Is Supreme Leader Khameini’s assertion of his will over President Ahmadinejad the step back that it seems for Iran?
Has Iran’s President Ahmadinejad Become a Sympathetic Figure?
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Middle East & North Africa
India “Soft”? Not After It Launches Its Own Kill-bin-Laden Attacks on Pakistan
Some in India see the U.S. attack on the Bin Laden compound as a chance to address their inferiority complex about their country being “soft.”
Egypt’s Evolving Foreign Policy
The new Egypt is looking to normalize relations with countries like Iran, re-evaluate ties with Israel, and tilt more toward the Palestinian cause. Given its profound cultural capital, powerful military, huge population, and strong economic fundamentals, Egypt could not only regain its regional influence but also play a more assertive and prominent international role. More importantly, the emergence of a democratic system in Egypt could transform the country into a model for the Arab world.
“Blasted and Blasted and Blasted”: The Military Traumatic Brain Injury Epidemic
The United States is not facing up to the massive health-care and mental-health problems caused by traumatic brain injuries in our recent wars.
The Only Cargo on the Next Gaza Flotilla Is Our Letters
The author will shortly be setting sail on the Freedom Flotilla II — Stay Human and hopes to arrive in Gaza bearing letters from the American people.
Rubber Dollie
It’s a macabre charade,
one night in the secret
theater of Abu Ghraib.
The anklets are shackles.
In another, a leashed
dog — loud, black,
and snarling — takes
center stage.
Assad-Erdogan Bromance on the Rocks?
Syrian President Assad’s brutality, which has driven refugees into Turkey, has ruined his relationship with Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan.
Other Mothers
Their sons who speak of a cause
As if it were their two feet
beneath them. That they could hold an idea
and a weapon at the same time.
Iran’s Turmoil at the Top
There is a struggle between Ahmadinejad and the clerics around Khamenei. Although it may play out in arguments over obscure religious issues — one critic of the president accused him of recruiting an army of genies – at its heart the fight is over political and economic power: who wields it and to what purpose? Some of the players, like the president and the supreme leader, perform in the spotlight. Others, like the powerful Revolutionary Guard and an increasingly restive population hammered by economic difficulties, operate in the wings.
Israel’s 1981 Osirak Attack Poor Precedent for Attacking Iran
Ineffective in halting Iraq’s nuclear-weapons program, Israel’s attack on the Osirak nuclear reactor can’t be used as a precedent for a military strike to halt Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program.