Gen. John Abizaid at Stanford U.: ‘ While [panelists] discussed green technology, the subject of America’s operations in Iraq was also a hotly debated topic. Abizaid, who was formerly the Commander of the United States Central Command, quickly established a connection between the two topics. “Of course it’s about oil, we can’t really deny that,” […]
Sneaky FCC Must be Stopped
Alexandra Russell writes: This morning, the New York Times revealed that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is rushing through a plan to rewrite media ownership rules, letting the biggest media companies control even more local outlets. And he’s doing it without giving the public a chance to respond. The rules could take effect as early as […]
Karachi and Waziristan
Barnett Rubin points in our Global Affairs group blog to the impact of the failures in Afghanistan, of the tribal turmoil in Waziristan, on the Karachi bombing at the center of Pakistani politics.
136 Dead in Pakistan Bombing Gilani: Neighboring Country Warned of Attack on Bhutto
Manan Ahmed at our Global Affairs Blog points out that Karachi has now joined New York, Madrid and London as a site of a major terrorist attack. Late reports say 136 are dead and over 500 wounded in a bombing aimed at assassinating former prime minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto on her return after years […]
Turkish Parliament Authorizes Iraq Incursion Blackwater Leaving Iraq
The Turkish parliament authorized a Turkish incursion into Iraq in pursuit of guerrillas of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). Syria threw its support behind Turkey on this issue. Syria has 2 million Kurds of its own, in a population of 19 million [plus 1.4 million Iraqi refugees]. Bashar al-Asad fears Kurdish nationalism as a threat […]
Putin & Ahmadinejad Pledge Cooperation
Farideh Farhi weighs in on the significance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Iran, and the frustrations his olive branch to Tehran produced in Bush (who went a little crazy, talking about World War III if Iran gained the knowledge of how to produce a nuclear weapon.) The USG Open Source Center translates from […]
Cole in Salon: "The Iran Hawks"
My column in Salon.com, “The War Hawks,” is now online. Excerpt: ‘ Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton think a tough line on Tehran will sell politically. They could be right. Future historians may conclude that the key issue in the 2008 presidential campaign was not Iraq, but whether the United States should go to war […]
Oil Peak or Peak Oil?
The tensions between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan contributed to jitteriness in the oil markets that drove the prices to as high as $88.20 at one point on Tuesday before falling back to over $87. The oil price spike in turn frightened investors and hit stock markets around the world. The United States consumes about 21 […]
Guest Op-Ed: PKK Terrorism Undermines US Policy in Middle East
An informed observer writes anonymously: ‘“With our understanding of the worries of the Turkish friends, we are ready to undertake urgent negotiations with senior Turkish officials to discuss all points of disagreement,” he said. (NYT) The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Authority (KRG) is not a party to the “negotiations” because they are not a state Turkey […]
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