The Haaretz article that made such a stir by reporting that the Pentagon had turned down Israeli requests for high-powered equipment to aid an attack on Iran’s nuclear research facilities has a coda that I looked at again this morning: ‘Russia, however, is considered key to efforts to isolate Iran, and Israeli officials have therefore […]
Cole in Salon: The Bush/Cheney Kettle Call the Putin Pot Black
My column, , “Putin’s War Enablers: Bush and Cheney (Russia’s escalating war on Georgia reveals the consequences of the Bush administration’s long assault on the international rule of law.) is now out in Salon.com. Excerpt: ‘ The run-up to the current chaos in the Caucasus should look quite familiar: Russia acted unilaterally rather than going […]
Iraq Refugee Crisis
There are approximately 2 million Iraqi refugees in the Middle East, mainly in Syria but with another big population in Amman. Their money is running out. NGOs have fewer resources for them over time, and visa restrictions are increasing in severity. Many are traumatized and were personally threatened by the militias that took over (and […]
Barack Roll
Abdullah II in Baghdad; Bomber Attempts Assassination of Diyala Governor
McClatchy reports on the visit to Iraq of King Abdullah II of Jordan, . The king is the first Arab ruler to come on a state visit. The Jordanian press underlined that the visit was made possible in some ways by PM Nuri al-Maliki’s demand that the US set a timeline for the withdrawal of […]
McCain Strategist Lobbyist for Georgia; Scheer: Did He Stage Provocation?
McCain’s campaign strategist Randy Scheunemann was a lobbyist for Georgia until recently, and remained part of Orion Strategies until May 15. OS had signed a $2 mn. deal to provide “strategic advice” to the Georgian government. Update: Bob Scheer entertains dark suspicions that Scheunemann, a leader of the Neoconservative Project for theNew American Century, put […]
Arato: The Decision of the Turkish Constitutional Court: the Way Ahead
Andrew Arato writes in a guest op-ed for IC The Turkish Constitutional Court has made its very important decision. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) will not be closed. It is the right decision, even if fining the party for supposedly anti-secular activities was legally dubious and politically unnecessary. As one of the very few […]
Russia & Georgia, US & Hamas, Cheney & Musharraf
Bush’s demand that Russia “reverse course” on Georgia and not try to overthrow an elected government is full of special pleading. Bush has no standing to ask anyone not to go around invading countries, of course. Russian PM Vladimir Putin has already thrown Iraq in Bush’s face, saying ‘”Of course, Saddam Hussein ought to have […]
Walbridge: Suskind on America’s Declining Moral Authority
John Walbridge writes in a guest op-ed for IC: Most of the discussion of Ron Suskind’s new book, “The Way of the World,” has focused on a single anecdote. Citing CIA sources, he claims that the White House ordered the production of a rather clumsy forgery of a letter from the head of the Iraqi […]
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