Tag: Iraq

Washington’s Physics Problem in Iraq

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, says its chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, has a “physics problem.” According to a 2008 accord between the United States and Iraq, the U.S. military is to be evacuated from Mesopotamia — down to the last tank mechanic and dishwasher — by the close of the calendar year. Lately, there have … Continue reading “Washington’s Physics Problem in Iraq”

Diplomat: I Helped Lose Hearts and Minds in Iraq

Peter Van Buren is not your typical American bureaucrat. As a foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department, he does not put his head down, he does not keep his mouth closed, and he doesn’t put his 23-year career in front of the good of the country. He doesn’t even know how long it … Continue reading “Diplomat: I Helped Lose Hearts and Minds in Iraq”

Accelerate Withdrawals From Afghanistan and Iraq

The jockeying for position on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq continues. Recently, departing Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the U.S. military have tried to box the Obama administration into leaving as many troops in Afghanistan as possible. Gates argued that a rapid withdrawal would threaten the gains accrued from the surge of 30,000 … Continue reading “Accelerate Withdrawals From Afghanistan and Iraq”

How Not to Withdraw From Iraq

Iraq? Where’s that? Most Americans no longer seem to know and evidently could care less, but don’t tell that to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, various key military figures and Washington officials, or some of the neocons, warrior-pundits, and liberal war-fighters circling them. They continue to relentlessly promote Iraq as a mission-never-accomplished-but-never-to-be-ended experience. Somehow, two … Continue reading “How Not to Withdraw From Iraq”

Warrior Pundits and War Pornographers

As Department of Defense officials prepared for an invasion of Iraq in early 2003, they were intent on giving good war at home and abroad all at once—and on creating images that, like the coming Pax Americana in the Middle East, would be forever. They planned, as they then liked to say, on “dominating the … Continue reading “Warrior Pundits and War Pornographers”

Remember Iraq?

Although assassination has become the leading cause of death among Iraqi males, the Iraqi government has its priorities straight: they’re enacting a ban on public smoking. As the New York Times reports, the law – already passed by the Parliament, and now up for an obligatory second reading – “would ban smoking from schools, universities, … Continue reading “Remember Iraq?”

‘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 aircraft hitting the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 9/11 were a … Continue reading “‘Unprovoked’ Attacks, From 1812 to 9/11”

To End All Wars

Someday, when historians look back, they will undoubtedly be struck by the utter inanity, not to say collective insanity, of the United States fighting what our president has called a “war of necessity,” now in its tenth year, in Afghanistan, as well as a “covert” war in the Pakistani tribal borderlands. It will undoubtedly look … Continue reading “To End All Wars”