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Decades of smiles have left crinkles on his face that belie the sadness deep within his eyes. His hope and love for America has turned to a despair he is unable to express. “I want to talk to an American general or judge,” says Nihad Munir. “I will give them my guarantee that my son … Continue reading “‘I Know Americans Are Very Friendly People’”

As violence continued in Iraq, President Bush addressed the nation Monday night about his plans for the June 30 "transfer of power." Bush offered preliminary details about Iraq’s forthcoming sovereignty. Iraqi "sovereignty" will apparently include a large U.S. military and advisory presence for the indefinite future. No date is set for coalition troops to leave … Continue reading “A Government to be Named Later”

Launching a new effort to stem the plummeting loss in public confidence in his Iraq policy, U.S. President George W. Bush reiterated his commitment to bringing "freedom" and self-government to Baghdad and warned that US failure will "only mark the beginning of peril and violence." Addressing a respectful and unusually restrained group of mid- and … Continue reading “Bush Offers Nothing New Except Prison”

American Likudniks have been “examining” the consequences to our national security of an Israeli preemptive strike against certain Iranian facilities and programs, all now subject to an International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards Agreement. Whenever President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Sharon get together, they invariably discuss Iran’s “nuclear weapons programs.” “It would be intolerable for … Continue reading “Gulf War III”

The current Israeli campaign in Rafah, which has already killed at least 40 people, and which the U.N. Security Council has condemned in a 14-0 vote (with the United States abstaining), is merely the continuation of a decades-long program of ethnic cleansing that Israel has conducted in the region. A new report released by Amnesty … Continue reading “American Shame in Rafah”

With the recent court-martial trial of one of the soldiers complicit in the widespread torturing of Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison having come and gone, Iraqis see the newest promise made by the U.S. – to clean up their act regarding the treatment of detained Iraqis – as being yet more empty words. In the … Continue reading “Outside the Gates of Abu Ghraib”

Ahmed Chalabi wrote his doctoral dissertation on the intricacies of Knot Theory – and surely he has tied his neoconservative patrons in a knot of Gordian proportions as they take up the cudgels in his defense. “You can piss on Chalabi,” said George W. Bush to Jordan’s King Abdullah, after learning that the neocons’ man … Continue reading “The Chalabi Follies”

Amid more bad news from Iraq and increasing dissatisfaction among voters, President Bush will give the first of a series of six speeches today detailing his plans for the June 30 “transfer of power” in Iraq. The speeches are meant to acquaint the public with a joint United States-Great Britain U.N. Security Council resolution regarding … Continue reading “Iraqi ‘Sovereignty’: Don’t Get Your Hopes Up”

Thank you all. Thank you and good evening. I’m honored to visit the Army War College. Generations of officers have come here to study the strategies and history of warfare. I’ve come here tonight to report to all Americans, and to the Iraqi people, on the strategy our nation is pursuing in Iraq and the specific steps we’re taking … Continue reading “Remarks on Iraq at the Army War College”

There was more heavy fighting in Karbala early on Friday, after which the city fell eerily quiet. By Friday night into early Saturday morning, Mahdi Army militiamen had mysteriously ceased fighting, and the U.S. had withdrawn from sites like Mukhayyam mosque near the shrine of Imam Husain. Meanwhile, Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on his … Continue reading “A Shi’ite International?”