Antiwar.com

JERUSALEM – After months of flattering opinion polls, the first sign of nerves was beginning to show in the camp of acting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. In the space of a month, his front-running Kadima (Forward) party had lost 15 percent support, and the acting prime minister’s popularity had also dived in the polls … Continue reading “Sharon’s Successor Comes In From the Shadows”

*with Ngoc Nguyen HANOI – Nguyen Thi Thuy was 22 when she left her village to help build roads for the North Vietnamese army during the war. She remembers crawling into tunnels during the day and covering her mouth with a wet rag when the United States military sprayed the landscape with defoliant. "I didn’t … Continue reading “Agent Orange Leaves Stigma Trail”

NEW DELHI – Hot on the heels of its landmark "nuclear cooperation" agreement with the United States, which allows New Delhi to keep its nuclear weapons, the Indian government has entered into a controversial deal with Russia for the supply of nuclear fuel for two civilian power reactors. The deal is expected to be formally … Continue reading “India’s Russia Card Ups Nuclear Stakes”

A new national poll shows that a near majority of voters either strongly or somewhat agree with a pledge not to vote for pro-war candidates. This makes the antiwar movement’s potential impact on elections larger than pro-gun, anti-abortion, or anti-gay marriage voters. Politicians will have to pay heed to this new political force. The pledge … Continue reading “A Powerful New Voting Block Emerges”

Well, according to President Bush’s 2006 National Security Strategy, “America is at war. “This is a wartime national security strategy required by the grave challenge we face – the rise of terrorism fueled by an aggressive ideology of hatred and murder, fully revealed to the American people on September 11, 2001. “This strategy reflects our … Continue reading “Washington: The Biggest NPT Violator”

It is almost unfair to analyze the president’s speeches on Iraq these days. It seems increasingly apparent that most Americans aren’t listening any more. Even if Dubya were to defy all expectations and deliver a convincing argument for staying the course (whatever that might mean beyond simply keeping American troops in Iraq where they will … Continue reading “Last-Ditch Effort”

U.S. Pres. George W. Bush issued his second-term National Security Strategy Thursday, a document outlining the administration’s strategy for using diplomatic, economic, and military tools to deal with global challenges. Ironically, the 47-page document that outlines a series of "successes" and "extraordinary progress in the expansion of freedom, democracy, and human dignity" since 2002 makes … Continue reading “White House Reaffirms ‘First Strike’ Doctrine”

The rituals of Empire have their own meaning and structure, and, as we morph from a republic to an imperial hegemon, these are becoming more formalized. Note the proliferation of grandiosely named agencies and other offices, staffed by a multitude of officials with sonorously self-important titles. For example, how many people know that a “Bureau … Continue reading “American Megalomania”

Washington finally realizes after its chronic troop shortage in Iraq and elsewhere that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s vision of quickly "shocking and awing" enemies to win victories has been spectacularly unsuccessful and that the US needs foreign manpower more desperately than ever. Its global visions – and illusions – cannot be attained without them. These … Continue reading “American Foreign Policy and the Future of NATO”

Since today’s dispatch is by a former federal prosecutor, let me suggest a small “law” of my own, one fit for the present moment: When it comes to the Bush administration, whatever the subject may be and however bad you think things are, they’re going to be at least several fallback positions worse than whatever … Continue reading “Reprogramming the Infinite Loop”