Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock, or just don't care about these sorts of things, you might have heard that Admiral Fallon has resigned as head of Central Command. Here is a link to the map of Central Command's area of responsibility (AOR). They are responsible for Iraq as well as many of […]
Vanity Fair has an excellent article by David Rose about the Bush Administration almost forcing Gaza into a Civil War. I am not positive I agree with the thesis- I tend to think that a battle would have happened eventually- but the capriciousness, stubbornness, and willingness to work with very shady people simply because they […]
The death toll from a Thursday evening blasts in Baghdad has risen to 68 with over 120 wounded, according to Al Jazeera English. The dual bombs were set off in a crowded market, and no one has yet claimed responsibility. They were set off one right after another, with a New York Times piece quoting […]
This seems in contradiction to my post below, which states that it is impossible for Hamas or Hezbollah to modify themselves into responsible political actors. So before I get into this post I’ll clarify- it isn't impossible, at all, for people to reform, no matter how murderous or nihilistic or jihad-drenched they were; it is […]
There have been some new books published in the past week on the Iraq situation, with The Financial Times reviewing one called “The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict” by Joseph E. Stiglitz and Linda J. Bilmes (Columbia and Harvard professors). The FT's review is scathing in its criticism, saying […]
Sabrina Tavernise has a brutal and harrowing piece in today's New York Times about how the cleric-driven violence in Iraq has led many to question their faith, which they have seen as bringing them nothing but misery and blood. "In the beginning, they gave their eyes and minds to the clerics; they trusted them," said […]
Look: I know this is just a snapshot, and the other is an official portrait. And I know Mahmoud Abbas might have been smiling a second beforehand. But the calm half-smile in the photo above his head contrasted with the glum, depressed and lost look he has now is too good (read: easy) a metaphor […]
From CNN… Iran's president: No one likes Americans BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, heading home after a two-day visit to Iraq, again touted his country's closer relations with Iraq and reiterated his criticism of the United States. “No one likes them,” Ahmadinejad told reporters prior to returning to Iran, referring to the […]
No no no- not my solution, which I am keeping close to my vest until I get a lucrative government job (or until I get smart enough to come up with one- neither option seems close to the horizon). This solution comes from Thomas Pickering, William Leurs, and Jim Walsh, and it is published in The […]
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made a trip to Iraq (finally!) this weekend, with Al Jazeera English calling it ‘a landmark visit’. The New York Times points out that his trip overlaps with Adm. Mike Mullen's trip to Baghdad, but makes sure to note that there were no plans for the two of them 'to […]
And so Israel looks like it is moving closer and closer to a full-scale retaliation in the Gaza Strip, in response to the escalating assault of Katyusha rockets launched by Hamas at souther Israeli towns. The IDF has already launched deadly raids into the Strip, killing close to twenty Palestinians. The Israeli reaction here is […]
The New York Times today has a harrowing and brutal portrait of Yemen's own version of the Untouchable class, the Akhdam– servants- a dark-skinned, shunned class who barely scrape by a slum-dwelling non-existence sweeping streets and begging. Quoting Robert Worth (who has done some interesting work of late on this vital but n neglected country): SANA, Yemen […]
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