My Salon column, , “Obama is saying the Wrong things about Afghanistan,” , is now available online. Excerpt: ‘ The governor of the North-West Frontier province, Owais Ghani, immediately spoke out against Obama, saying that the senator’s remarks had the effect of undermining the new civilian government elected last February. Ghani warned that a U.S. […]
Passage of Electoral Provision Likely will Delay Elections
It is not looking good for the holding of provincial elections in Iraq this year. First the high electoral commission warned that if enabling legislation was not passed by the end of July, it would push them back from October to Dec. 22. Now, the contentious issue of the province of Kirkuk may have delayed […]
Troop Agreement Misses Deadline; Provincial Law Misses Deadline; Bombings in Mosul, Diyala, Fallujah
First there was going to be a status of forces agreement between the US and Iraq, which would be ratified by the Iraqi parliament and would grant the US long-term bases. Private security guards and US troops would be immune from Iraqi law. US commanders would launch operations at will, would decide who a terrorist […]
Obama in Iraq; Der Spiegel Proves al-Maliki Story Correct; Series of Bombings hit Baghdad
Senator Barack Obama is in Iraq for consultations with American military commanders and Iraqi leaders. Despite all the talk about Iraq being “calm,” I’d like to point out that the month just before the last visit Barack Obama made to Iraq (he went in January, 2006), there were 537 civilian and ISF Iraqi casualties. In […]
Obama in Afghanistan
Presidential hopeful Barack Obama held consultations Saturday in Kabul with Afghan government officials. He discussed the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the country. I heard him on television at one point pledging to defeat the Taliban. Aljazeera is showing footage of him addressing US troops who are going wild for him, and shooting hoops in […]
OSC: Afghan Observers Sceptical of Senator Obama’s Plan To Send More Troops
The USG Open Source Center translates a report in Dari Persian on a parliamentarian and two close observers from Afghanistan who entertain the severest doubts about Barack Obama’s plan to send more US troops to Afghanistan. Afghan Observers Sceptical of Senator Obama’s Plan To Send More TroopsVoice of the Islamic Republic of Iran External ServiceSaturday, […]
Bush Accepts Time Horizon for US Troop withdrawal
Bush has agreed in all but name with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on a timetable for US troop withdrawal from that country. As usual Bush’s staff made up an implausible euphemism for the timetable, calling it a “time horizon” for “aspirational goals?” Language like that is a sure sign that Bush is too embarrassed […]
Gazprom’s Businesss with Iran
The USG Open Source Center summarizes Russian press comment on the Gazprom deals with Libya and Iran. The deal with Iran is extremely important because if it goes forward, it would require Russia to tangle with US economic sanctions. OSC Report: Russian Media View Implcations of Gazprom Deals With Libya, IranRussia — OSC Report . […]
Helman: Is Bush’s Engagement with Iran Hurting McCain, Helping Obama?
Ambassador Gerald B. Helman writes, in a guest op-ed for IC: The decision by the Administration to send William Burns, the State Department’s third ranking official and a career diplomat, to participate in the five power talks with Iran over its nuclear activities, certainly invites speculation as to how far the Administration has changed its […]
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