American leaders are always trying to assess Osama bin Laden's level of influence over Muslims. They should look at his influence over their own countrymen. The aversion to a proposed Muslim center near Ground Zero shows that it is Americans, not Muslims, whose...
The American media, and to a lesser extent the world media, focus on symbolism at the expense of underlying reality. And sometimes they can't even make sense of the symbolism. The artificially generated controversy over a proposed mosque within about two blocks of the...
Recently, Gen. David Petraeus issued new guidance for the members of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) operating in Afghanistan. This guidance differed little from the direction offered by his fired predecessor, Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Petraeus's...
Gen. David Petraeus, the man who replaced his former Central Command subordinate Gen. Stanley McChrystal, when the latter was cashiered last month for insubordinate criticism of his civilian superiors, denies that President Barack Obama has given him the assignment to...
LONDON - Jake Hess, a U.S. freelance journalist who also wrote for IPS on Kurdish rights within Turkey, is to be deported following a government order. "I'm waiting to be sent back to the U.S," says Hess, who is a U.S. citizen. Jake Hess was taken into custody by...
Jeffrey Goldberg's current cover story in The Atlantic, “The Point of No Return,” achieved massive distribution across a broad spectrum of old and new media in the United States. Some observers – including Glenn Greenwald in “How Propagandists Function” – noted how...
It's already history. In mid-August 2010, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan launched a huge media campaign to prevent any substantial withdrawal of military forces the next summer. The morning after Gen. David Petraeus appeared in a Sunday interview on NBC's Meet the...
HIRBET DEIR, Occupied West Bank - For Muhammad el-Baradiyeh, 38, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is always a blessing. In fact, every day of the month-and-a-half prior to Ramadan has been good for Muhammad. Thanks to a permit granted by the Israeli authorities, he's...
