Middle East & North Africa Archives - Page 247 of 595

Bush Skimps on Communal Rights and Responsibilities

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Jan 10, 2007

President George W. Bush will address the nation Wednesday night on his new strategy for his same-old goal of “victory” in Iraq. Most of the plan has been leaked — in this case probably the expression ”handed to” would be more accurate — to the press with the approval and encouragement of the White House. The most carefully guarded secret, as of this writing, seems to be the venue: The Oval Office; the White House Map Room; or Vice-President Cheney’s last undisclosed location.

Nuking Iran

by John Feffer | Jan 8, 2007

The headlines this week will be all Iraq, all the time. President Bush will unveil his not-so-secret plan of a military “surge” to rescue Iraq from all its other disastrous surgesÂin civilian deaths, pervasive violence, and unemployment. FPIF analyst Dan Smith, in Bush to Iraq: More War, argues instead that “Congress needs to act as a surge suppressor and carefully look at what Bush as commander-in-chief threatens to decree.” And, indeed, the Democrats have decided to shift from the largely domestic focus of their 100-hours plan, having realized that 45% of the American electorate wants action on the Iraq War versus only 7% who wants Congress to focus on the U.S. economy or health care reform.

Bush to Iraq: More War

by John Feffer, Col. Daniel Smith (Ret.) | Jan 5, 2007

In his popular weekly radio and subsequent television quiz show, ÂYou Bet Your Life,Â Groucho Marx featured the “magic word.” If a contestant happened to utter it during the course of the show, he or she would instantly receive $25 or $50 or some other, inflation-adjusted amount.

Time to Lift Iran’s Sanctions

by Roger Howard, Emily Schwartz Greco | Jan 4, 2007

Conjuring images of nuclear terrorism and the "annihilation" of the Jewish state, the spectre of an Iranian bomb readily haunts the Western imagination. But Tehran’s nuclear ambitions also pose a very different type of challenge to America. This challenge is not years from fruition, as a warhead still seems to be. It is instead already unfolding.

Postcard from Iran

by John Feffer, Eshragh Motahar | Jan 2, 2007

[Posters along a Tehran expressway advertising Iranian-made movies. The one on the left is titled “Soghaat-é Farang” (“Gift from the West”); the one on the right is titled “Zan-é Badali” (“Wrong Woman”). Photo by Eshragh Motahar.]

Saddam’s Execution

by John Feffer, Stephen Zunes | Jan 2, 2007

The execution of Saddam Hussein, though he was undeniably guilty of a notorious series of crimes against humanity, represents a major setback in the pursuit of justice in Iraq. The trial and the sentence were both problematic. The opportunity for future trials, and to present evidence of U.S. complicity in some of Saddam’s crimes, has been lost. And the overall message — that leaders face justice only if they run afoul of U.S. authority – undermines international legal norms.

Reasons to Like Ike

by Emily Schwartz Greco, Stephen Zunes | Dec 30, 2006

The fiftieth anniversary of the Suez Crisis came and went this past November without much notice. That’s too bad because the Bush administration could learn a lot from the crisis, which ensued when the armed forces of Great Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt, then under the rule of Gamal Abdul-Nasser. In a move that earned the United States respect around the world, the administration of Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower denounced the tripartite invasion as a violation of international law and used America’s considerable diplomatic leverage to force a withdrawal of these American allies.

Politics, Humanism and Sen. Johnson

by fpifadmin | Dec 14, 2006

The initial announcement of Senator Tim Johnson’s (D-SD) sudden incapacitation and emergency brain surgery struck political Washington like the proverbial bombshell.

Political Football

by John Feffer | Dec 11, 2006

Imagine Iraq as a football game. It’s late in the fourth quarter. Coach George W. Bush is looking at a grim situation on the field. He has just told quarterback Don Rumsfeld to hit the showers, and now he is sending in the new boy, Bob Gates. Several other team members have been sidelined. The clock is ticking. The current strategy doesn’t seem to be working, but Coach Bush is reluctant to try something new.

The Democrats & Iran

by John Feffer, Conn Hallinan | Dec 9, 2006

As the dust begins to settle from the mid-term elections, popular thinking is that, over the next two years, the Democrats will force the Bush administration to edge away from the unilateral militarism that has entrapped the nation in two open-ended wars.