Iran, 1979 and 2010
The Obama administration's Iran policy is a riddle wrapped inside a conundrum folded into a pickle. So many signals are being sent in so many directions that it's a wonder the Iranians (or other involved parties) have any idea what's going on. Barack Obama came into...
Making Sense of the New CIA Battlefield in Afghanistan
It was a Christmas and New Year's from hell for American intelligence, that $75 billion labyrinth of at least 16 major agencies and a handful of minor ones. As the old year was preparing to be rung out, so were our intelligence agencies, which managed not to connect...
What to Watch for in 2010
According to the Chinese calendar, 2010 is the Year of the Tiger. We don't name our years, but if we did, this one might prospectively be called the Year of the Assassin. We, of course, think of ourselves as something like the peaceable kingdom. After all, the shock...
In Nightmares Begin Responsibilities
$57,077.60 Per Minute
Grinding Down the US Army
Last week, the U.S. Army released its suicide figures for November. Twelve soldiers on active duty were classified as "potential suicides" for the month, bringing the yearly suicide total to 147, 19 more than for all of 2008, and the fifth year in a row the...
The Dust Bowl of Babylon
[This report appears in the winter 2009/10 issue of World Policy Journal and is posted here with the kind permission of the editors of that magazine.] BAGHDAD - From his mud brick home on the edge of the Garden of Eden, Awda Khasaf has twice seen his country's...
The Nine Surges of Obama’s War
The Great Wall of Israel
Try to imagine this: An American president visits Israel and in a speech given close to the vast "separation wall" Israel continues to build in part through Palestinian territory, says: "Mr. Netanyahu, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for...
