The bombers fly so close you feel their engines
in your chest though none can say
where they’re headed or why
war
Annotate This: Escalation in Iraq
Boots from the American Friends Service Committee project Eyes Wide Open, a traveling exhibition on the costs of the Iraq War. Photo by Jochen Strack.
Poll: Fewer Guns, More Talk
Five years ago the Bush administration launched its war on terror without end. About 90% of Americans applauded. The administration has been ramping up the fear to win elections ever since. This strategy is no longer working. Soon the talk shows and editorial pages will be chewing over exit polling to opine about the impact of the war on the election. But it’s already clear that decisive majorities of Americans have had enough of a militarized, unilateral foreign policy.
Negotiating and Looking Tough: The Mirrored Policies of the U.S. and Iran
September was a hopeful month for those interested in the de-escalation of tensions between the Unites States and Iran. The extension of a U.S. visa by the Bush Administration to the former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami despite vociferous conservative opposition was seen as a sign of possible change in U.S. foreign policy. In addition, a mixture of softer words employed by Iran’s current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN and in his many media appearances in the U.S. regarding Iran’s intentions in the region brought hope of possible movement in Tehran.
Why Do They Hate US?
It was a graphic representation of global dissatisfaction with the United States. Provisions Library in Washington, DC put on an exhibit of international political cartoons and how they depict U.S. relations with the world. On September 14, FPIF joined Provisions in inviting Clay Ramsay of the Program on International Policy Attitudes to discuss whether international polling supported the generally negative portrayals of the cartoons.
Postcard from Syria
In June 2003, I made my first trip to Syria, home to generations of my family, the two oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth (Damascus and Aleppo), the final resting place of Kurdish leader Salahaddin and on a lighter note, purveyor of arguably the most decadent, mind-numbing syrupy sweets.
Iraq’s Sectarian Bloodshed "Made in the USA"
As each day is greeted with news of Iraq’s daily death toll, the media debates whether Iraq is embroiled in an all-out civil war. While conventional wisdom holds that the country is being cleaved apart by religious differences, this conflict actually stemmed from the U.S. government’s political miscalculations.
At War with Syria and Iran: The Neo-Cons May Get Their Wish
With no shame in drawing the U.S. into the Iraq quagmire three-and-a-half years ago, the same group of neo-conservatives including William Kristol, Richard Perle and Charles Krauthhammer are pushing for Israel/U.S. go to war with Syria and Iran. What is amazing is that despite the deep mess they got us into in Iraq, President Bush and his foreign policy team is actually listening to them.
How the Irish Can Save the Middle East
History is the story we tell ourselves in the present about the past. But how we punctuate the storyÂwhere we put the periods, the commas, and the ellipsesÂdepends not on everything that happened, but on who is telling the story, where we stand in the narrative, and what outcome we want.
The Iraqi Civil Conflict: Another Reason for Bringing the Troops Home
The ongoing civil conflict in Iraq is one of the major issues being considered in the debate over future U.S. military and political steps in Iraq. A growing number of analysts argue that U.S. military forces must stay in Iraq to prevent a full-scale sectarian civil war between Sunni and Shia Arabs in Iraq. But evidence exists that the roots of the Iraqi civil conflict is political rather than sectarian, and that the best solution is finding a way to bring the troops home.