Jim Lobe

Sen. Barack Obama, a leading candidate in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, said Tuesday he would make Afghanistan the focus of U.S. anti-terror efforts and unilaterally strike terrorist targets across the border in Pakistan if the government of President Pervez Musharraf failed to do so. In a major policy address delivered at the … Continue reading “Obama Would Focus Terror Fight on Afghanistan”

Just 25 months after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced 60 years of U.S. support for authoritarian governments in Arab world, she and Pentagon chief Robert Gates are on their way to the Middle East bearing arms and an uncannily familiar strategic vision to the same regimes. Under former President Ronald Reagan 25 years ago, … Continue reading “Arms for Arab Authoritarians, as US Turns Back Clock”

The United States intelligence community’s latest assessment of al-Qaeda and the threat it poses to the homeland appears to have both renewed questions about the wisdom of invading Iraq and returned the spotlight to an increasingly strife-ridden Pakistan. The latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), a two-page unclassified version of which was released here Tuesday, found … Continue reading “Pakistani al-Qaeda a Real Threat – US Intelligence”

After a week and a half of Senate debate, including an all-night session Tuesday, the possibility that legislation to de-escalate US military intervention in Iraq soon could be adopted by a strong bipartisan majority appears to have receded, at least until mid-September, if not well into next year. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s decision Wednesday … Continue reading “Partisan Lines Harden in Iraq Debate”

A major policy address Monday by U.S. President George W. Bush promoting a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine has been greeted with considerable skepticism by Middle East specialists. Most analysts said Bush’s speech – including his pledge to provide some $190 million to support Palestine Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and convene a regional … Continue reading “Mideast Experts Skeptical About Bush PA Proposal”

Despite the media’s and official Washington’s focus on Iraq and Iran as the most urgent challenges to US foreign policy, a growing chorus of voices is calling for a major shift towards what they regard as the "central front in the war on terror" – Pakistan. In their view, not only has the increasingly beleaguered … Continue reading “Bush-Musharraf Alliance Under Growing Attack”

For the second year in a row, violence and persecution in Iraq fueled a sharp rise in the number of people worldwide who were forced to flee their homelands, according to the latest edition of "World Refugee" released here Wednesday by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). By the end of 2006, according … Continue reading “Iraq Exodus Fuels Rise in Refugees, Displaced”

In the face of a critical Senate debate on future U.S. strategy in Iraq, neoconservatives and other hawks are trying to rally increasingly skeptical – and worried – Republicans behind continued support for President George W. Bush’s five-month-old "surge" strategy. They are arguing that the surge – the deployment of an additional 30,000 U.S. troops … Continue reading “Neocons Try to Rally, Bully Republicans”

There may be moments during their summit at his family’s compound in Kennebunkport, Maine when U.S. President George W. Bush looks with envy on his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, whose popularity at home guarantees him vast influence even as he prepares to leave office just nine months from now. Not so for Bush, whose public … Continue reading “Bush Presidency Enters Terminal Phase”

Consistent with its performance since at least 2002, the global image of the United States sank further over the past year, particularly among predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia, according to the latest Pew Global Attitudes Project (GAP) survey [.pdf] released here Wednesday. The survey, which included more than 45,000 respondents interviewed … Continue reading “Survey: US Image Abroad
Still Sinking”