In his victory speech on super Tuesday, John McCain said: ‘ I want to congratulate Governor Huckabee and his supporters on their success today. Not for the first time, he has surprised the rest of us, and proved again his exceptional skills as a campaigner, and the extraordinary commitment and determination of the people who […]
Hot Pursuit into Syria, Iran, had been authorized; US Kills Innocents at Adwar Mass Grave with 50 Bodies Found at Samarra
The Bush administration authorized hot pursuit of Iraqi Baathists into Syria and Iran, according to a just-released document at wikileak. The document also reveals that as late as 2005, the US military authorities were still unaware that the “mobile weapons labs” were a Neocon scam and never existed. (Biological weapons labs require a clean room, […]
Turkey Hits 70 Sites in Iraq; US Accidentally Kills 13; Sistani Aides Kidapped in Basra
The Turkish air force bombed 70 targets inside Iraq in Kurdistan, which they allege are bases for the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla group. The PKK has killed scores of Turks in recent months, before retreating to safe haven in Iraq. The US military on Monday mistakenly bombed a home in Iskandariya south of Baghdad, […]
Zogby: McCain Dominates; Obama Enjoys Super Sunday
Zogby is circulating the below: Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: Ahead of Super Tuesday, McCain Dominates Everywhere Except California; Obama Enjoys a Super Sunday UTICA, New York—Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain leads in three out of four key Super Tuesday states – winning more than 50% support in New York and New Jersey – while Democrat Barack Obama […]
Iraq Still Central to Campaign; The Dark Side of McCain; Turkey Kills 10 Kurdish Guerrillas
Frank Davies of the Mercury News Service challenges the conventional wisdom that Iraq has faded as a campaign issue. He writes: ‘ But as the war nears two grim milestones – five years since the invasion and nearly 4,000 Americans killed – the question of what to do in Iraq is never far below the […]
US Fights Three Wars in Iraq;
Tom Ricks of WaPo says that the US military sees itself as fighting 3 wars: 1. The war against Arab volunteers (“al-Qaeda”) 2. The war against Sunni Arab Iraqi dissidents 3. The war against Shiite militias. The officers he talks to feel good about the second war, which they feel has petered out as Sunni […]
91 Dead in 2 Baghdad Blasts
Two women set off separate suicide bombs in two markets in Baghdad on Friday, killing at least 91 persons and wounding a similar number. Contrary to what this AP squib implies, the bombings suggest neither that “al-Qaeda” is running out of men nor that it is desperate. Women were used because they would be less […]
Cole in Salon: "Blowback from the GOP’s Holy War’
My Salon column is out: Blowback from the GOP’s holy war:The 2008 Republican race has left a bitter legacy of sloganeering against Muslims. It may well haunt the party this November. Excerpt: ‘Giuliani complained that during their debates, Democratic rivals “never mentioned the word ‘Islamic terrorist,’ ‘Islamic extremist,’ ‘Islamic fascist,’ ‘terrorist,’ whatever combination of those […]
US Soldier Killed; British Base Rocketed; Bombings in Baghdad
People keep asking in puzzlement what Bush expected to get out of his Iraq misadventure. It is the oil, habibi, the oil. Akhbar al-Khalij newspaper is charging that US oil interests offered each Iraqi parliamentarian $5 million to pass the oil and gas law (hat tip to Digby. Steven R. Hurst of AP writes that […]