Listen to Rep. Ron Paul deliver this address. It is not too often I am pleased by the foreign policy announcements from this administration, but last week’s announcement that the war in Iraq was in its final stage and all the troops may be home for Christmas did sound promising. I have long said that …
Continue reading “Yes, Let’s Leave Iraq – Completely”
In a White House Statement on Oct. 21, U.S. President Barack Obama pledged that his country would finally withdraw forces from Iraq. "After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over," he said. Providing some context to Obama’s announcement, a CBSNews.com report published on the same day stated, "The war in Iraq has …
Continue reading “Iraq War’s Lessons Lost on US”
Over two years ago, President Barack Obama, who had campaigned declaring that Iraq was an unnecessary war, doubled down on the war that he declared to be a vital interest, Afghanistan. Today, the United States is departing Iraq and Obama is acting like it is his decision to go, but it is only because the …
Continue reading “Obama Declares Victory, but Will It Win Votes?”
A triple bombing in Mosul may have left the most casualties today, but a bombing in Hilla is the most significant. The second attack targeted a man working for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s top cleric and possibly the most powerful man in Iraq. Overall, at least 16 Iraqis were killed and 36 more were wounded across the country. Also, three Iranian pilgrims were wounded in an attack in Diyala province.
The Iraqi government, sensitive to its public’s perception that occupying U.S. forces have run roughshod over the indigenous population, refused to give immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law for any future lawbreaking by the occupier’s soldiers. The United States had made this rather imperial demand and refused to keep troops in Iraq unless it was …
Continue reading “American Arrogance Accidentally Leads to Good Outcome”
Updated at 9:44 p.m. EDT Oct. 25, 2011
Attacks targeting security personnel continued across Iraq today, where they left eight Iraqis dead and 27 more wounded. Also, one U.S. soldier died of non-hostile causes in Tallil, and another U.S. soldier supporting Operation New Dawn died of an illness in Texas. Meanwhile, about 500-1000 Turkish troops may have entered northern Iraq, chasing after Kurdish rebels. No casualties have been reported yet, but the Kurdistan Workers Party (P.K.K.) says that some fighting already occurred. Turkey denied the incursion.
You might think that by now I would be so used to infuriating neocon drivel that, to preserve my own sanity, I would avoid looking at The Washington Post, or at least its editorial pages. I have tried. But it seems that after almost a half century in Washington, and particularly after the recent rash …
Continue reading “Switching Focus from Iraq to Iran”
The US occupation of Iraq is reportedly set to come to an end, with most of the roughly 40,000 soldiers currently stationed there set to be removed by year’s end. But let’s make no mistake: contrary to what you’re likely to hear from the political and media establishment, the only thing worth celebrating is this …
Continue reading “Only ‘Success’ in Iraq is that US Troops are Leaving”
Key neoconservatives and other right-wing hawks who championed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq are calling for military strikes against Iran in retaliation for its purported murder-for-hire plot against the Saudi ambassador. Leading the charge is the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), the ideological successor to the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), which played …
Continue reading “Hawks Behind Iraq War Rally for War With Iran”
“Exhilarating” is the most appropriate word to describe our assembly since Thursday on Freedom Plaza — our “Tahrir Square” — in Washington, D.C., called into being by October2011.org. And it appears we will be staying for the duration to exercise our freedom to assemble to petition for grievances — peacefully, unless the National Park Police …
Continue reading “Freedom Plaza Protesters Settle In” 
