August 2006

Click here for all of our coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict.

Iran's time to talk is over
Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has challenged US President George W Bush to a debate on world affairs. It's not going to happen. Also, and much more significant, what is not likely to happen is that the US and its international partners will call for dialogue with, rather than punitive action against, Iran over its nuclear program. Yet this is the only way out. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Aug 30, '06)

Behind the plan to bomb Iran
The neo-conservatives' militarization of US foreign policy stems largely from the fact that they operate on behalf of two immensely powerful special interests - the military-industrial complex and the Israeli lobby. The latter, though, is the junior partner in this unspoken alliance: the merchants of arms call the shots. - Ismael Hossein-zadeh (Aug 30, '06)

SPEAKING FREELY
Why Pyongyang is going nuclear
The US has never fared well in its conflicts with North Korea. But the Kim Jong-il regime is no longer content with merely repelling US aggression; with its [alleged] arsenal of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, it is prepared to take the conflict to the Americans, and settle old scores. - Kim Myong-chol (Aug 30, '06)

Doubts whether Bush is good for Israel
Influential voices within the US Jewish community are questioning the Bush administration's hardline positions on the Middle East, arguing that they harm, rather than protect, Israel's interests. Most of all, they want to see Washington talk to Syria. - Jim Lobe (Aug 30, '06)

Al-Qaeda (and US) eclipsed by Iran's rise
Iran's growing geopolitical weight reinforces its ideological revival and motivates Iran's supporters across the Muslim world. Al-Qaeda and Salafi-jihadis are clearly losers in this new reality. The US, which relies on force, is unlikely to be able to reverse this complex and intensifying dynamic. - Mahan Abedin (Aug 29, '06)

Britain takes a misstep in Iraq
British military commanders hoped the handover of a key base to Iraqi authorities would go smoothly. Instead, the base has been overrun by militiamen of Muqtada al-Sadr. This British "repositioning" - not "retreat" - comes on the 90th anniversary of the disastrous Battle of Kut, in which British forces were humiliated on the Tigris River. That shambles was somehow turned into victory. Britain will be trying to do the same in southern Iraq. - Ronan Thomas (Aug 29, '06)

Why it's not working in Afghanistan
Nearly five years after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the "breathtaking accomplishment" of a responsible government remains largely confined to Kabul. Elsewhere, it's pretty much business as usual, in great part because of mishandling of, and Western profiteering from, the "reconstruction" program. - Ann Jones (Aug 29, '06)

The death of deterrence
During the Cold War, the deterrence theory worked - nations knew that if they used the awesome atomic bomb, they were likely to be devastated in the riposte. But today, small nations and even non-state groups such as Hezbollah have destructive power. While the great powers fail to deal with this reality, we are all at terrible risk. - Gabriel Kolko (Aug 29, '06)

Russia and the 'rogues'
Washington frequently expresses exasperation that Moscow is not on board in opposition to certain "rogue states" such as Iran and Syria. But Russia is no longer content with being a junior partner to the US. And it has plenty of political and economic cards to play - Federico Bordonaro (Aug 29, '06)

A death Pakistan can ill afford
The circumstances surrounding the military's killing of nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Bugti in restive Balochistan province suggest his death could have been orchestrated against the wishes of President General Pervez Musharraf. This is ominous for Musharraf, as are Taliban activities in Balochistan that could finally lead to the US washing its hands of the general. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug 28, '06)

SPEAKING FREELY
Terrorism and binary vision
Not every conflict involving Muslims is a part of the global jihad. But try to explain that to many of the pontificating security "experts". A case in point is the purely local insurgency in southern Thailand. What's needed is more balanced and nuanced debate on security issues. - Michael Vatikiotis (Aug 28, '06)

Another US intelligence test
Intelligence analysts are under fire from some elements in the Bush administration for being too conservative in their work on Iran for fear of making the same alleged "mistakes" that were made over Iraq. A new Congress report on "Iran as a strategic threat" shows how it could be done. - David Isenberg (Aug 28, '06)

Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah look to make up
Ever since al-Qaeda-inspired attacks began on Shi'ites in Iraq, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda have had a cool relationship. Yet the groups deal in the same arms and financial black markets, and south Lebanon offers Osama bin Laden a wonderful battle cry against the "Zionist-Americans". Closer cooperation is the next logical step. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Aug 24, '06)

Lifting seven veils of the Iraqi illusion
The overriding fallacy underlying the catastrophe in Iraq is the belief that the US can solve that country's problems, however extreme and intractable they may seem. There are seven very good reasons why the US occupation can never be a part of the solution - starting and ending with a cycle of terror. - Michael Schwartz (Aug 23, '06)

US made an offer Iran can only refuse
Apart from insisting on its right to enrich uranium, Iran, in return for curbing its nuclear program, wanted security guarantees from the US, especially against regime change. Washington was never going to do this, and so ends what appeared on the surface to be a genuine multilateral initiative for negotiations with Tehran. The next step, imposing sanctions, is already under way. - Gareth Porter (Aug 23, '06)

Tehran sharpens its sword
Code-named "Blow of Zulfiqar" in reference to the sword of the first imam of the Shi'ite sect, Iran's ongoing war games have a highly emotive religious meaning in the Muslim world. The saber-rattling, which includes test-firing missiles, also sends a strong message that Iran is no military pushover. - Ehsan Ahrari (Aug 22, '06)

US, Philippines weigh military marriage
It has been more than 15 years since the US military formally withdrew from the Philippines. Now there are indications that the US is angling for a new base in Mindanao. The possible location indicates Washington's overriding priority, which is fighting terrorism in Southeast Asia. - Fabio Scarpello (Aug 22, '06)

India awakens to al-Qaeda threat
What were once dismissed as purely anti-India jihadist groups are now threatening the West. The US and Britain are discovering that Osama bin Laden's operatives in India are now ready and willing to train their guns on the US and Europe as well. - Sudha Ramachandran (Aug 21, '06)

New fighting force, same Afghanistan
Like the Soviets before them, international forces in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban have been largely confined to bases in big cities from where they conduct operations against insurgents. If NATO, now in charge in the volatile south, is to be any different, it will need to deal with the Taliban's local and foreign backers. (Aug 21, '06)

'Misunderestimating' Bush's Iraq
The bloodshed in Lebanon in July was bad enough. But while that was going on, Iraqis were shedding a lot more of one another's blood - 3,438 were killed, to be precise. This is civil war, plain and simple, with the US caught slap in the middle with no easy way out. But there is worse: an "Iraqi Hezbollah" waiting to emerge. - Sami Moubayed (Aug 18, '06)

Great movie, pity about the Big Lie
Oliver Stone's World Trade Center is neither ideological nor conspiratorial; it is highly moving and could end up being the definitive cinematic record of what it felt like to be inside the hellish cyclone of September 11, 2001. All the same, the movie reinforces the Big Lie - that the attacks on the US were linked to Iraq and supported by Saddam Hussein, and as such could deepen waning support for the war in Iraq. - Ruth Rosen (Aug 17, '06)

COMMENT
Be skeptical ... be very skeptical
"Bombs ... plots ... al-Qaeda ..." The authorities have spoken, from Washington to New Delhi, and so it's time to willingly suspend disbelief once again. The sky is definitely falling. - M K Bhadrakumar (Aug 17, '06)

COMMENT
Exploding the 'terrorist' neuron bomb
Utter the word "terrorism" and further thought is not only unnecessary but also unpatriotic. Under its rubric, wars can be waged in which the killing of civilians is merely collateral damage, not a war crime. So where does that leave Hezbollah - and Israel? - Ian Williams (Aug 16, '06)

Corporate war machine gathers speed
Civilian militarists in the Bush administration are said to have drawn up plans to bomb Iran. This has created a simmering conflict with high-ranking military professionals, who see the huge pitfalls in such an action. Yet if the standard of success for corporate beneficiaries of war is based more on business profitability than on conventional military success on the battlefield - as in Iraq - Iran had better watch out. - Ismael Hossein-zadeh (Aug 15, '06)

July 2006