For 8 years, Bush-Cheney practiced what I call “belligerent Ostrichism” toward Iran. They refused to talk to Tehran. They wanted to ratchet up sanctions on it. Bush sent 2 aircraft carriers to the Gulf to menace Iran. Bush’s spokesmen professed themselves afraid of Iran’s unarmed little speedboats in the Gulf. Aside from issuing threats to […]
Top Things you Think You Know about Iran that are not True
Thursday is a fateful day for the world, as the US, other members of the United Nations Security Council, and Germany meet in Geneva with Iran in a bid to resolve outstanding issues. Although Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had earlier attempted to put the nuclear issue off the bargaining table, this rhetorical flourish was a […]
Obama Meets Advisers on Afghanistan; Ismail Khan Warns against US Troop Surge
President Barack Obama met Wednesday afternoon for 3 hours with his advisers on the Afghanistan war, including VP Joe Biden and, by teleconference, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. He is said not to have made any decisions as yet about a new strategy or increased troop levels, both asked for by Gen. McChrystal. Some of those voiced […]
Cole on KCRW and Iran and an Israeli Attack
I was on the KCRW in Los Angeles’s “To the Point” on Wednesday discussing the Iranian nuclear program and the prospects of an Israeli attack on Iran. It was not a calm discussion. I don’t come on until 2/3s the way through: US and Iran, Face-to-Face for the First Time in 30 Years (12:07PM) A […]
So Long Iraq
Daniel Graeber covers the debate about Iraq on university campuses and finds that attention has largely turned elsewhere. And, indeed, even Gen. Ray Odierno, who had earlier opposed a quick drawdown in Iraq, is now suggesting that he may accelerate the US troop exodus. End/ (Not Continued)
Bombings at Qandahar kill over 30, wound 40; NATO convoy Attacked; ISI Backs Karzai
A suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday morning. There are reportedly casualties but early reports did not specify them. Roadside bombs set by anti-government guerrillas in Afghanistan killed 36 civilians in a 24-hour period ending Tuesday, with a single bombing of a bus near Qandahar accounting for […]
IRGC Air Force Commander: Missile Tests Defensive; Pledges Iran to ‘No First Strike"
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, reaffirmed Monday that a date would soon be set for the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect the planned nuclear enrichment facility near Qom about which the Iranian government informed the IAEA on Monday a week ago. If Iran really does permit full, ongoing IAEA […]
Ram: "Israel and the Iranian Threat"
Haggai Ram writes in a guest editorial for IC: Before, during and after the recent UN General Assembly meeting, the Israeli government, much like Sisyphus, who was condemned to repeat forever a meaningless task, once again stepped up its campaign against Iran’s nuclear program. The immediate objective is patently clear: to push the United Nations […]
The Most Dangerous Nuclear Facility in the Middle East
There is no good evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. It has offered to allow regular International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of the newly announced facility near Qom, which would effectively prevent it from being used for weapons production. There is a secret nuclear facility in the Middle East, however, producing plutonium and […]