Hats off to Bob Gates for being a true patriot. For realizing that the real threat to our national security isn’t a group of angry beards in a Pakistani cave or a gaggle of rogue nations whose combined defense spending doesn’t approach one-tenth of ours, but rather the waste and cozy corruption within our own [...]
Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category
The Lonely Voice of Bob Gates
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, defense spending, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, Uncategorized, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, defense spending, democracy, Iran, Iraq, islam, Middle East, nuclear, Pakistan, Radical, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on July 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
No Reflection, On Both Sides
Posted in 9/11, Al Qaeda, Egypt, Fundamentalism, India, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Obama, Pakistan, Radical, September 11, South Asia, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Palestinians, Radical, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on July 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A pair of instances recently reminded me how both sides- the “West” (more specifically, the United States) and the Muslim World- have engaged in so little self-reflection since the events of 9/11. It is much easier to project outward than to take a hard look at your own society. Problems are no longer yours when [...]
Islam’s Hidden Light
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Fundamentalism, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, Shabab, Somalia, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Al Qaeda, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, Shabab, Somalia, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on June 8, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Lost among headlines recently of state-sponsored piracy on the high seas and Americans headed to Somalia for jihadist training was a stunning Washington Post article by Sudarsan Raghavan about a little-known militia on the fringes of the civilized world. When we hear the word militia, it typically conjures up negative connotations in our heads; vigilantes [...]
Don’t Bargain with Iran for the Americans
Posted in democracy, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged America, Americans, elections, Iran, Iranians, Iraq, U.S. Foreign Policy on May 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Rumors were rife last week of a back room bargain between Iran and the United States for the release of the three Americans who “strayed” into Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan last July. Here’s a few reasons why its a bad idea: We Cant Betray Iran’s Great Hope: Deal-making with the mullahs sends the wrong message [...]
A Real Iran Policy
Posted in Ahmadinejad, Fundamentalism, India, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, nuclear weapon, Obama, Shia, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged America, Iran, Iranians, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, mullah, nuclear, Obama, Shia, U.S. Foreign Policy on May 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Elected in no small part due to the backlash against rash Bush administration misadventures abroad, the incoming Obama team swore to itself it would pursue a more nuanced, collaborative policy towards Iran. And from the beginning, the president has acted with considerable restraint, even when the mullahs’ brutality against their own people streamed across the [...]
Strange Bedfellows
Posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Egypt, elections, Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Radical, South Asia, Sunni, Taleban, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, Egypt, elections, Hamas, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Palestinians, South Asia, Taliban, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on April 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
You wonder what Afghan president Hamid Karzai was thinking over the past several days as he unleashed a fusillade of vitriol against his primary benefactor, the United States. His comments, such as “foreigners” were responsible for the presidential election fraud that declared him the outright winner, or that he was prepared to join the Taliban [...]
The State of Iraq
Posted in democracy, elections, Iran, Iraq, islam, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Shia, Sunni, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged America, Americans, democracy, elections, Iran, Iraq, islam, Lebanon, Middle East, Shia, Sunni, U.S. Foreign Policy on March 31, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
On a hazy day in Baghdad in late Autumn 2004, a friend caught up to me as I was walking just outside the Republican Palace, back then the U.S. embassy complex. He was a pretty senior guy on the Governance Team, the outfit that had organized the transfer of sovereignty a few months previous to [...]
Iran’s Conflicted Diaspora: A Force for Change?
Posted in Afghanistan, Fundamentalism, India, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, nuclear weapon, Pakistan, Radical, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, America, Americans, Diaspora, India, Iran, Iranians, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, mullah, nuclear, Pakistan, Radical, Shia, U.S. Foreign Policy on March 15, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Iran’s cunning leadership has effectively divided the major powers of the world between those willing to engage with it and others who seek to contain or even obliterate it. Without unity and leadership among these various nations, the idea of outside actors influencing real change in Iranian behavior is dead on arrival. Iranians themselves are [...]
Iran Schools America in Smart Power
Posted in Afghanistan, democracy, Hizbullah, Iran, Iraq, islam, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Taleban, Taliban, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged Afghanistan, America, Americans, democracy, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Middle East, Muslims, Pakistan, Taliban, U.S. Foreign Policy on March 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
$1.05 trillion already appropriated by Congress. Billions more on the way to support the surge in Afghanistan and the drawdown in Iraq. Over 5,300 American women and men dead. Over 30,000 wounded, in Iraq alone. Hundreds of thousands of others who will rely on government health care for the rest of their lives to cope [...]
Chalabi, Again…
Posted in 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, democracy, elections, Fundamentalism, Iran, Iraq, islam, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, September 11, Sunni, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy, tagged 9/11, Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, America, Americans, democracy, elections, Iran, Iraq, islam, Jordan, Middle East, Muslims, Radical, terrorism, U.S. Foreign Policy on February 22, 2010 | 1 Comment »
In the latest news from Iraq, that forgotten battlefield where over 100,000 uniformed American men and women (and thousands of others without uniforms) are still stationed, the main Sunni political party has just withdrawn from next month’s national elections. Their reason: A vetting panel headed by two Shi’ite politicians with close ties to Iran has [...]
