ARBIL - The security situation in the northern, oil-rich city of Kirkuk has further deteriorated over the past few weeks after the Iraqi government formed a committee assigned to "normalize the situation." The creation of that committee under a...
There has been a great deal of discussion about the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [.pdf], recently passed by both houses of Congress, and most of it has to do with the provisions allowing torture of alien detainees, that is, of non-citizens apprehended in, say,...
Updated at 11:30 a.m. EDT, Oct. 3, 2006 In the last day, the body count in Iraq exploded as at least 263 were killed or found dead; 30 of those were insurgents killed in Ramadi. Tensions are particularly high due to two mass kidnappings that occurred in Baghdad. At...
Updated at 11:30 a.m. EDT, Oct. 3, 2006 In the last day, the body count in Iraq exploded as at least 263 were killed or found dead; 30 of those were insurgents killed in Ramadi. Tensions are particularly high due to two mass kidnappings that occurred in Baghdad. At...
While the European Union's Javier Solana and Iran's Ali Larijani were making "good progress" toward an agreement that "will provide objective guarantees [to the EU] that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes" that "will equally provide firm...
President Bush has been bonked on the head by so many facts that refute his rhetoric in recent days, he must feel like he's been caught in a West Texas hailstorm. But don't worry about him. He's a hardheaded man. I haven't seen a fact yet that can get past his hair....
Last week at the United Nations, Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, called President George W. Bush "the devil" and complained he could still smell the sulfur. The reaction was immediate, visceral, and scary. Even the president's most virulent enemies took...
A mistake too often made by those examining Israel's behavior in the occupied territories – or when analyzing its treatment of Arabs in general, or interpreting its view of Iran – is to assume that Israel is acting in good faith. Even its most trenchant...
A deluge of experts, attracted by government money, is drowning Washington. So many elected and appointed officials know even less than the phony experts that it's like a gold-rush town for the briefcase-toting fast-talkers. You, however, don't need to be an expert...
President Hugo Chávez's speech at the U.N. on September 20, 2006 created a new nadir of crudeness. It was also just one more attempt to demonize an opponent. He depicted President George W. Bush as the devil. Watching him speak extemporaneously, and with so...
