Just 10 days after taking over his new post, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is in Iraq to pressure leaders into deciding whether they will ask for U.S. troops to remain in Iraq after a year-end withdrawal deadline but that decision will likely not happen for another couple of weeks. Not only have four Iraqis been killed today, so has one U.S. soldier. Another five Iraqis were wounded in the latest violence. Also, Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has rescinded his threat to reactivate the Mahdi Army.
read moreDon’t Remove the MEK From the Terrorist List
Since 1997, the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK), an Iranian opposition group, has been listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The European Union followed suit and also listed the MEK as such, but as a result of intense lobbying and a...
Sunday: 17 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded
At least 17 Iraqis were killed and six more were wounded in Sunday’s attacks. Meanwhile, members of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) are accused of killing a Turkish soldier and wounding two other people during an attack in eastern Turkey. Meanwhile, K.A.R. President Massoud Barzani warned Iran against shelling border areas. The attacks target Party For A Free Life In Kurdistan (PJAK) rebels who, like the PKK, hide in northern Iraq and share the same goal of an independent Kurdistan.
read morePost-Mubarak Egypt Inches Toward Iran
CAIRO — Based on several recent statements by Egyptian and Iranian officials, Cairo and Tehran appear closer than ever to restoring diplomatic ties following a 31-year hiatus. "The Egyptian foreign minister and the Islamic Republic of Iran have announced their...
Target: Iran
Threat of Attack on Iran Recedes, but Tensions Remain High
The likelihood of a U.S. or Israeli military attack on Iran's nuclear installations seems miniscule during the remaining months of the Barack Obama administration's first term. The U.S. is focused on domestic economic problems, winding down wars in Iraq, Afghanistan...
New Iran Sanctions Could Push Petrol Prices Even Higher
U.S. lawmakers have introduced a new package of unilateral sanctions targeting Iran that would challenge U.S. President Obama's discretionary authority to enforce such sanctions and would impose comprehensive restrictions on foreign entities that ship, refine or...
Secret War on Iran May Hurt Reform Movement
For years now, a concerted covert U.S. campaign of cyber-terrorism, commercial sabotage, targeted assassinations, and proxy wars has apparently been under way in Iran. From June 2009 to May 2010 a computer virus called Stuxnet was unleashed on Iran’s nuclear...
‘Unprovoked’ Attacks, From 1812 to 9/11
The killing of Osama bin Laden reminds us that there are only two disciplines in which uncaused events occur—quantum physics and the history of U.S. foreign policy. According to the version of history expounded by the American media and politicians, the passenger...
Amid Turmoil, a Nuke-Free Middle East May Be in Jeopardy
A proposed international conference on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, tentatively scheduled for 2012, may be in jeopardy amid the growing political turmoil sweeping across the Arab world - and Israel's fears of negative fallout on its own security. The proposal...
