September 2007

Anti-Iran hawks win partial victory
It's official. The US Senate has approved an amendment calling for the White House to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a "foreign terrorist organization". Meanwhile, infighting between Vice President Dick Cheney's hawkish cabal and more cautious US military brass has intensified. - Jim Lobe (Sep 28, '07)

COMMENT
Unveiling men in the Arab world
While Islamic clerics debate minutiae such as breast-feeding, or whether actors portraying a wedded couple are really "married" or not under Islamic law, or vent their fury at Danish cartoons, they are ignoring larger, more meaningful issues such as the invisible veil of ignorance worn by men. The veil not only blinds them; more important, it also diminishes Islam in others' eyes. - Sami Moubayed (Sep 28, '07)

US frets over Iran's 'strategic dominance'
The Bush administration believes the recent increase in rocket attacks by Shi'ite forces in Iraq represents an effort by Tehran to put pressure on the US to accept Iranian influence there, and that only by reducing Iranian influence through military action can the US avert Iranian "strategic dominance" in the region. - Gareth Porter (Sep 27, '07)

Blackwater business leaves Iraq reeling
Over the past week the Iraqi government has kicked up quite a fuss over the alleged wrongdoings of Blackwater USA. It has all come to naught, though, as the security contractors are back at work, leaving Iraqis frustrated and the government deeper in crisis. (Sep 27, '07)

FILM REVIEW
How the 'gang of four' lost Iraq
No End in Sight directed by Charles Ferguson
There's nothing "new" in this fresh, lucid documentary that details the Bush administration's tragic mismanagement of the Iraq war, but what Ferguson brings into sharp, jarring focus is the sheer incompetence - often from the lips of those involved - that spawned the current maelstrom. - Khody Akhavi (Sep 27, '07)

The Iraq oil grab that went awry
US officials have consistently dismissed the notion that the Iraq war was all about oil as too simple-minded for serious debate. Now former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan has waded in, writing that "the Iraq war is largely about oil". The dreams of black gold have spawned a story of greed, mismanagement and incompetence of spectacular proportions. - Dilip Hiro (Sep 26, '07)

The bin Laden needle in a haystack
Six years after September 11, 2001, why is Osama bin Laden still free to roam as he seemingly pleases, in between issuing global primetime broadcasts? The answers are dishearteningly simple, but include too few pursuers searching poorly mapped, overwhelming and treacherous terrain for a man who is probably hiding elsewhere among supporters who would sooner die than betray him. In other words, don't count on seeing him in handcuffs or on a morgue slab soon. - Michael Scheuer (Sep 26, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
'Hitler' does New York
Despite his demonization by the White House, US media and his Columbia University host, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's skillful and manipulative Big Apple blitz has wowed the audience that really matters: the global Muslim "street". For those who listened, unlike the many who simply branded the man as too evil to speak, Ahmadinejad coolly turned American disinformation on its head, to his own advantage. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 25, '07)

Military brains plot Pakistan's downfall
With al-Qaeda, assorted jihadis and the Pakistani Taliban on their side, former officers in the Pakistan Army are plotting the course by which they plan to bring down the government of President General Pervez Musharraf, or at least bend him to their will. Saudi Arabia has tried unsuccessfully to defuse the situation and the plan - modeled on Vietnamese guerrilla tactics - is entering a new and decisive phase. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Sep 25, '07)

Thailand intensifies crackdown on militants
After prolonged waffling, the Thai government is bringing the hammer down on the Muslim separatist insurgency in Thailand's four southern provinces. Some wonder, however, if it is all a public relations exercise to allay growing public frustration over the authorities' lackluster performance. (Sep 25, '07)

Iran, Israel ratchet up tensions
After France took the lead in verbally attacking Iran, Israel has now taken up the mantle as the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions spirals further out of control. Israel's hostility toward Iran is nothing new, but it does raise fears echoed in a report this week that US Vice President Dick Cheney mulled Israeli strikes against Iran in the hope that Tehran would strike back, giving the US an excuse to attack. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Sep 24, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
How Iraq won its 'freedom'
In a single document, former US viceroy in Iraq L Paul Bremer granted Blackwater USA and other private security firms that provide hired guns to the military immunity from prosecution. This turned the global clock back at least a century, establishing a special kind of freedom in Iraq. It was, in essence, a get-out-of-jail-free card in perpetuity. - Tom Engelhardt (Sep 24, '07)

Shots in the dark over Syria's skies
It's official: Israel did conduct an air "attack" on a Syrian facility two weeks ago. Beyond that, it's anybody's guess as to what happened on the fateful night. And people are guessing, with the most popular speculation linking North Korea to nuclear weapons in Syria. Damascus has quickly shot that theory down. - Sami Moubayed (Sep 21, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
Welcome to Planet Gaza
The Israeli cabinet's edict to declare the Gaza Strip a "hostile territory" and slowly grind its population even further down is only the latest strategy to sabotage any attempt by Hamas to govern the Strip properly. It's also a template for US logic in Iraq. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 21, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
US captivated in the theater of war
The George W Bush administration's recent surge of words has, at least briefly, stanched the president's loss of support on the home front. The "good old-fashioned American yarn" captures just enough bedrock yearnings to keep Bush's domestic opponents at bay. This theater gives Americans a chance to believe that a fierce debate still rages about whether or not to end the war in Iraq. - Ira Chernus (Sep 21, '07)

French warmongering aids Iran's cause
The French are trying to limit the damage of recent warmongering comments about Iran, but the harm has already been done - although it could be to the benefit of Tehran. France's quest for a unified European approach to additional "precise sanctions" against Iran is now under threat. All the same, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad won't be laying any wreaths at the World Trade Center site in New York. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Sep 20, '07)

US backing the wrong Shi'ite horse
The underlying US assumption that Iraqi Shi'ites can be trusted to resist Iranian domination is generally sound. It's just that Washington is backing the one faction that is pro-Iranian. As a result, the "surge" will be doomed unless it can be redefined to include Iraqi nationalist Shi'ites such as Muqtada al-Sadr's. (Sep 20, '07)

INTERVIEW
US exceptionalism meets Team Jesus
James Carroll, columnist and author
"Religion and politics, religion and military power, are a deadly mix in an age of weapons of mass destruction; and, if the United States of America gets this wrong, there's no reason to think anybody else is going to get it right." So argues Carroll in an sweeping interview with Tom Engelhardt. (Sep 20, '07)

Neo-cons have Syria in their sights
Whether Israel really did bomb a facility in Syria, and whether that facility was a North Korea-linked nuclear site, is pure speculation as long as Israel and Syria remain silent. For neo-conservatives in the United Sates, though, this is an opportunity to re-ignite political debate that fits neatly with the infamous cast of the "axis of evil": Syria has long been designated as a junior partner in the "reign of terror" of Iran, North Korea and the erstwhile Iraq. (Sep 19, '07)

A real success story in the US's Iraq: Iran
Of all the unintended consequences of the Iraq war, Iran's strategic victory is the most far-reaching. The George W Bush administration, while threatening Tehran constantly, has actually forwarded Iranian interests in Iraq at every level, while giving new life to Iran's allies in Syria. - Peter Galbraith (Sep 19, '07)

Saudis quietly go about 'business' in Iraq
Iran attracts by far the bulk of the criticism from the United States over foreign intervention in Iraq. Yet Saudi Arabia, US ally and beneficiary of massive military largesse, is supporting resistance groups and spreading fundamentalist ideology in Iraq, and intends to continue to do so. - Dahr Jamail (Sep 19, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
French-kissing the war on Iran
Mohamed ElBaradei, the chief of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, has dropped his diplomatic demeanor in an attempt to defuse French comments over "preparing for the worst" - war on Iran. ElBaradei has already upset Western powers led by the United States by brokering an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program. Now he is up against a France playing messenger to big (energy) business. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 18, '07)

Bush's 'proxy war' claim over Iran exposed
The charge that Tehran is using Iran's elite Quds Force to fight a proxy war in Iraq does not ring true, as even the United States' top man in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has conceded. All the same, it's part of a process of raising tensions by suggesting a potential reason for a US attack on Iran. - Gareth Porter (Sep 18, '07)

Korean bust-up over Syria 'links'
Most likely unhappy at being accused of aiding a purported Syrian nuclear weapons program, North Korea has postponed the six-nation talks that were due to begin on Wednesday. The Syrian revelation - true or not - comes at an awkward moment; the US is already reverting to hardline positions on Pyongyang. - Donald Kirk (Sep 18, '07)

Blackwater pays price for Iraqi firefight
Iraq has pulled the license of prominent private US security firm Blackwater USA, following a firefight that left eight civilians dead. With US$800 million in government contracts, it's a heavy blow for Blackwater and will further complicate both the legal no-man's zone of military contractors and US security problems in Iraq. (Sep 18, '07)

Muqtada strikes another political blow
First it was his cabinet ministers; now Muqtada al-Sadr has pulled all of his Sadrists out of the Nuri al-Maliki government, leaving the Iraqi prime minister with a paper-thin majority. Muqtada's machinations bring him a step closer to his goal of taking power. - Sami Moubayed (Sep 17, '07)

INTERVIEW
Withdrawal is the solution to the mess
Tariq Ali, historian and filmmaker
The main beneficiary of the US-led "war on terror" has been Iran, says Tariq Ali. The Iranians, who regarded the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq as enemies, kept silent over the US invasions of these countries. They had their own agenda, but Tehran's state interests are now clashing with those of the US. (Sep 17, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
Mr Bush, your sheikh is dead
Sheikh Abdul Sattar Abu Risha, killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq on Thursday, was the congenial face of US efforts to engage Sunnis in reconciliation with the Shi'ite-led government. The prime suspect is  al-Qaeda, which the sheikh's alliance was fighting with weapons and money supplied by the US. But Abu Risha had other enemies, especially among Sunnis whose goal is ending the occupation, not befriending it. Whoever is responsible, the "surge is a success" story being sold by the White House and its tame general has been ruined. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 14, '07)

Deep flaws in Afghan peace drive
Even as it puts the finishing touches to its master plan for Pakistan's new political order, Washington is gearing up for the endgame in Afghanistan - politically engaging the Taliban. This ignores the interests of the regional players, notably Russia and Iran. And if US-Iran tensions escalate, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will become even more intertwined, with peace as remote as ever. - M K Bhadrakumar (Sep 14, '07)

Al-Qaeda sets Lebanon record straight
The Lebanese army's three-month battle to defeat the Fatah al-Islam militant group is widely perceived as a setback for al-Qaeda, to which Fatah claimed allegiance. In fact, Fatah failed even the initial al-Qaeda "test" that would have led to financial and military support. Al-Qaeda is more concerned that jihadis direct their energies against the multinational forces in South Lebanon. - Sami Moubayed (Sep 14, '07)

BOOK REVIEW
That '800-pound gorilla' ...
Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States by Trita Parsi
Nothing is as it seems in the Middle East, and author Parsi sheds light on the dark, back-door wheeling and dealing among supposed enemies - Israel, Iran and the US - going back decades. The book is a timely and important read for anybody who wants push back the essentialist arguments that suggest an impending clash of ideologies. (Sep 14, '07)

Petraeus out of step with US top brass
As the highly public face of President George W Bush's policy in Iraq, especially the "surge", General David Petraeus has done his boss proud in following the White House script. This spokesman's role, however, has created a deep rift between him and the nation's highest military leaders. Most notably, he is on a collision course with Admiral William Fallon, chief of Central Command, who has reportedly dismissed him as an "asskissing little chickenshit". - Gareth Porter (Sep 13, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
Behind the Anbar myth
One of the key arguments in General David Petraeus' presentation to the US Congress this week was the close collaboration between the occupation and Sunni tribal leaders in al-Anbar province. Nothing could be further from the truth: what success there is in Anbar is not due to the general's wily ways, but to an Iraqi sheikh. And even then, US occupation forces remain the main enemy. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 13, '07)

US and Europe drain Iran's half-full glass
The United States and some of its European allies have indicated they will push for a new round of United Nations sanctions on Iran, irrespective of the positive developments in Tehran's relations with the UN atomic agency. At the same time, talk of a "military option" against Iran continues. It does not bode well for US-Iran dialogue on Iraq. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Sep 13, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
The Petraeus moment blots out the world
General David Petraeus' appearance before the US Congress on Monday was trumpeted as "the most anticipated congressional testimony by a general since the Vietnam War". It's just words, words and more words ... these hearings were neither "pivotal" nor "a moment of truth", simply a way for the White House and official Washington, for a brief time, to blot out the world. - Tom Engelhardt (Sep 12, '07)

SPEAKING FREELY
US public shrinks from war's reality
War is hell, a fact that the US public, now clamoring for withdrawal from Iraq, is facing up to. So why is there no outcry against a possible war with Iran? Because they prefer the sanitized version scripted by the Pentagon and Hollywood. They'll pay admission for a new war any time, but only if the price is right and Superman saves the day. - K Darbandi (Sep 12, '07)

Al-Qaeda fights back at Afghan peace bid
The Taliban have responded positively to Afghanistan's offer to start peace talks. With active backing from the United States, tribal leaders in Pakistan are already working towards traditional peace councils involving all parties. Most threatened by these developments is al-Qaeda. Having already lost primacy in the Iraqi resistance, al-Qaeda does not want to lose ground in Afghanistan. In this context, Osama bin Laden's latest video is a rallying call. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Sep 12, '07)

There's menace in Osama's message
Forget the dyed beard, relaxed delivery and flowing robes. Most of all, discard the pundits who have described Osama bin Laden's latest speech as a desperate attempt to remain relevant. Many have also concluded there is no "overt threat" in the message. They couldn't be more wrong. - Michael Scheuer (Sep 12, '07)

Syria and Israel flirt with war
Both Syria and Israel repeatedly state that they want peace, not war, but last week's incident in which four Israeli warplanes invaded Syrian airspace markedly lowers the odds on hostilities. Jerusalem has remained steadfastly silent over the incursion, leaving Damascus to draw its own conclusion that all options are on the table. - Sami Moubayed (Sep 11, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
Sheikh Osama and the iPod general
Both Osama bin Laden and General David Petraeus aim to seduce multiple layers of constituencies, but above all US public opinion. The al-Qaeda leader revels in what he views as the United States' failed imperial project and promotes a global "protest movement". Washington's top man in Iraq still sees success in the "surge". How different things might have been had Petraeus been set loose on bin Laden's trail six years ago. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 11, '07)

A cut in Iraq, but definitely no running
US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus painted a predictably positive picture of the situation in the country during a report to the US Congress, indicating a reduction of troops to pre-"surge" levels by next summer. Iraqi political conciliation is another matter. (Sep 11, '07)

SPEAKING FREELY US may attack, but will Iran fight back? The vital question in the unfolding US-Iran crisis is not whether the Americans plan to attack Iran, since they are clearly itching to do so, but what response would follow. The conventional Iraqi armed forces were easily broken, but a sectarian guerrilla war is still raging more than four years later. Similarly, the Iranian armed forces might be crippled, but the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and other forces might continue the fight for years. - Alan G Jamieson (Sep 11, '07) Anti-Iran hype reaches fever pitch It appears Iran will remain a target for neo-con ideologues and their ilk for months to come. The question remains as to whether this aggressive pseudo-policy will yield a positive outcome, or if it will end, as many in the international community believe, in military confrontation. (Sep 11, '07)

SPENGLER The discreet charm of US diplomacy America's miserable performance in Iraq should not obscure the success of Washington's efforts to align the West against Tehran. France, under its new president, is only the latest to make clear that it will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, and even the ayatollahs are taking notice of the Western front united around the US. The chances of avoiding war with Iran are still slim, though. (Sep 10, '07) COMMENT Cartoons aid US lynch mob mentality The power of some US political cartoonists' pens is proving to be a potent symbol of the darker side of US opinion makers. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Sep 10, '07

Pakistan's military kitted for new power
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's return to Pakistan has hogged all the limelight, but he only lasted a few hours on Monday before being sent packing back into exile. He was never a part of the story anyway. The real deal in the new political setup will be the military wielding power behind a civilian government, playing faithful servant to the US in the "war on terror" while at the same time preparing the Taliban for power in Afghanistan. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Sep 10, '07)

COMMENT
The man with the dyed beard returns
The reappearance, after an interlude of more than two years, of Osama bin Laden will be chewed over endlessly by pundits who will mostly miss the point. It isn't bin Laden and his dyed beard that should be flashing on our TV screens but the disgraced faces of those who exploited the tragedy of a stricken nation to inflict tragedies on others. - Ramzy Baroud (Sep 10, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Uh, uhhm: Say no more, Iraq is a slam dunk
The dumbing down of US culture and education has led to the elevation of the lowest common denominator at the expense of common sense and reason. This is what killed off the movement against the war in Iraq, which makes the upcoming floor show by the military supremo in that country, General David Petraeus, irrelevant - the outcome was determined long ago. - Julian Delasantellis (Sep 10, '07)

Tentative peace talks for Thai south
Informal meetings between Thai officials and insurgent representatives have taken place in Switzerland aimed at ending the violence in Thailand's three southernmost provinces. Details are tentative, and there is no indication that the heart of the problem has been addressed: the apparent lack of understanding on the Thai side of the insurgents' long list of complaints and grievances. - Bertil Lintner (Sep 7, '07)

    Who's who in Thailand's Muslim insurgency

BOOK REVIEW
No, it's the dog that wags the tail
The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy by John J Mearsheimer and Stephen M Walt
This controversial book argues that client state Israel and its allies in the US are leading the US government to engage in policies that are manifestly against its interests - a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. Nothing could be further from the truth. The US has been using Israel to fulfill its policy objectives for decades, and will continue to do so. - Mark LeVine (Sep 7, '07)

THE ROVING EYE
From al-Qaeda to al-Quds
The only guiding logic of the US far right in power is permanent war and any excuse will do for President George W Bush to attack Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps will retaliate and all of Iran, out of Persian national pride, will rally behind the supreme leader, President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and the theocratic police state. So much for regime change. - Pepe Escobar (Sep 6, '07)

The Pakistani road to German terror
The three men arrested in Germany this week on suspicion of planning "massive" attacks on US interests in the country have been linked to training camps in Pakistan. Their likely commander there is al-Qaeda's Abu Hanifah, who operates in the North Waziristan tribal area, where al-Qaeda has re-established itself and where the US would dearly like to strike. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Sep 6, '07)

Something to report on Iraq
Various reports on the war in Iraq will be released next week, and the interpretations of them will be contested widely and bitterly. The US military's assessment is sure to reflect its "can do" ideology, given that the future of the war and of the US position in the Middle East hinges on the reports and their reception. - Brian M Downing (Sep 6, '07)

In Fallujah, donkeys tell a tale
The Western media's portrayals of Fallujah, scene of a fierce battle in 2004, paint a picture of a pacified city. But in reality, Fallujah has all but slipped into the Dark Ages, with no electricity, no water, no fuel, few jobs and, by order of the US Army, no vehicular traffic. Who needs cars when there are donkeys? (Sep 6, '07)

Jihadis strike back at Pakistan
With Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf and his military establishment on the brink of a US-inspired power-sharing agreement with exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto, the political landscape is being redrawn. Militants, including al-Qaeda, see the development as a threat to their survival in the country, and they plan to nip it in the bud. Tuesday's suicide bombings in Rawalpindi are a new salvo in a struggle in which the military might have to choose: Washington or the jihadis. - Syed Saleem Shahzad (Sep 5, '07)

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
Seven years in hell
President George W Bush has now fervently embraced the Vietnam analogy for the war in Iraq, despite swearing in 2003 that his war would "decidedly not be Vietnam". The shift illustrates the changes the United States has undergone in the past seven years, in which born-again militarists, believers in the efficacy of force as embodied in the most awe-inspiring, high-tech military on the planet, have commandeered the heights of power and blindly run the US off an imperial cliff. - Tom Engelhardt (Sep 5, '07)

OPINION
The case for pragmatic idealism
Former US secretary of state James Baker reflects on the current world condition and, despite setbacks and doubts associated with the ongoing Iraq war, rejects gloomy predictions about America's eclipse. He stresses the assets and advantages that the US possesses over its rivals and delivers some practical advice that he sums up as "pragmatic idealism". (Sep 5, '07)

Caucasus becomes a hotbed of extremism
The Bush administration has invited several muftis from the North Caucasus region of Russia to visit the US. The growing radicalism of Muslims in this region, where some jihadis look down on the Taliban as being insufficiently radical, has raised concern in Washington that their radicalism may be a global, not just a Russian, problem. - Dmitry Shlapentokh (Sep 5, '07)

Afghan bridge exposes huge divide
A 670-meter, US-built bridge over the Pyanj River now connects Tajikistan and Afghanistan. The bridge reveals much about America's ambitions in Central Asia, particularly Washington's determination to undercut the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and isolate Russia. Yet the biggest beneficiary of the bridge will be China. - M K Bhadrakumar (Sep 4, '07)

Basra crisis is Iran's opportunity
In the US's worst-case scenario, Shi'ites in Basra descend into anarchy-driven factional strife following the withdrawal of British troops, opening the door for Iran to draw southern Iraq further into its sphere of influence. Iran's interests, however, are far better served by a peaceful transfer of power, although the specter of its intervention is something Tehran can use to reduce the chances of a US military strike against Iran. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Sep 4, '07)

US digs in deeper in the Philippines
With the war against the Abu Sayyaf apparently reaching a successful conclusion, one might think that the US is ready to declare victory and go home. Not so, writes Noel Tarrazona: Washington and allies in Manila want to use the struggle with separatists as a wedge to permit permanent US bases in violation of Philippine law. (Sep 4, '07)

August 2007