a reasonably stable Iraq. It went better than almost everybody except the most optimistic of observers expected. While...
"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war." ~ Donald Rumsfeld In times of war, particularly when that war is starting to look meaningless and futile, its promoters must keep one highly influential group under control: the families and friends of...
KIRKUK - Two members of Kurdish parties are touring a soccer stadium turned refugee camp on the southern outskirts of Iraq's northern oil-rich city Kirkuk on a sunny morning. They are carrying a petition asking Kurds whether they want ethnic federalism in Iraq or...
In the spy business, "blowback" is a term used to describe unintended negative consequences of actions taken by intelligence agencies to advance national interests. The phrase was allegedly coined by spooks at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to refer to an...
Clearly buoyed by Sunday's election in Iraq, a confident George W. Bush told the nation that the Middle East will dominate U.S. foreign policy during his second term as president, just as his proposals to privatize the 70-year-old U.S. Social Security system will be...
"The story today is going to be very discouraging to the American people. I understand that. We value life. And we weep and mourn when soldiers lose their life. And – but it is the long-term objective that is vital…." - George Bush, Jan. 26, 2005, referring...
One of the least reported aspects of the U.S. occupation of Iraq is the oftentimes indiscriminate use of air power by the American military. The Western mainstream media has generally failed to attend to the F-16 warplanes dropping their payloads of 500-, 1,000-, and...
NEW YORK - The Justice Department has again asserted "state-secrets privilege" in seeking to dismiss a lawsuit by Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who was detained in the United States in 2002 and sent against his will to Syria, where he says he...
