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 […]
Is it 1992 and the Economy, Stupid? Deja Vu all Over Again; McCain loses Lead among Men, is 7 Points Down
Is Barack Obama in some sense Clinton 2.0 when it comes to the public’s perception of what the candidate could do for the economy? Just as Clinton benefited in 1992 from a feeling of economic malaise in the country, so too is is Obama getting advantages from the public’s having announced to pollster’s that the […]
Bombs Kill 40, Wound Dozens; Al-Duri Calls for Continued Resistance; Gates Slams Militarization of Foreign Policy
Guerrillas launched a series of bombing campaigns in the eastern mixed province of Diyala and in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, killing at least 40 and wounding dozens. In Diyala, recruiting stations for security forces were hit, as potential recruits lined up. In Mosul, likewise, the targest were Iraqi security forces. Prime Minister […]
Obama Caricature Offensive to Muslims; US Government does not Secure Nuclear Material; Afghanistan slams Pakistan for Terrorism
It is typical of the atmosphere in America today that the New Yorker cover caricaturing the Obamas is called offensive by the Obama campaign but virtually no one is talking about how demeaning it is of American Muslims. A little detail like that. Imagine if a US candidate had been depicted as an Orthodox Jewish […]
Basra Security still Fragile; Offensive Planned in Diyala; Will Petrodollars Resolve Iraq Crisis?
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Iraqi government is about to send troops into Diyala in an attempt to tamp down violence and combat local militias there, just as was done in Basra, Maysan and Mosul. I have begun to wonder whether the secret of these campaigns is not so much the show of military […]
Obama on Iraq and Afghanistan: A Friendly Critique
Barack Obama wants to get out of Iraq by summer 2010 but wants to send 10,000 extra troops to Afghanistan. Obama’s editorial is thoughtful and far more sensible than anything we are hearing from the White House or McCain, and I agree with most of it. But I have one quibble and one major critique. […]
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