Will the Commissioners Cave?

Will the Sept. 11 Commission follow the example set by Congress and the Intelligence Community and let itself be intimidated by Vice President Dick Cheney? Now that the commission's staff report has pulled the rug out from under the notion so successfully fostered by...

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Struggling to Survive

From Dahr's weblog I revisited Chuwader General Hospital in Sadr City yesterday. Unlike at Yarmouk Hospital, the manager at Chuwader was very open about the desperate plight facing his hospital, where 78 doctors work with desperate medicine and equipment shortages to...

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US Abandons War Crimes Exemption

UNITED NATIONS – Faced with the prospect of a humiliating defeat, the United States abandoned its proposal to seek Security Council exemption for U.S. soldiers from possible war crime charges in future UN peacekeeping operations overseas. Unable to muster the...

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Afghan Elections Threatened by Lack of Security

While more than 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq continue trying to impose security in advance of the June 30 handover of limited sovereignty to the new Iraqi administration, the security situation in nearby Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. With national elections...

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Israel’s Intelligence Scandal

Two weeks ago, the international community made a shocking declaration. Giving in to a demand by George Bush, the "Quartet" accepted the "Revised Disengagement Plan" of Ariel Sharon. This means that the United Nations, the European Union, the Russian Federation and...

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Dealing with Iran’s Nuclear Challenge

Over the coming months, few Middle Eastern issues are likely to become more pressing than Iran's nuclear program. Admitting only to the pursuit of civilian energy, the Iranians are now preparing to complete a heavy water reactor at Arak from which the fissile material...

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A Wreck Will Be Hard to Drive

BAGHDAD – The authorization was in writing. Brigadier-General Amer Ali, the second most senior officer of the Iraqi Police had given IPS permission to interview officers inside the Asha'ab police station in Baghdad. When I showed up at the police station, U.S....

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Will the World Give US War Crimes Immunity?

The willingness of the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to show greater deference to the United Nations and international law will be severely tested this week as it tries to persuade the Security Council to extend its exemption of U.S. troops serving...

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