Updated at 11:28 p.m. EST, Nov. 9, 2009
The Turkish government unveiled a new peace plan that promises to end a 25-year-long guerilla war with the Kurdistan Workers Party. Meanwhile, at least three Iraqis were killed and five more were wounded in the latest violence.
Muhammad Sahimi on the terrorists ???
Updated at 6:50 p.m. EDT, July 26, 2009
At least 26 Iraqis were killed and 28 more were wounded in today’s attacks. No Coalition deaths were reported, but former soldiers described the conditions that likely contributed to the high amount of violent crimes attributed to a group of Iraq veterans. Separately, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said that U.S. soldiers are allowed to defend themselves in attacks. Meanwhile, some Iraqis are finding it difficult to legally immigrate to the U.S. because of the “broad language” used in the Patriot Act. Also, polls closed peacefully in the Kurdish Autonomous Region.
In the past month, two seemingly unrelated events have turned Central Asia into a potential flashpoint: an aggressively expanding North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a nascent strategic alliance between Russia and China. At stake is nothing less than who holds the future high ground in the competition for the world’s energy resources. Increasing Competition …
Continue reading “Blood and Oil in Central Asia”
Anthony Shadid has, without a doubt, been the finest American mainstream journalist to cover Iraq in the period after the 2003 invasion. He’s now back in Baghdad for the Washington Post, telling the saddest story of all (“In the City of Cement“). Here’s part of what he wrote just after American troops largely withdrew to …
Continue reading “The Remaking of Iraq”
Back in March, Pepe Escobar, that itchy, edgy global reporter for one of my favorite online publications, Asia Times, began laying out the great, ongoing energy struggle across Eurasia, or what he likes to call Pipelineistan for its web of oil and natural gas pipelines. In his first report, he dealt with the embattled energy …
Continue reading “Pipelineistan Goes Af-Pak” 
