How the Movies Saved My Life
Every childhood has its own geography and every child is an explorer, as daring as any Peary or Amundsen or Scott. I was the mildest of children, such a picky eater that my parents called me a “quince” (a fruit sour enough, they insisted, to make your face pucker, as...
11 Iraqis Killed As Leaders Meet Turkish Counterparts
Turkish and Iraqi leaders met today to discuss relations between the two countries, particularly the question of Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. Separately, Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr came out supporting the current government of another Iraqi neighbor, Syria. Meanwhile, Iraqis are still suffering attacks. At least 11 were killed and 10 more were wounded in them. Also, the government executed 11 men who were found guilty of participating in terrorist activities.
read moreWill Washington Thump the Syrian Domino?
I recently attended a conference where a speaker commented that the Obama administration has seemingly become addicted to war and conflict, finding itself unable to turn down any opportunity to intervene militarily in a new country or region. I might have added that...
Nuclear Turkeys
By the time you sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, the 12-member congressional supercommittee will have succeeded in meeting its Nov. 23 deadline to approve a plan to shrink the budget deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade. Or it will have failed and...
Iranian Pilgrims Among Nine Killed in Iraq Violence
Violence resumed in earnest today, with at least two attacks claiming over a dozen casualties each. Overall, at least seven Iraqis were killed and 48 more were wounded across the country. Also, two Iranian pilgrims were killed and nine more were wounded in an attack aimed at their minibus.
read moreEighty-Nine Seconds
I was really looking forward to the Republican foreign policy debate, eagerly anticipating the clash I expected between Rep. Ron Paul’s anti-interventionist views and the rest of that warmongering crowd – but I didn’t count on the filtering tactics...
What Michele Bachmann’s Mount Rushmore Picks Reveal
The cult and power of the American presidency has become so great that the election campaign has become a full-fledged circus that focuses on everything — for example, memory lapses, gaffes, or alleged past sexual harassment — except the potential policies that the...
Iraq: US Soldier Killed as Lawmakers, Military Argue over Continued Involvement
Even as U.S. military officials and lawmakers argued over continued U.S. involvement in Iraq, another U.S. soldier was killed while conducting military operations in central Iraq. Separately, at least three Iraqis were killed and 14 more were wounded in other attacks. Also, the debate over granting region status to more provinces rages on.
read moreReturn of the War Party?
Is a vote for the Republican Party in 2012 a vote for war? Is a vote for Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich a vote for yet another unfunded war of choice, this time with a nation, Iran, three times as large and populous as Iraq? Mitt says that if elected he will move...
