Antiwar.com

The Ongoing Balkans Hell Compared to, say, Kyrgyzstan these days, news coming from the Balkans makes the region appear downright calm. As usual, appearances are misleading. Taken separately, reports from the region don’t mean much – but taken together, they paint a picture of a continuing descent into absurdity. Like a scratched CD, the Imperial … Continue reading “Carnival of the Absurd”

Earlier this month, having long been bothered by the claims of various neocons that we were in “World War IV” (also known as “the Global War on Terrorism”), I wrote a piece, "Which War Is This Again?," considering the idea. I pointed out among other things that whatever the Cold War might have been, it … Continue reading “Why World War IV Can’t Sell”

In the last three decades, there has been little doubt in my mind that democratic institutions would soon replace or subsume the world’s last remaining monarchies, including those in the Middle East. Monarchs could rule effectively when the world moved at a snail’s pace, but with the accelerated pace of change in the global political … Continue reading “Gunboat Democracy”

On March 26, 2005, the streets of Taipei were choked with people from all over the island, citizens of a nation still known legally as the Republic of China (ROC), citizens who’d gathered in force to protest a new anti-secession law that had just been passed by the much larger People’s Republic of China (PRC) … Continue reading “Taiwan Speaks Up, Damn the Torpedoes”

BEIRUT – The political upheaval that has engulfed Lebanon following the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri has given rise to fears of renewed sectarian bloodshed – and hopes that it can be avoided. The upheaval has resulted in an ongoing standoff between government loyalists and the opposition movement, a surge in street demonstrations, and … Continue reading “In Lebanon, Fear and Hope”

Robert Novak told us last year that the U.S. was headed for a “quick exit” from Iraq – and in a recent column he’s holding to this prediction, crowing that he was right about Condoleezza Rice ascending to the State Department, and her deputy Stephen Hadley taking her place as national security adviser. Okay, so … Continue reading “Iraq: An Exit Strategy”

In a political environment more fractious than Washington has seen in over a decade, there are still signs that Left and Right can find common ground. A current example is a coalition of conservative interest groups that has joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and similar organizations to press for changes in … Continue reading “Left and Right vs. the PATRIOT Act”

http://www.independent.org/tii/antiwar/e050329.html

"Watch out for Kurdistan," I tell everyone I know. It may take a few years, but Iraq will be cut up into two, possibly three, countries – and the Kurds will be the first to go. Already, northern Iraq is hardly one with the rest of the country. In the provisional capital of Arbil, the … Continue reading “Watch Out for Kurdistan”

President George W. Bush has taken a baby step toward fulfilling his pledge to spread democracy in the Middle East by giving grants totaling one million dollars to six civil society groups in Egypt, including perhaps the most controversial in the country – the organization whose leader spent a year behind bars on trumped-up charges. … Continue reading “US Grants $1 Million to Egyptian ‘Pro-Democracy’ Groups”