In waging its war in Afghanistan, the Obama administration faces a big problem, and his name is Hamid Karzai. This fashion plate, whose name has become synonymous with corruption, claims to be the president of Afghanistan, but this is a double fiction. In reality, he...
When the Tough Should Get Going
The former Marine officer Matthew Hoh, who resigned his Foreign Service post in Afghanistan because he feels the war is pointless and not worth dying for, deserves all the attention he's gotten and more. The Obama administration faces hard decisions there, and the man...
Netanyahu Unsure How to Contain Gaza Fallout
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finds himself embattled on several fronts as he tries so far unsuccessfully to ward off the enormous international pressure on Israel unleashed by the Goldstone report for its conduct of the war...
A Tale of Two UAVs
The recent frenzy over "balloon boy" Falcon Heene that dominated cable news was odd, considering the scant coverage of the carnage wreaked by another kind of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The balloon incident involved a 6-year-old boy who was thought to be...
Obama Still Doesn’t Grasp Blowback
Although President Barack Obama has more empathy for the opinions of the Islamic world than his predecessor and seems to vaguely understand that they do affect U.S. security, he doesn't seem to understand specifically that U.S. meddling in and occupation of Muslim...
Israelis Targeting Grassroots Activists
EAST JERUSALEM - Israeli authorities are increasingly targeting and intimidating nonviolent Palestinian grassroots activists involved in anti-occupation activities who are drawing increased support from the international community. Several weeks ago masked Israeli...
Stan McChrystal’s Flying Circus
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander in Afghanistan and Monty Python fan, has put on quite a show of insubordination in the past month or so in an attempt to cram his escalation plan down the world's throat. He has waged open information warfare in the media, right-wing...
Resignation Letter from US Foreign Service Officer Matthew P. Hoh
US Foreign Service Officer Matthew P. Hoh, Senior Civilian Representative, Afghanistan September 10, 2009 Ambassador Nancy J. Powell Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, D.C....
Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 2 Wounded
The Great Superpower Meltdown
Think of us as just having passed through the failed era of "must" in Washington. For almost eight years, George W. Bush made speeches and appearances in which he hectored this or that country, or enemy, or people about what they "must" do. Never, I suspect,...


