Middle East

Here is the speech that I wish President Obama would give about the Iraq War, but which neither he nor any other president ever will. Fellow Americans, and Iraqis who are watching this speech, I have come here this evening not to declare a victory or to mourn a defeat on the battlefield, but to […]

My appearance on the PBS current affairs show Need to Know this weekend with Alison Stewart is now available on the Web. I was discussing the present situation in Iraq. Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

I’ll be interviewed by Alison Stewart on the PBS ‘Need to Know’ current affairs program on Friday evening in most markets, though the show may be on another day on your PBS channel and may be repeated over the weekend. I’m talking about the situation in Iraq as most US combat troops are withdrawn.

Aswat al-Iraq reports on reactions to the withdrawal of US combat brigades from Iraq in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The head of the Basra Provincial governing council, Jabbar Amin, said that the American combat forces had withdrawn at dawn on Thursday, which would charge the Iraqi forces with their true mission, in strengthening […]

The last US combat convoy left Iraq on Thursday, rather some time after George W. Bush declared an end to combat operations in Iraq in May, 2003. Of course, this flat statement is not entirely accurate. The remaining 50,000 troops are viewed as trainers and logistics support to the Iraqi government. But they include special […]

The Telegraph reports that 59 persons are dead and 120 wounded in a suicide bombing attack on potential army recruits in Baghdad. There may have been two perpetrators, presumably with bomb belts. Those volunteering for the Iraqi army were gathered in a large crowd outside a government building and being allowed in in groups of […]