As Powell Leaves, Hardliners Make Their Move

Monday’s announcement that Secretary of State Colin Powell, by far the most popular of U.S. President George W. Bush’s war cabinet, has submitted his resignation marks the formal launch of a new scramble for top national-security posts that could bring an even more hardline configuration to power. Powell’s disappearance will remove the most influential foreign-policy … Continue reading “As Powell Leaves, Hardliners Make Their Move”

Press Watchdog ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by Iraqi Govt’s Media Threat

A leading U.S.-based press watchdog says it is "deeply disturbed" by a directive issued last week by the Iraqi interim government’s new media commission that warned the press operating in Iraq to reflect the government’s position in fighting by U.S., coalition, and Iraqi forces against insurgents. The warning came in a statement released Thursday by … Continue reading “Press Watchdog ‘Deeply Disturbed’ by Iraqi Govt’s Media Threat”

Dogs Eating Bodies in the Streets of Fallujah

It never fails to get my adrenaline flowing when my hotel rumbles from a car bomb detonating in central Baghdad. Last night around 7 p.m. the explosion occurred at a hotel compound which houses foreign contractors over near Firdos Square. Shortly thereafter, the "Green Zone" took a sustained mortar attack that went on long enough … Continue reading “Dogs Eating Bodies in the Streets of Fallujah”

‘Success’ in Fallujah, Failure Elsewhere

BAGHDAD – Everyone saw it coming, only the U.S. forces did not: humanitarian disaster in Fallujah, and stronger resistance against U.S. and allied occupying forces all around Iraq. The real face of the “success” of the U.S. military assault in Fallujah is now beginning to present itself. Thousands of families remain trapped inside Fallujah with … Continue reading “‘Success’ in Fallujah, Failure Elsewhere”

Arafat’s Death May Change Very Little

RAMALLAH – Just one moment in that jostling crowd under undisciplined Palestinian security forces at the funeral of Yasser Arafat was enough to pick up on huge problems for resumption of a peace process in the Middle East. The faithful of Arafat’s Fatah movement were chanting slogans that they will stick to the supposedly moderate … Continue reading “Arafat’s Death May Change Very Little”

Purge at the CIA

Like another empire founded on ideological hubris, and stained with the blood of countless victims, this one engages in periodic political purges: when one faction is vanquished, mass firings occur in the upper echelons of the bureaucracy. We don’t send them to the gulag – at least, not yet – instead we set them up … Continue reading “Purge at the CIA”

Is an Attack on Iran ‘Inconceivable’?

Undersecretary John Bolton has pushed – unsuccessfully – for nearly two years to get the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors to refer to the UN Security Council what he alleges are violations by Iran of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Unsuccessfully, because the IAEA has concluded after an exhaustive special inspection that … Continue reading “Is an Attack on Iran ‘Inconceivable’?”

Fallujah: Force First, Yet Again

Karl von Clausewitz, the stern old Prussian philosopher of war, had it right. War is politics carried on by other means. He didn’t see fit to expand upon the apparent corollary, that politics – which most modern thinkers want to sell us as the alternative to war – is simply war carried on by other … Continue reading “Fallujah: Force First, Yet Again”

61 US Soldiers Killed This Week

In a flurry of weekend press releases, the Department of Defense named another 26 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq. These deaths bring the total killed since Nov. 8 to 61. Such facts may conflict with “official numbers” released to the unquestioning media. However, in an apparent response to this article, the DoD is now reporting … Continue reading “61 US Soldiers Killed This Week”