2007 COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS ARCHIVE :

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The National Interest, 31 Dec 07, by J. Peter Pham
Après Bhutto (Part 4)
'Since her death at an assassin's hands last Thursday, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has been virtually canonized by politicians and pundits alike. ... Nowhere to be found in these paeans is any acknowledgment of the slain politician's far more ambiguous record, a close examination of which reveals the saint to have been all too human: specifically, as authoritarian and venal as any run-of-the-mill Third World despot.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Jan 08, by editorial staff
Hope and horror in Kenya
'The murderous tribal violence that has spread through Kenya in recent days would be horrifying anywhere. It is particularly tragic to see this happening in a country that seemed finally to be on the path to a democratic and economically sound future. There may still be a chance to retrieve some of these hopes. That will likely require stepping back from the suspicious and hastily declared election results that sparked this ugly upheaval.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Jan 08, by Paul Krugman
Dealing with the dragon
'On both Wednesday and Thursday, the price of oil briefly hit $100 a barrel. The new record made headlines, as well it should have. But what does it mean, aside from the obvious point that the economy is under extra pressure? Well, one thing it means is that we Americans are having the wrong discussion about foreign policy.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Dec 07, by editorial staff
Down payment on peace
'This week's international pledging conference to aid the Palestinian Authority was a huge success. But it will need to be matched by diplomatic progress.'

Washington Post, 19 Dec 07, by David Ignatius
Skirting the Abyss in Iraq
'The success of the U.S. troop surge seems to be bolstering, ever so slightly, the advocates of conciliation and weakening the partisans of sectarian war.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 Dec 07, by editorial staff
In Russia, post-Putin is Putin
'The Russian president has finally endorsed his successor, someone who will carry on the Putin way.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Dec 07, by editorial staff
Turkey's empty gesture
'Turkey did the wrong thing for the wrong reasons Sunday when it sent more than 50 of its air force jets to bomb sites in northern Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Dec 07, by John Hall
Manila's dirty war
'... there is a more sinister face to this U.S. ally - a widespread campaign of repression, intimidation, arbitrary detention, disappearances and extrajudicial killings.'

Christian Science Monitor, 13 Dec 07, by Christopher Kojm
Here's the surge Iraq needs
'The US can still stabilize Iraq – if it steps up its efforts.'

Washington Post, 12 Dec 07, by Henry Kissinger
Misreading the Iran Report
'The extraordinary spectacle of the president's national security adviser obliged to defend the president's Iran policy against a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) raises two core issues: How are we now to judge the nuclear threat posed by Iran? How are we to judge the intelligence community's relationship with the White House and the rest of the government?'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Dec 07, by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett
How to defuse Iran
'In the wake of the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear program, Democrats and others are criticizing President George W. Bush for again having "hyped" a nuclear weapons threat. This criticism, while deserved, does not address the critical policy question: What do we do now?'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Dec 07, by editorial staff
Starting the peace process
'Israelis and Palestinians are supposed to begin serious negotiations on Wednesday after last month's long-on-optics, short-on-specifics Annapolis peace meeting. ... If this effort has any chance of success, everyone who attended Annapolis - including the Americans and Arab leaders - is going to have to work a lot harder at breaking those patterns.'

The International Ecomony, fall 2007, by Adam Segal
New China Worries
'The Chinese military is snapping up the latest in cutting-edge Western technology. Is that good?'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Dec 07, by editorial staff
Lebanon: A sellout to Syria?
'A new president in Lebanon who has close ties to Syria might actually benefit the country and the region.'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Dec 07, by Bennett Ramberg
The right way to keep tabs on Iran's nuclear program
'A plan that Tehran first floated in 2005 could satisfy all sides.'

Washington Post, 06 Dec 07, by John R. Bolton
The Flaws In the Iran Report
'Rarely has a document from the supposedly hidden world of intelligence had such an impact as the National Intelligence Estimate released this week. Rarely has an administration been so unprepared for such an event. And rarely have vehement critics of the "intelligence community" on issues such as Iraq's weapons of mass destruction reversed themselves so quickly.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Dec 07, by Thomas L. Friedman
Intercepting Iran's take on America
'There are two intelligence analyses that are relevant to the balance of power between the United States and Iran - one is the latest U.S. assessment of Iran, which certainly gave a much more complex view of what is happening there. The other is the Iranian National Intelligence Estimate of America ...'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Dec 07, by Nicolai N. Petro
Why Russian liberals lose
'Several attempts by the alliance known as "Another Russia" to organize protest rallies in Russia's most populous cities, including the recent fiascoes in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have revealed an indisputable truth - those who call themselves the liberal opposition in Russia are neither competent nor popular.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Dec 07, by Roger Cohen
Roger Cohen: Venezuela's lesson for America
'... democracy was alive and vital in Venezuela last Sunday in a way that seems foreign to President George W. Bush's America.'

Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov 07, by editorial staff
A leader for Lebanon
'Beirut's top general, who has ties to Syria and Hezbollah, is in line to be president. Will democracy follow?'

Washington Post, 30 Nov 07, by Zbigniew Brzezinski
A Partner For Dealing With Iran?
'The effort to resolve by negotiations North Korea's defiance of the global nonproliferation regime may yet prove successful. If so, does that experience offer a guide for coping with the challenge posed by Iran's expanding nuclear program? Would a comprehensive dialogue on this issue between America and China be useful?'

Christian Science Monitor, 29 Nov 07, by Jon P. Dorschner
Where to find progress in Iraq
'Baghdad shouldn't be the country's only bellwether.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Nov 07, by Helene Cooper
Rice's way: Restraint in quest for peace
'This week, the Condoleezza Rice way toward reaching a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians got off the ground. It will take a year to find out if Rice's way will succeed in reaching a goal that has eluded secretaries of state for 60 years. But one thing is clear: the Rice approach to Middle East diplomacy is far more restrained than that of her predecessors, and it consists of pushing Israel — as well as her boss, President George W. Bush — only so far, while putting off the big, hard fights until the end.'

Reuters, 29 Nov 07
Analysis: Rice stakes reputation on Mideast peacemaking
'U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put her reputation on the line by delving into Arab-Israeli peacemaking, a high-risk gamble that experts say will be hard to pull off.'

Wall Street Journal, 30 Nov 07, by Andreas Umland
Putin's 'Jackals'
'[Putin's] speech last week, at the "Forum of Supporters of Vladimir Putin," ... could mark a turning point in post-Soviet affairs. Mr. Putin used the well-choreographed United Russia rally, the high point of his campaign, to make his most pointed attack yet on democrats and democracy.'

Christian Science Monitor, 30 Nov 07, by editorial staff
In Kosovo, appearances deceive
'There is less reason to be alarmed over pending Kosovo independence than at first seems the case.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Nov 07, by editorial staff
The struggle for Lebanon, continued
'Friday is the deadline for Parliament to pick a new president, but the country's parties, divided by religious and personal rivalries and stoked by Syria and Iran, are deadlocked. There are fears of renewed civil war if a compromise is not found.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Nov 07, by Thomas L. Friedman
Friedman: Debating Iraq's transition
'Is [Rice] just keeping away from the Iraq mess to save her image, or does she know that the Iraqi politicians will not and cannot seize this moment to reach a grand bargain ...'

Christian Science Monitor, 21 Nov 07, by editorial staff
The German question over Iran
'As a major supplier of industrial goods to Iran, Germany sits at the center of the nuclear debate.'

Asia Times, 20 Nov 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
US lacks smart nuclear policy
'US officials in charge of nuclear arms control continue to behave as if they are in an unreflexive cocoon of unilateralism in which the superpower's actions serve the collective good. As long as the US continues to focus on non-proliferation at the expense of disarmament, it cannot lead the rest of the world on this most important issue.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Nov 07, by Frederick W. Kagan and Michael O'Hanlon
Pakistan's collapse, America's problem
'As the government of Pakistan totters, we must face a fact: The United States simply could not stand by as a nuclear-armed Pakistan descended into the abyss. Nor would it be strategically prudent to withdraw our forces from an improving situation in Iraq to cope with a deteriorating one in Pakistan. We need to think - now - about our feasible military options in Pakistan, should it really come to that.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Nov 07, by John Vinocur
Spring will be crucial on Iran
'Assuming that in a dreamy, best-case scenario, new, tougher sanctions are decided by the United Nations Security Council and the European Union, what happens next spring if a resanctioned Iran does not feel so isolated that it needs to grasp at reason and blubber uncle?'

Christian Science Monitor, 16 Nov 07, by Didem Cakmakli
How to erode Kurdish terror
'... to truly eradicate PKK terrorism, Turkey must acknowledge the larger problem at hand – one that cannot be resolved by military force. Turkey must commit to meeting the needs of its Kurdish population, by giving it more rights and representation.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Nov 07, by Rami G. Khouri
The vital need for unity
'The solution in Palestine is to merge Fatah and Hamas.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Nov 07, by Roger Cohen
Israel, Palestine, Annapolis
'The Annapolis Middle East conference looks like a looming photo-op.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Nov 07, by editorial staff
Prosecuting Blackwater
'The incident has fed Iraqis' fury at the American occupation. The mess provides yet another argument for the swift and orderly exit of American troops from Iraq and the even swifter withdrawal of all the private armies Washington employs there. Any contractors who committed crimes must also be quickly brought to justice.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Nov 07, by editorial staff
Torture and accountability
'A U.S. appeals court can provide a vital measure of justice and accountability for torture in the case of Maher Arar.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Nov 07, by Joyce Hor-Chung Lau
Memories of war, East and West
'... in Europe, a clear line is drawn between the Nazi regime and today's Germany, which now stands alongside its former enemies of Britain and France as pillars of the European Union. It is a far cry from Asia, where old rivals still hiss and snap over battles fought more than 60 years ago.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Nov 07, by Louis Bickford
Monuments and memory
'Demolishing memorials associated with an abusive regime is often an enduring image of revolutions, democratic transitions and military interventions, familiar to anyone who watched the fall of the Berlin Wall or the invasion of Baghdad. Some images, such as swastikas or portraits of dictators, may be so reprehensible that they ought to be removed quickly and permanently. But if we think of some of these symbols as opportunities to learn from the past, they become educational tools in the pursuit of democratic citizenship.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Nov 07, by Danielle Pletka
Diplomacy with the devil
'... The allure of a place in history has grown. How else to explain the about-face President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have made on key foreign policy issues from North Korea to the Middle East peace process?'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Nov 07, by Paolo Spadoni
How not to bring liberty to Cuba
'Praising only hard-line dissidents ignores a wider pool of reformers.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Nov 07, by editorial staff
Veterans abandoned
'All too often, soldiers who return from Iraq or Afghanistan (and those who served in Vietnam or Korea) have been left to fend for themselves, with little help from the government.'

Asia Times, 13 Nov 07, by Robert Dreyfuss
It's getting hard to find bad guys
'A critical window of opportunity has opened for the United States to withdraw and for Iraq to hold itself together and rebuild. Yet Washington is showing every intention of staying put in Iraq for decades to come.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Nov 07, by James Carroll
Primitive impulses of war
'War always operates at two levels - one apparent and rational, the other hidden and irrational.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Nov 07, by editorial staff
The Balkans, again
'... with Russia's active meddling ... Serbs are threatening to stir new troubles in Bosnia if Kosovo declares independence. This is a time for urgent, creative diplomacy by the major powers.'

Christian Science Monitor, 13 Nov 07, by Mukoma Wa Ngugi
To save Africa: a missing step
'Ex-colonial powers giving Africa aid today should also right past wrongs.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Nov 07, by editorial staff
The Pakistan mess
'By imposing martial law, General Pervez Musharraf has pushed nuclear-armed Pakistan further along a perilous course and underscored the failure of President George W. Bush's policy toward a key ally in the war on terrorism.'

Christian Science Monitor, 06 Nov 07, by Vali Nasr
Musharraf fears democracy, not extremism
'The West must not let this crisis spiral out of control.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Nov 07, by James Carroll
For Turkey, the war
'As viewed from Turkey, American responses throughout this crisis range from duplicity to double standards. The cautionary message that Rice conveyed to her Foreign Ministry counterparts here, and that Bush is expected to echo, defines the exact opposite of policies pursued to this day by the Bush administration itself.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Nov 07, by editorial staff
The folly of using mercenaries in Iraq
'Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refers to the lack of legal accountability that allows mercenaries working for the American government to kill Iraqis without fear of prosecution as "a lacuna" in our law. Rice is correct, if disingenuous.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Nov 07, by R.J. Hillhouse
Don't blame Blackwater
'The security firm acts according to its contract with the State Department.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 Nov 07, by John Hughes
One-on-one with Iran's opposition
'A noted dissident says Iran is closer to a nuclear bomb than we think.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Nov 07, by Boston Globe editorial staff
A lazy, simplistic analogy
'If language is a window on the world, a deliberate smudging of that window will make it harder to see the world clearly and comprehend it. So it is with the highly ideological term "Islamofascist" ...'

Christian Science Monitor, 30 Oct 07, by Kaveh L. Afrasiabi
The cost of American bellicosity toward Iran
'Last week's sanctions pave the way toward war.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Bush's dangerous trash talk on Iran
'America's allies and increasingly the American public are playing a ghoulish guessing game: Will President George W. Bush manage to leave office without starting a war with Iran? Bush is eagerly feeding those anxieties. This month he raised the threat of "World War III" if Iran even figures out how to make a nuclear weapon.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Oct 07, by John Vinocur
Options on Iran offer no big dose of optimism
'The Bush administration's foreign policy has often had trouble sounding both tough and reasonable. The combination is no guarantee of success, but like thinking and chewing gum at the same time, it's possible.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Oct 07, by Maureen Dowd
WMD in Iran?
'The U.S. has done virtually everything it can with respect to carrots. It's time for squash.'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Oct 07, by Studs Terkel
The wiretap this time
'Earlier this month, the Senate Intelligence Committee and the White House agreed to allow the executive branch to conduct dragnet interceptions of the electronic communications of people in the United States. They also agreed to "immunize" American telephone companies from lawsuits charging that after 9/11 some companies collaborated with the government to violate the Constitution and existing federal law.'

Christian Science Monitor, 30 Oct 07, by Jerry Lanson
War protests: Why no coverage?
'Newspapers have a duty to inform citizens about such democratic events.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Even closer to the brink
'Now Turkey is threatening to send troops across the border ... This latest crisis should come as no surprise. But it is one more widely predicted problem the Bush administration failed to plan for before its misguided invasion - and one more problem it urgently needs to deal with as part of a swift and orderly exit from Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Oct 07, by H.D.S. Greenway, The Boston Globe
China's grip on Tibet
'Tibet has for centuries been considered a satrapy of China, although it had virtual independence when China was weak. Tibet is not internationally recognized as an independent country. Not even the Dalai Lama himself insists on independence. Yet China trembles.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Oct 07, by Henry A. Kissinger
Bold script, weak actors
'What is unique about the Annapolis conference is that the outcome is to be agreed in advance. What remains uncertain is the ability to implement it.'

UCLA International Institute, 23 Oct 07, by Steven Spiegel
First Steps for Peace in the Middle East
'The major possibility of success is a statement that gives each side some gains and disappointments, but just enough to proceed. Can it be done?'

Washington Post 'Think Tank Town', 24 Oct 07, by Janusz Bugajski and Edward P. Joseph
Seize the Opportunity with Russia on Kosovo
'It is now unmistakably clear that getting Russia's attention on the Iranian threat and a host of other issues will require action, not talk.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Oct 07, by O'Brien Browne
Cause of Iraq's chaos: bad borders
'Virtually all of Iraq's present troubles stem from one thing: rulers. Not the human rulers who wield political, economic, or military power – although they cause mischief enough – but the humble ruler itself, commonly used by schoolchildren and draftsmen.'

Washington Post, 16 Oct 07, by Bob Dole and Donna E. Shalala
A Duty to the Wounded
'Our Newest Veterans Need Help Now : It is time to decide -- do we reform the current military and veterans' disability evaluation and compensation systems or limp along, placing Band-Aids over existing flaws?'

Christian Science Monitor, 15 Oct 07, by editorial staff
On the shores of Blackwater
'From a distance, Blackwater points to issues of accountability and US dependence on private security.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Spies, lies and the U.S. surveillance program
'No matter how often Bush says otherwise, there is also no disagreement from the Democrats about the need to provide adequate tools to fight terrorists. The debate is over whether this should be done constitutionally, or at the whim of the president.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Putin on (and off) Iran
'Russia ... has been all over the lot - one day siding with Washington and Europe on the need to contain Tehran's nuclear ambitions and the next one denying the threat.'

National Interest, 12 Oct 07, by J. Peter Pham
Symbolism and Realpolitik
'While promoting democracy in Ethiopia (and elsewhere) is and ought to be an objective of U.S. foreign policy – after all, although it is not without risks and needs to be pursued within the context of a broader strategy, democratization can counter terrorism in the long run by providing alternative venues for dissent in closed societies – it needs to be weighed against our other interests, both immediate and long-term.'

International Herald Tribune, 15 Oct 07, by Tom Lantos, The Boston Globe
The power of peace and persistence
'For years the Dalai Lama has pursued a negotiated solution to the Tibetan issue with the Chinese government through the Sino-Tibetan dialogue. ... However, instead of embracing the Dalai Lama's overture for peace, Beijing has resolutely refused to make any concessions.'

Christian Science Monitor, 15 Oct 07, by Andy Zelleke
America: exceptional no more?
'Rough treatment of detainees, a shocking wealth gap, political dynasties – here?'

Washington Post, 14 Oct 07, by Jim Golby
Getting Iraq To Work
'... an initiative that the U.S. government calls the IBIZ [is] intended to give Iraqi companies better access to U.S. contracts, establish security to let Iraqi companies develop, and train individual Iraqis in skills such as carpentry, plumbing and electrical work.'

International Herald Tribune, 15 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Exploring for oil spoils in Iraq
'The quickening pace of oil deals between Kurdish regional leaders and foreign companies is another sign that Iraq is spinning out of control and the Bush administration has no idea how to stop it.'

Washington Post, 15 Oct 07, by Fred Hiatt
Armenians Who Need Help Today
'Imagine what the Armenian diaspora might have accomplished had it worked as hard for democracy in Armenia as it did for congressional recognition of the genocide Armenians suffered nearly a century ago. It's even possible that modern Armenia would be as democratic as modern Turkey.'

New York Times, 09 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Gen. Musharraf's Cynical Win
'Returning Pakistan to civilian government has been a declared goal of the United States since General Musharraf seized power in 1999. Time and again he has promised that he would resign his post as chief of army staff and take off the uniform, but even now he is playing cute about when — and whether — that might happen.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Oct 07, by Philip Bowring
Reviving North Korea
'Which country potentially offers the highest returns on capital? Answer: North Korea. For that potential to be unleashed of course requires an extraordinary change in the mind-set of the leadership in Pyongyang, but its existence makes a useful reference point in the relationship between the two Koreas in the aftermath of the summit meeting between President Roh Moo Hyun and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Oct 07, by Daniel Kurtzer
A recipe for failure?
'As diplomats scramble to piece together the parts of the Middle East peace meeting that the United States is determined to convene in November, one crucial question is getting too little attention: How will success be measured?'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Oct 07, by Sandy Berger and Bruce Riedel
America's stark choice
'America faces a stark choice in Pakistan: Do we support democracy and the rule of law, or do we support a failing military dictator?'

Asia Times, 05 Oct 07, by David I Steinberg
Myanmar and the loss of legitimacy
'Buddhism is the essential element that binds Myanmar society, and actions by the younger monks combined with disquiet among military members means that the revolt's legacy will not be stilled by the enforced silence that now blankets the cities.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Score one for diplomacy
'If North Korea lives up to its promise to begin disabling key parts of its nuclear program within weeks, and to finish the job by year's end, the world will be a safer place.'

Asia Times, 04 Oct 07, by Philip Giraldi
The myth of the all-powerful Ahmadinejad
'... before Washington makes policy on the basis of his bizarre and often offensive statements, they should consider one important fact: his actual authority as Iranian president is very limited.'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Oct 07, by Abbas William Samii
The Guards run the show in Iran
'... the United States must find a way to contain the Guards – they help run Iran's nuclear program, have a hand in killing US soldiers in Iraq, and are playing an increasingly prominent role in Iranian politics.'

Asia Times, 03 Oct 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Iran's terror label bites deep
'The move to formally label the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps as terrorist is another victory for anti-Iran hawks, who know the important side-effects of this initiative in inching the US closer to war against Iran. Unfortunately, despite a persuasive case against the move, the hawks are right.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Oct 07, by André Glucksman
Did you really say 'war'?
'One little word can be enough to trigger a storm. By mentioning the risk of war implied in Iran's staunch desire to build the bomb and the West's necessity to be prepared to act to avoid that possibility, has France's foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, committed blasphemy? Is this attributable to naïveté or a lack of professional experience in his new role?'

Asia Times, 05 Oct 07, by M K Bhadrakumar
India holds the key in NATO's world view
'The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's agenda is centered on its further enlargement as well as lengthening its reach to undertake missions with new partners in every corner of the world. Many of its main challenges are in the Indian Ocean region, which makes a friendly India a priority. Washington fully backs a NATO-India partnership, while Delhi has some critical decisions to make.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Blackwater's rich contracts
'With many Iraqis still seething after Blackwater guards killed at least eight Iraqis two weeks ago, it is evident that Blackwater and other security contractors are undermining the military's efforts to win over Iraqis.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Oct 07, by Maureen Dowd
Sinking in Blackwater
'... the compromises W. makes to slog on in Iraq, be it with warlords, dictators or out-of-control contractors, are spreading a dark stain on America's image.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Oct 07, by Philip Bowring
Myanmar: What next?
'The Burmese regime appears for now to have crushed, with accustomed brutality, the mass demonstrations against it, and the junta appears to have given the UN envoy a polite brush-off. So what can be done to bring about change in that benighted country?'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Oct 07, by Salil Tripathi
The monks and realpolitik
'Of all the inanities diplomats utter at the time of an international crisis, the one that towers over all is this: that some foreign ministries expect China to restrain the Burmese junta.'

New Yorker, 08 Oct 07 issue, by Seymour M. Hersh
Shifting Targets
'The Administration's plan for Iran.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Oct 07, by editorial staff
There is a better job for Vladimir Putin
'Russians and a lot of Russia watchers have been wondering not if, but how Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, would hold on to power. We fear we got our answer Monday.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Oct 07, by editorial staff
Subcontracting the war
'There is, conveniently, no official count. But there are an estimated 160,000 private contractors working in Iraq, and some 50,000 of them are "private security" operatives - that is, fighters. ... The [recent Blackwater] incident provides an irrefutable argument for bringing these mission-critical jobs, which should be performed by soldiers, back into government hands as quickly as possible, and for placing any remaining private contractors under the jurisdiction of U.S. military law.'

National Review 'The Tank', 30 Sep 07, by Pete Hegseth
The Sounds of Silence
'As the director of an Iraq & Afghanistan veteran's organization, I follow the headlines from Iraq very closely. So, it's always news to me when there is little news from Iraq ... at least from the mainstream media. ... Why is this the case? ... I believe the reason is rooted both in what has happened and what has not.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Sep 07, by Gian P. Gentile
A soldier in Iraq
'After spending 2006 in command of an armor reconnaissance squadron in some of West Baghdad's toughest neighborhoods, I learned to be very humble when linking causes to the effects I thought my unit produced.'

BBC News, 27 Sep 07, by Jonathan Head
What next for Burma's generals?
'Will Burma's military rulers listen to the endless pleas for restraint and dialogue? Could the regime crumble under the weight of popular anger, or through splits in the ranks of the armed forces?'

PRI/BBC 'The World', 27 Sep 07, by Tom Fenton
The dark continent
'While their attention is focussed on how to withdraw American troops from the insurgency and civil war in Iraq, most Americans are totally unaware that their government has blundered into another foreign policy disaster, in the northwest corner of Africa. The Bush administration’s single-minded pursuit of its war on terror has left Somalia in the grips of an insurgency and a renewed civil war.'

American Thinker, 25 Sep 07, by Michael I. Krauss and J. Peter Pham
Feeding the Hand that Bites You
'If Gaza is territory under the control of the enemy -- as it manifestly is under Hamas -- then the Israeli government is both within its rights and arguably obliged by its responsibilities to its citizens to treat the strip as "hostile territory." Siege and blockade of a hostile territory is a legitimate tactic of war, used in declared and undeclared (e.g., Cuban) conflicts and explicitly recognized by the 1949 Geneva Conventions.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Sep 07, by editorial staff
The 'crazies' and Iran
'Like Mohamed ElBaradei, we want to make sure that those he calls the "crazies" don't start a war with Iran. But we fear his do-it-yourself diplomacy is playing right into the crazies' hands - in Washington and in Tehran.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Sep 07, by Samuel Charap
Ukraine: The wrong question
'The West failed to see that Ukraine's political battles were just a sideshow to the real revolution.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Sep 07, by Henry A. Kissinger
Putting politics aside to save Iraq
'Two realities define the range of a meaningful debate on Iraq policy: The war cannot be ended by military means alone. But neither is it possible to "end" the war by ceding the battlefield, for the radical jihadist challenge knows no frontiers.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Sep 07, by The Boston Globe editorial staff
The other Mideast conflict
'Inevitably, debate about an endgame for the Iraq war has been dominating political discourse in the United States. But another fateful matter is looming: the November summit meeting in Washington, at which Israelis, Palestinians and leaders from Arab states will be encouraged to draw up principles to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Sep 07, by The Boston Globe editorial staff
Restoring American justice
'The Military Commissions Act created a clearly unconstitutional system of trial and punishment for foreigners. This week Congress has a chance to begin fixing that grievous mistake.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 Sep 07, by editorial staff
Unpredictable Putin
'Vladimir Putin dropped two bombs this week. One, literally, tested a ferocious explosive device. The other – his naming of a virtual unknown as prime minister and potential heir – was a political shock. The flash from both illumines his own power, and his quest to restore Russia's greatness.'

Sudan Times, 17 Sep 07, by Wasil Ali
African Union is an obstacle to peace in Darfur
'The thin line separating the positions of the African Union (AU) as a regional organization and that of the Sudanese government, a party to the Darfur conflict, has practically eroded last week. ... the AU is objecting to a much needed non-African Union infantry soldiers as part of the hybrid force.'

The Nation, 24 Sep 07 issue, by David Cole and Jules Lobel
Why We're Losing the War on Terror
'... has the Administration's "war on terror" actually made us safer?'

National Review, 04 Sep 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The New Counterinsurgency Front
'A conversation with Sen. Lindsey Graham: Colonel Lindsey Graham — the U.S. senator who holds an Air Force Reserve commission as a JAG (Judge Advocate General) officer — believes we are finally getting it right in Iraq: "Finally figuring it out," he says.'

Asia Times, 18 Sep 07, by Gareth Porter
Bush's 'proxy war' claim over Iran exposed
'Nine months after the George W Bush administration declared that it was going to go after Iranian agents in Iraq who were threatening US troops, the US military still has not produced any evidence that Quds Force operatives in Iraq were engaged in assisting the militias fighting against US troops.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 Sep 07, by Alex Little
A way for America to assert its moral strength
'If the US joined the International Criminal Court, it would send a dramatic message to a world skeptical of America's human rights record.'

New Yorker, 17 Sep 07 issue, by George Packer
Planning for Defeat
'How should we withdraw from Iraq?'

Christian Science Monitor, 13 Sep 07, by Fawaz A. Gerges
Bin Laden's new image: younger, more Marxist
'The former multimillionaire now blames global capitalism and class for the tragedies in Iraq and Afghanistan.'

The Nation, 24 Sep 07 issue, by Tom Hayden
The New Counterinsurgency
'The military's new strategy in Iraq draws on an old tradition rooted in violence and repression.'

The Heritage Foundation, 11 Sep 07, by Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
After the Petraeus/Crocker Hearings: Four Issues for Congress
'Now that General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker have made their long-awaited statements to Congress, what should policymakers and the public take away from the hearings? And what should guide the debate on Iraq going forward?'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Sep 07, by editorial staff
The Iraq clock
'General Petraeus's cool, detailed presentation of "tactical momentum" from the military surge, combined with Ambassador Crocker's nurtured "seeds of [Iraqi] reconciliation" and warnings of Mideast meltdown from a premature pullback, have temporarily doused the fire in Congress for a firm pullout date, which many wanted for next year.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Sep 07, by H. D. S. Greenway
Bush's false optimism
'Nations find it infinitely more difficult to get out of wars and military occupations than to get into them. ... "Buying time for Iraqis to reconcile," was the way Petraeus originally described his mission, and according to that measure there has been no progress at all.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Sep 07, by editorial staff
More excuses on Iraq
'For months, President George W. Bush has been promising an honest accounting of the situation in Iraq, a fresh look at the war strategy and a new plan for how to extricate the United States from the death spiral of the Iraqi civil war. America has had none of that from the congressional testimony by General David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Instead, it got more excuses for delaying serious decisions for many more months, keeping the war going into 2008 and probably well beyond.'

International Herald Tribune, 12 Sep 07, by editorial staff
Running on empty
'The dangers of America's Faustian bargain with Pakistan's military dictator are growing more obvious by the day.'

National Review, 11 Sep 07, by James S. Robbins
Osama, Take II
'... here we are six years later and there have been no more dramatic attacks on the US homeland, and all the other parts of the plan failed to materialize. The war on terror is no longer central to daily life, if it ever was after the fall of 2001.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 Sep 07, by editorial staff
Cold feet in a hot spot
'The US has its frontline war, Iraq. For Europeans and Canadians – America's NATO allies – it's Afghanistan. Just as Congress resumes debate on troops in Iraq, America's partners are doing the same for Afghanistan. Their decisions will test NATO unity and ideas about fighting global terrorism.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Sep 07, by Scott Borgerson and Franklyn Griffiths
No time for chest thumping
'... At issue is whether, under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which the United States helped write but hasn't signed, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago should be regarded as Canadian internal waters subject to Canadian law, or as an international strait open to navigation by all, specifically by the U.S. Navy.'

New York Times, 10 Sep 07, by editorial staff
Lagging on Homeland Security
'The agency has proved far better at developing security plans than at implementing them. Even so, it has yet to meet Congress's demand for a comprehensive, national plan to respond to another major terrorist attack or Katrina-size disaster.'

Christian Science Monitor, 13 Sep 07, by editorial staff
Prison purge of religious books
'The Bureau of Prisons has overreached by purging chapel libraries to guard against radical Muslims.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 Sep 07, by editorial staff
Iraq's Persian puzzle
'A new debate in Congress over Iraq requires it be clear about Iran's potential as a regional and nuclear power.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Sep 07, by L. Paul Bremer III
How I didn't dismantle Saddam's army
'The U.S. was right to build a new Iraqi Army. Despite all the difficulties, Iraq's new professional soldiers are the country's most effective security force.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Sep 07, by The Boston Globe editorial staff
Momentum on North Korea
'There may still be sniping from hard-liners such as John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the process of negotiating North Korea's denuclearization is gathering unmistakable momentum.'

Columbia Spectator, 06 Sep 07, by Madeleine Wells
A Long-Term Strategy for a Safer Pakistan
'There is no easy formula for balancing Pakistani domestic stability and American security concerns. It is certain, however, that a U.S. policy that redistributes aid to preempt the root causes of terror can immediately begin to foster long-term security in South Asia and beyond.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Sep 07, by editorial staff
President Bush poses with the troops
'As Americans and Iraqis continue to die, President Bush stubbornly refuses to recognize that what both countries need is a responsible exit strategy for the United States.'

ISA Consulting, 04 Sep 07
Basra: chaos and defeat
'The British withdrawal from the center of Basra, Iraq's oil-rich economic capital, signals a major defeat as the rival Shia militias who control the region's vast resources and political institutions are given carte blanche to pillage and plunder. Arguably, the battle for Basra is the battle for Iraq.'

Chicago Tribune 'The Swamp', 04 Sep 07, by Mark Silva
Bush: Troops to withdraw from success, not failure
'Bush, confident that Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, will make a persuasive case before Congress about the progress and promise of the "surge" in Iraq this month, is determined to carry the mission into spring and seek more than $150 billion in added war spending.'

Wall Street Journal, 02 Sep 07, by Josef Joffe
If Iraq Falls
'America might have made a mistake going in, but fleeing would be a disaster.'

Weekly Standard, 10 Sep 07 issue, by Frederick W. Kagan
Al Qaeda In Iraq
'How to understand it. How to defeat it.'

National Review Online, 03 Sep 07, by Michael Barone
All Eyes on Petraeus
'The public comments he's made so far make it clear that he won't present a totally positive report. But they also make it clear that he sees genuine military progress. Parts of Iraq that looked irretrievably lost to insurgents and al Qaeda now appear pacified and normal.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Sep 07, by Mark L. Haas, The Boston Globe
America's golden years?
'The world's great powers are growing old. Steep declines in birthrates over the last century and major increases in life expectancy have caused the populations of Britain, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States to age at a substantial rate. This phenomenon will hinder the other major powers challenging America's economic and military dominance, largely because these countries are growing old faster than is the United States. Yet population aging may still threaten America's international security interests.'

Christian Science Monitor, 31 Aug 07, by John Hughes
Where to now, South Africa?
'As the black leaders who broke apartheid pass from the scene, the country's political direction hangs in the balance.'

Talisman Gate, 24 Aug 07, by Nibras Kazimi
Marked Decrease in Al-Qaeda Operations
'... These downward trends are reflected across all insurgent groups operating in Iraq, and it should be noted that a couple of months ago 70 percent of the total violence done in Iraq was credited to Al-Qaeda.'

Asia Times, 31 Aug 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
A small break for Iran
'The latest International Atomic Energy Agency report on Tehran's nuclear program dampens the momentum for another round of United Nations sanctions. This may well be unwelcome news to the hawks in Washington, but it does go some way to breaking down the "wall of mistrust" between the US and Iran.'

Washington Post, 31 Aug 07, by Charles Krauthammer
Thinking Beyond Maliki
'The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has had more than 15 months to try to pacify the Sunni insurgency by offering national accords on oil-sharing, provincial elections and de-Baathification. It has done none of these. Instead, Gen. David Petraeus has pacified a considerable number of Sunni tribes with grants of local autonomy, guns and U.S. support in jointly fighting al-Qaeda.'

Weekly Standard, 30 Aug 07, by William Kristol
A Pathetic Preemptive Strike
'The Washington Post and the GAO try to mislead on Iraq.'

Asia Times, 31 Aug 07, by Chan Akya
India's Muslim 'problem'
'With sickening regularity, India's middle classes suffer terrorist outrages that are blamed on the subcontinent's restive Muslims. But the factors that drive people to such unspeakable acts of terror against their fellow citizens are ignored by feckless politicians who lack both the vision and credibility to grasp an obvious solution, namely increased economic opportunities for the diverse minorities, with a particular emphasis on urban areas.'

Asia Times, 31 Aug 07, by Daniel Luban
Iraqi benchmarks come and go
'Iraq has met only three of 18 benchmarks set for it by the US Congress, according to leaks from a new report. The news will certainly increase congressional criticism of President George W Bush's "surge" strategy for Iraq, but the administration has its own definitions of "success".'

International Herald Tribune, 29 Aug 07, by Roger Cohen
A November deadline for Mideast peace
'... President George W. Bush's discovery last month that "Iraq is not the only pivotal matter in the Middle East" was encouraging, as was his virtual abandonment of the turgid negotiating formula known as the "road map." The Bush end game, like Clinton's, is going to see a push for a resolution of the mother of all conflicts.'

Prospects for Peace, Aug 07, by Daniel Levy
November's Peace Summit: Some Guidelines for the Perplexed
'... a presidential address which seemed to promise rather little has become an effort in Middle East peace summitry that is beginning to raise expectations and is the first of its kind in almost seven years. Three developments have seemed to converge to create this new apparent moment of hope.'

Cambridge Forum, 28 Sep 06, with David Kennedy
Of War and Law
'The Geneva Conventions, the closest thing we have to a codified "law of war" today, are under scrutiny to determine whether they adequately address the conditions of the "war on terror" and the war in Iraq. With Congress, the courts, and the press debating how to apply the Geneva Conventions in the treatment of prisoners, the public may be justified in asking how two such different realms as law and war can be brought together.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 Aug 07, by James Carroll, The Boston Globe
Outsourcing U.S. intelligence
'The ways in which the Bush war has degraded the structures and culture of Iraq are obvious. Less so are its insidious effects on the United States, but President George W. Bush is similarly destroying something essential to our own democracy. A signal of that was sounded last week when The Washington Post reported that the Defense Intelligence Agency is transferring "core intelligence tasks of analysis and collection" to private contractors - up to a billion dollars worth. This raises the prospect that hired guns, instead of sworn officials, will be conducting covert operations, spying missions, interrogations, "renditions," surveillance - the whole dangerous complex of shadow activity that began as the government's most sensitive responsibility.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Aug 07, by Bernard Kouchner
What France can do in Iraq
'I have just returned from three days in Iraq. ... In my conversations there, I perceived a deep need among many Iraqis for recognition and for new ties with France and Europe. The Iraqis have been isolated for too long and feel abandoned by the international community. After years of debating the American presence in Iraq, the time has come for us to turn our attention to the Iraqis themselves.'

Asia Times, 24 Aug 07, by Juan Cole
Bush: In the footsteps of Napoleon
'French Egypt and American Iraq can be considered bookends on the history of modern imperialism in the Middle East. The Bush administration's already failed version of the conquest of Iraq is, of course, on everyone's mind; while the French conquest of Egypt, now more than two centuries past, is all too little remembered, despite having been led by Napoleon Bonaparte, whose career has otherwise hardly languished in obscurity.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Aug 07, by seven U.S. soldiers
The Iraq war as we see it
'Counterinsurgency is, by definition, a competition between insurgents and counterinsurgents for the control and support of a population. To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counterinsurgency is far-fetched.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Aug 07, by Judith Schwartz
Treating the trauma of war – fairly
'In relabeling cases of PTSD as 'personality disorder,' the US military avoids paying for treatment.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Aug 07, by Colin Woodard
Who resolves Arctic oil disputes?
'Russia's planting of a flag at the North Pole this month has set off a race for control of the Arctic, with five nations preparing to make claims to the seabed at the top of the world. ... Resolving disputes arising from the claims will represent a major diplomatic challenge to the five nations that surround the rapidly thawing Arctic Ocean.'

Asia Times/The Nation, 14 Aug 07, by Tom Engelhardt
Escalation in Iraq by the numbers
'It's a frightening amount and it only adds up to one sum: disaster, despite what the White House spin doctors may say.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Aug 07, by Boston Globe editorial staff
Kabul's peace conference
'One breakthrough of the peace jirga was that it drew a rare public acknowledgment from President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan that Taliban militants have been using tribal areas inside Pakistan as safe havens from which to launch attacks into Afghanistan.'

Yale Law Journal, 13 Aug 07, by Morris D. Davis
In Defense of Guantanamo Bay
'What I see is a clean, modern facility that employs humane detention practices to prevent enemy combatants from causing harm in the future and that utilizes fair trial procedures that exceed standards accepted in comparable international tribunals to adjudicate the guilt or innocence of enemy combatants alleged to have committed punishable offenses in the past. If truth be told, and often it is not, there is no compelling reason to cut and run from the detention facility or the military commissions.'

Korea Times, 14 Aug 07, by editorial staff
Flexible Approach
'The Seoul officials are apparently back again at the starting point in dealing with the Taliban's demand for their prisoners' release. The negotiators will have no choice but to tell the kidnappers that it is not the Korean government but the Afghan authorities that have the power to set free imprisoned Taliban fighters.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Aug 07, by David Frum
Karl Rove: Building a coalition, forgetting to rule
'Inspiring rhetoric and solemn promises can do only so much for an incumbent administration. Can it win wars? Can it respond to natural disasters? Can it safeguard the nation's borders? Can it fill positions of responsibility with worthy appointees? If it cannot do those things, not even the most sophisticated get-out-the-vote operation can save it.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Aug 07, by Boston Globe editorial staff
Ending an African standoff
'The United States is expanding its military presence in the Horn of Africa in an attempt to counteract terrorist groups in the region. But military activity is not the way to achieve that goal. Instead, the United States needs to put more effort into solving the major political dispute there: the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Aug 07, by Henry A. Kissinger
Don't rule out Putin's initiative
'The debate about missile defense, nearly 50 years old, has been reignited by the plan to deploy elements of the American missile defense in the Czech Republic and Poland. Familiar Cold War arguments have re-emerged as Russia challenges the necessity of the deployment and asserts that it is really designed to overcome Russian strategic forces rather than Iranian threats as the Bush administration claims. But in addition to invective, the Kremlin also has a put forward a bold initiative for creating an unprecedented NATO-Russian collaboration in resisting an Iranian nuclear missile threat.'

Washington Post, 10 Aug 07, by Michael Gerson
A Date Certain on Darfur
'After four years of brutal raids, ethnic cleansing and systematic rape in Darfur, Sudan -- and nearly three years after the Bush administration declared this a genocide-- the U.N. Security Council has finally approved a credible peacekeeping force. ... The most disturbing part of the latest U.N. negotiations was the continued leverage exercised by the regime in Khartoum, which has a long history of mass killing.'

National Interest, 06 Aug 07, by J. Peter Pham
Providing Security While Peacekeepers Tarry
'Last week the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1769, which authorizes a force of up to 26,000 peacekeepers to restore security to the Darfur region of Sudan ... One can only hope that UNAMID will have more effect than its phantom predecessor, UNMIS.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 Aug 07, by Jack Mendelsohn
America, stop waving the nuclear threat at potential adversaries
'The US should use its nuclear arsenal for deterrence only and preserve the 'taboo' on nuclear weapons use.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Aug 07, by Jack Jacobs
Generals don't need a watchdog
'... the army now requires a formal, independent investigation into the death of every American in a hostile area. If this provision had been in place when we began our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, there would have been about 3,700 investigations by now. The American losses in Vietnam would have required more than 58,000 inquiries. And if the regulation had existed in World War II, we would have conducted 400,000 investigations, requiring perhaps as many investigating officers as we now have troops in Iraq.'

Asia Times, 10 Aug 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
US diplomacy with Iran is working
'By any impartial analysis, the US-Iran meetings in Baghdad are bearing fruit in terms of enhanced cooperation on the nuclear issue and Iraqi security. But that's probably the last thing leftover neo-cons want to hear, since it undercuts their rationales for war. The fact that diplomacy is working, slowly but surely, requires the two things the White House apparently lacks: time and patience.'

Asia Times, 07-10 Aug 07, by Axel Brot
Germany, The Re-Engineered Ally
Part 1: Readiness for endless war
Part 2: Everything is broken
Part 3: Hail to the chief, or else
'Not so many years ago, many hoped Europe might step up as a counterweight to US imperial policies. Such hopes were focused in particular on Germany - not only as the leading European power, but as a known moderating, non-military force in international politics.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Aug 07, by Ian Fisher
Will North Africa gain from closer ties to Europe?
'... it is natural for European leaders to cast their actions in the Mediterranean in grand terms. The latest example comes from France's new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, whose efforts to move Europe, not to mention French arms industries, closer to northern Africa are being presented within a vision of a new union of nations along the Mediterranean.'

Korea Times, 06 Aug 07, by Elan Journo, Providence Journal
Rule of Engagement Intolerable for US Troops
'The study of U.S. combat troops in Iraq finds that less than half of the soldiers and Marines surveyed would report a team member for breaches of the military's ethics rules. Military and civilian observers have concluded from the study that more and stricter training in combat ethics is urgently needed. But instead of reinforcing the military's ethics, we must challenge them. ... In Iraq, Washington's rules have systematically prevented our brave and capable troops from using all necessary force to win, to crush the insurgency -- and even to protect themselves.'

Asia Times, 07 Aug 07, by Dan Smith
The Saudi arms deal: Why now?
'If the US had announced a $20 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia shortly after the fall of Baghdad, it would have looked as if it was playing from strength. Now that the Saudis are undercutting every US goal in the Middle East, it smacks of desperation.'

Asia Times, 06 Aug 07, by Haroun Mir
Taliban hold Afghanistan hostage
'The Taliban have garnered widespread publicity - and rewards - by kidnapping foreigners in Afghanistan, and they promise to continue with the "very successful policy", which hits at the heart of reconstruction and aid projects.'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Aug 07, by editorial staff
The UN blinks on Darfur
'Rather than plan for an invasion of Darfur to end a genocide, the UN Security Council decided Tuesday to send in 20,000 peacekeepers – not peacemakers. And the Blue Helmets will operate only without usurping Sudanese authority. Why the compromises? Two reasons: China and Iraq.'

Asia Times, 03 Aug 07, by Mark Perry
Abbas staring at oblivion
'Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas violated the one true principle that motivated every one of his predecessors when he set out to divide the Palestinian nation by turning his back on the people in Gaza. In crossing that line he has sealed his fate.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Aug 07, by Richard Bulliet
Bush and Napoleon
'What does George W. Bush share with Napoleon Bonaparte? Perhaps only one thing. Both men launched spectacular attacks on Arab countries, won stunning initial victories, and then became bogged down in a hopeless military occupations. If Bush has the wisdom to do what Napoleon did, he may yet be remembered as a leader of historic stature.'

Washington Post, 03 Aug 07, by Sarah E. Mendelson and Theodore P. Gerber
Young Russia's Enemy No. 1
'Vladimir Putin's rhetoric is driving Russian disdain for the the United States, but human rights violations associated with U.S. counterterrorism policies have also played a role.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Aug 07, by Rami G. Khouri
A new history lesson in Israel
'Here's a little event that may have big implications. The Israeli education ministry has approved a textbook for Arab third graders in Israel that for the first time describes the 1948 war that gave birth to the state of Israel as a "catastrophe" for the indigenous Palestinians and their society. ... This may be the first tangible sign that the Zionist Israeli establishment is prepared to move in the direction of acknowledging what happened to the Palestinians in 1948, which is a vital Palestinian demand for any serious peace-making effort to succeed. Israelis in turn would expect a reciprocal Palestinian acknowledgment of Israel's core narrative.'

New York Times, 30 Jul 07, by Michael E. O'Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack
A War We Just Might Win
'Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration's miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily "victory" but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with.'

Washington Post, 31 Jul 07, by David Ignatius
Sept. 10 in Waziristan
'The National Intelligence Estimate released July 17 put the problem plainly enough: Al-Qaeda has "regenerated key elements of its Homeland attack capability" using a new haven in the lawless frontier area of northwest Pakistan known as Waziristan. The question is: What is the United States going to do about it?'

Foreign Policy Research Institute, Jul 07, by Harvey Sicherman
Endgame for Palestine
'Bush's devilishly complex diplomacy in Palestine will require more still - and luck - than Washington has enjoyed thus far.'

Washington Post, 30 Jul 07, by Robert D. Novak
Bush's Turkish Gamble
'The morass in Iraq and deepening difficulties in Afghanistan have not deterred the Bush administration from taking on a dangerous and questionable new secret operation. High-level U.S. officials are working with their Turkish counterparts on a joint military operation to suppress Kurdish guerrillas and capture their leaders. Through covert activity, their goal is to forestall Turkey from invading Iraq.'

Chicago Sun-Times, 31 Jul 07, by Steve Huntley
We need to insist that Saudis shape up their policies
'President Bush wants to shower billions of dollars in sophisticated military goodies on Saudi Arabia. Can anyone explain why this is a good idea? ... The trouble is that Saudi Arabia has failed time and again when asked to play a constructive role in the crisis-prone Middle East.'

Washington Post, 30 Jul 07, by Gordon Brown
Partnership for the Ages
'... I believe our Atlantic partnership is rooted in something far more fundamental and lasting than common interests or even common history: It is anchored in shared ideals that have for two centuries linked the destinies of our two countries.'

International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Jul 07, by Isaac Kfir and Adam E. Stahl
Hamas: A Gun in One Hand, a Qu'ran in the Other
'The emergence of "Hamastan" has had catastrophic implications to the maintenance of peace and security in the Middle East due to Hamas' refusal to reject terrorism and its failure to cooperate with other Palestinian groups. As a result, Gazans have become Hamas' latest victims, as the organization's belligerent actions towards its own people have caused the Strip to slowly sink into a humanitarian calamity.'

International Herald Tribune, 30 Jul 07, by Anne-Marie Slaughter
Plugging the democracy gap
'Democracy is not an end in itself, but a means to the end of securing individual liberty. To see the point, Americans would do well to look to America's own history.'

Washington Post, 27 Jul 07, by Jon B. Alterman
How to Manage Assad
'The Syrian government may overestimate its centrality to Middle East politics and its diplomatic weight, but it knows how to stay in power. The rest of the Middle East has been swept up by discussions of social and political change, economic development and foreign direct investment; Syria's leaders are preoccupied with security and stability.'

Washington Post Magazine, 22 Jul 07, by Kristin Henderson
Their War
'Less than 1 percent of the U.S. population serves in our military. In a time of war, what should that mean to the rest of us?'

USA Today, 25 Jul 07
Al-Qaeda's Pakistan bases leave U.S. a dilemma
'To bomb or not to bomb al-Qaeda's new bases in Pakistan? That, increasingly, seems to be the question the administration is contemplating. On Sunday, White House national security adviser Frances Townsend confirmed as much. The reason the question is front and center is that a new report compiled by the nation's 16 intelligence agencies concluded that the wild region on Pakistan's northwestern frontier has become as much of a haven for al-Qaeda's leadership as Afghanistan was before 9/11.'

Toronto Star, 25 Jul 07, by Oakland Ross
A new sense of possibility arises
'Israelis seem willing to make concessions, if the payoff is genuine security for their land.'

AllAfrica.com, 27 Jul 07, by Salim Lone, The Nation (Nairobi)
Another Great Injustice Against Palestinians Taking Shape
'... despite its overwhelming public support in Palestine, [Hamas'] comprehensive marginalisation is part of the prelude to another great injustice that is being planned against the Palestinian people in full view of the world.'

The Guardian 'Comment Is Free', 25 Jul 07, by George Joffe
The pragmatics of clemency
'The medics have been released by Libya and pardoned by the Bulgarian president. So, all's well that ends well? Not quite.'

World Affair Council, 28 Jun 07, with Susan Shirk
China's Internal Dilemma: The Challenges of Rapid Socio-Economic Change
'Why does China's prosperity make its leaders uneasy and threaten global stability? ... As the world's fastest growing economy, Shirk argues that the ruling regime has become increasingly afraid of its own citizens, and this fear motivates many of their decisions when dealing with the U.S. and other foreign nations. She believes that unless we understand China's brittle internal politics and the fears that motivate its leaders, we face the very real possibility of avoidable conflict with China.'

Washington Post/Newsweek 'Post Global', 18 Jul 07, by Saul Singer
Iraq Can Succeed -- Unless Iran Gets Nukes
'The war in Iraq cannot be viewed in isolation. Iran is heavily backing the jihadis in Iraq as part of a regional effort to oppose the U.S. and its allies, destroy any seedlings of democracy, and eliminate any prospects for Arab-Israeli peace. This effort includes support for the Syrian regime, for Hezbollah in Lebanon, and for Hamas in Gaza.'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jul 07, by Graham Allison
Time to heal US-Turkey wounds
'Imagine a stable, prosperous, secular Muslim democracy in the Middle East. The dream of just such an outcome was the worthiest, albeit least likely, of President Bush's stated aspirations for the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, the way in which the administration has pursued this objective has damaged what remains the best hope for a successful moderate Muslim democracy in the region: Turkey.'

Federation of American Scientists, 19 Jul 07, by Hans M. Kristensen
Targeting Missile Defense Systems
'The now month-long clash between Russia and the West over U.S. plans to build a missile defense system in Europe should warn us that - despite important progress in some areas - Cold War thinking is alive and well.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Jul 07, by editorial staff
Secretary Rice should follow her own example
'... there is still a perplexing refusal to do the tedious but absolutely essential diplomatic prep work.'

Washington Post, 23 Jul 07, by Daoud Kuttab
A Destination, Not a Road Map
'Palestinians have been more hurt than helped by the false trappings of a state that were provided as part of the Oslo peace process and the famous White House handshake of 1993.'

FrontPageMagazine.com, 20 Jul 07, by Robert Spencer
The Persistence of Islamic Slavery
'... in Sudan, "slavery, sanctioned by religious zealots, ravaged the southern parts of the country and much of the west as well."'

American Thinker, 23 Jul 07, by Michael I. Krauss and J. Peter Pham
Give War a Chance!
'... Israelis, on the left and on the right, now apparently understand that their country is at WAR. Over 60 percent of Israelis now accept that the withdrawal from Gaza was least premature, if not altogether ill-advised, in the absence of a Palestinian side prepared to live in peace with the Jewish state.'

Slate, 17 Jul 07, by Fred Kaplan
Read It and Weep
'The National Intelligence Estimate that was released today -- titled "The Terrorist Threat to the Homeland" -- amounts to a devastating critique of the Bush administration's policies on Iraq, Iran, and the terrorist threat itself.'

FrontPageMagazine.com, 17 Jul 07, by Stephen Brown
The Coming War in Pakistan
'What Lord Curzon, Britain"s viceroy in India from 1899-1905, discerned more than one hundred years ago, the Pakistani government is discovering today, as the fallout from its assault on the Red Mosque in Islamabad last week spreads to Pakistan"s lawless, tribal North-West Frontier Province, where a military showdown with the country"s Islamic extremist movement is taking shape.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Jul 07, by Vali Nasr
How to squeeze jihadi culture out of Pakistan
'Putting faith in President Musharraf hasn't worked. But here's what the US can do.'

Newropeans Magazine, 19/20 July 07, by Harry Hagopian
Forty Years of Occupation! The Story of Palestine Today
Part I
Part II
'Along with Israeli intransigence comes also the inaction of the Quartet who are hardly performing at all, and who are still brandishing a roadmap that is no better than a road without any map.'

Washington Post, 17 Jul 07, by Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks
Exit Strategies
'Would Iran take over Iraq? Would Al-Qaeda? The debate about how and when to leave centers on what might happen after the U.S. goes.'

Der Spiegel, 16 Jul 07, by Daryl Lindsey
Putin's Election Year Power Play
'Moscow announced this weekend it would immediately suspend the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. Though there is still time to negotiate on the issue, many German commentators think Putin is shooting himself in the foot.'

Chicago Tribune, 17 Jul 07, by editorial staff
The bomb factory stop
'... North Korea on Saturday finally made good on its promise to shut down its nuclear reactor. ... barring some vast secret program, the North is now out of the business of making more plutonium for atomic weapons, at least for now. This is a moment worth savoring. But let's not get carried away with the celebrating.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Jul 07, by The Boston Globe editorial staff
Dealing with North Korea
'... The belated start of this denuclearization process represents a much needed boost for nonproliferation and a welcome turn to pragmatism by President George W. Bush.'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jul 07, by James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn
Bush and Cheney: the insular 'deciders'
'Even many Republicans today recognize Franklin D. Roosevelt as the greatest president of the last century. The anti-Franklin Roosevelt is George W. Bush.'

National Review, 12 Jul 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Marine on the Hilltop
'Anyone who truly understands or cares anything about Iraq, knows that bringing the troops home now — or beginning some withdrawal to a regional enclave — will not end the war. It will inflame the already hot war.'

Weekly Standard, 23 Jul 07 issue, by William Kristol
Keep on Surgin'
'President Bush is absolutely right. ... He's correct that Congress can't run a war. But this Congress doesn't want to run a war. It wants to lose a war. Congress can, in principle, achieve this, and the Democrats who control this Congress are doing their best to bring it about.'

Heritage Foundation, 13 Jul 07, by James Phillips
Senate Effort to Impose Iraq Study Group Recommendations: Unrealistic, Unwise, and Unnecessary
'... a growing list of ... Senators are co-sponsoring an amendment to the defense authorization bill that calls for the implementation of the recommendations of last year's Iraq Study Group (ISG) report. This effort undermines the President's authority as Commander in Chief in the middle of a difficult war and seeks to impose simplistic solutions, based on a lowest common denominator consensus of a Washington-based commission, on a complex conflict thousands of miles away.'

Washington Post, 12 Jul 07, by Charles Krauthammer
Deserting Petraeus
'... right now we have the chance to continue to isolate al-Qaeda and, province by province, deny it the Sunni sea in which it swims. ... Anbar has unexpectedly shown that even without these constitutional settlements, the insurgency can be neutralized and al-Qaeda defeated at the local and provincial levels with a new and robust counterinsurgency strategy.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Jul 07, by David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker
News Analysis: Bush fending off an Iraq deadline
'President George W. Bush's Iraq strategy now boils down to this: He is trying to buy time for a surge that is living on borrowed time.'

The Guardian 'Comment Is Free', 13 Jul 07, by Julian Borger
How far will this Brownian motion go?
'There is a definite shift in tone from No 10 on the "special relationship", but the real crunch will come if the US decides to go to war with Iran.'

The Economist, 12 Jul 07
A new battlefield
'The Russians have staved it off for now, but unilateral independence for Kosovo may still be coming.'

The Economist, 12 Jul 07
The general and the mullahs
'To defeat Islamist extremism, Pakistan needs a return to democracy.'

Michael Yon Online, 12 Jul 07, by
Al-Qaeda on the Run: Feasting on the Moveable Beast
'Al Qaeda's ultimate failure in much of Anbar and now in parts of Diyala relates back to one of the pillars of success—or failure—in this war: Values. People who understand how to tamp down this war realize the critical pillar that values can play into success or failure in counterinsurgency, or COIN.'

Weekly Standard, 16 Jul 07 issue, by William Kristol
Of Senators and Soldiers
'The soldiers think they can win. Some Senators lose their nerve.'

National Review, 09 Jul 07, by Michael Barone
Unfriendly and Potentially Dangerous
'George W. Bush's meeting last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his forthcoming meeting with Chinese leader Hu Jin Tao are a reminder that Bush and his successors will continue to face the challenge of dealing with these two unfriendly and potentially dangerous powers. Much of the world has moved toward democracy and freedom, but China hasn't much and Russia seems headed in the opposite direction.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Jul 07, by editorial staff
The general in his labyrinth
'America needs to maintain friendly relations with Pakistan. That is exactly why Washington should hasten to disentangle itself from the sinking fortunes of General Pervez Musharraf - a blundering and increasingly unpopular military dictator and a halfhearted strategic ally of the United States.'

National Review Online, 04 Jul 07
Why We Fight: A gathering of patriots.
'In observance of Independence Day, National Review Online asked a group of servicemen (currently deployed and vets) -- those for whom the rest of us are in debt for our freedom -- to tell us why they fight. Here's what they -- with a key supporting role from an army wife -- wrote.'

National Interest, 05 Jul 07, by J. Peter Pham
The Moral Hazard of Kosovo's Independence
'Last week's summit between President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin resulted in no "grand bargain" that could pave the way for the birth of an independent Kosovo. The momentary frustration for U.S. diplomacy of leaving unresolved final status of the UN-administered province may, however, prove to be a blessing in disguise.'

The National Interest, 01 Jul 07, by J. Peter Pham
Beyond the Illusions
'... any "strategy" worthy of that name would go beyond tactics needed to prevail in particular circumstances -- however intractable and pressing these may appear at a given moment -- and survey a nation's context within the contemporary world.'

Washington Post, 03 Jul 07, by Anne Applebaum
Uncowed in London
'Given that cars packed with explosives are used with great "success" every day by insurgents in Iraq, where they wreak enormous havoc and leave people fearful and angry, it is worth asking why the attack plots in Britain failed.'

Washington Post, 03 Jul 07, by Eugene Robinson
Why Not Here?
'... Why, then, is Britain under siege -- and the rest of Europe threatened -- while the United States, aka the Great Satan, hasn't been attacked since Sept. 11, 2001?'

New York Times 'The Lede', 02 Jul 07, by Mike Nizza
Hedging Iran's Involvement in Iraq
'A military spokesman in Baghdad today took the war of words between the United States and Iran to another level by saying that "senior leadership in Iran" was well aware of the activities in Iraq of its shadowy Al Quds Force.'

Asia Times, 03 Jul 07, by Mahan Abedin
Lebanon bending under extremist challenge
'The rise of Fatah al-Islam and its conflict in the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon indicate a pattern of growing Sunni Islamic militancy in the country. This suits the Lebanese government and Saudi Arabia, but also plays into the hands of Hezbollah. The biggest loser of this complex web of local, regional and international rivalries is, however, Lebanon.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Jul 07, by Julian Baum
Taiwan's faltering democracy
'Democracy has fallen on hard times in Taiwan, and it's been a long while since its citizens felt good about their government. With candidates beginning to campaign for elections next January, this is the time to ask what, if anything, can be done about it.'

Asia Times, 05 Jul 07, by Randall Schriver
Pro-Taiwan, not anti-China
'Too often, frustrated people in Taiwan interpret a US policy statement as being animated by a desire to curry favor with Beijing. The truth is that US policy decisions are often more complex than that. It is more accurate to acknowledge the balancing act as being pro-Taiwan, but not anti-China.'

FrontPageMagazine.com, 29 Jun 07, by David Horowitz
Why We Went to War in Iraq
'... Contrary to everything that Al Gore and other Democrats have said for the last four years, Saddam's violation of the arms control agreements that made up the Gulf War truce – and not the alleged existence of Iraqi WMDs – was the legal, moral and actual basis for sending American troops to Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Jul 07, by Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Another humiliation for Bush's best friend
'... the very circumstances in which [Tony Blair] takes up this new role demonstrates its futility, and the sheer ignominy of his relationship with Washington. Don't take that from Hamas or Hezbollah; ask the [US] State Department.'

The Economist, 28 Jun 07
The hobbled hegemon
'Its troubles in Iraq have much weakened it; but America is likely to remain the dominant superpower.'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Jul 07, by Helena Cobban
Justice for Charles Taylor
'Can this war-crimes court finally get it right?'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Jun 07, by Steven A. Cook, Ray Takeyh and Suzanne Maloney
Why the Iraq war won't engulf the Mideast
'Long before the Bush administration began selling "the surge" in Iraq as a way to avert a general war in the Middle East, observers both inside and outside the government were growing concerned about the potential for armed conflict among the regional powers.'

Russia Profile, 26 Jun 07, by Vladimir Frolov
A Summit of Diminished Expectations
'No specific agreements are scheduled to be unveiled at Kennebunkport. This is not accidental: the two presidents will find little substantive to agree on. They are meeting to vent their grievances and mask with a show of camaraderie the gaping void of differences.'

Christian Science Monitor, 29 Jun 07, by Peter Grier
Patio diplomacy: a time-honored tradition for breaking the ice
'Virtually all modern US presidents since Herbert Hoover have brought world leaders into their homes - both personal and ancestral - to escape the formality of the Oval Office and encourage freedom of discussion. It's a tactic often used when a geopolitical association has hit a rough patch. Sometimes the visits seem contrived - but sometimes, as with Khrushchev in 1959, they're oddly effective.'

National Review Onine 'The Tank', 26 Jun 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
From Camp Pendleton to Al Anbar
'Far too many Americans seem to either not grasp or not appreciate the capabilities of our deployed combat forces, what they actually do on deployment, and the impact they have on our global interests in very short blocks of time.'

National Ledger, 25 Jun 07, by Jon Kyl
Marine's Point of View vs. U.S. Media Coverage
'It's all too common that when we turn on the news, we hear about the violence occurring in Iraq. The truth can often be lost in news reports. A recent e-mail from a Marine serving in Iraq provides an interesting point of view that contrasts with U.S. media coverage of the war in Iraq.'

EagleSpeak (blog), 28 Jun 07
Talking Pirates at the Tank
'At the risk of sounding ... overly simplistic, what exactly caused us to back off a hijacked ship -- the mighty Somali Navy? Respect for the integrity of Somali borders? It seems we can't even discern yet whether we tangibly and directly support the only semblance of government there. And we are going to cede safe haven for pirates beyond an imaginary line crossing onto an undefended and unpoliced expanse of water?'

The American Thinker, 25 Jun 07, by Michael I. Krauss and J. Peter Pham
Hezbollah, Hamas, and Humanitarians
'While most Middle East watchers know about the takeover of Gaza by Hamas and its transformation into the terrorist enclave of "Hamastan," readers of the mainstream press might be surprised to learn that Hezbollah is alive, thriving, and steadily advancing in its quest to conquer the sovereign nation of Lebanon.'

Washington Post, 26 Jun 07, by E.J. Dionne Jr.
The Real Iraq Debate
'Quietly, the real debate over Iraq is beginning. It's not about whether the United States should pull out troops. That is now inevitable. The real challenge is to figure out the right timetable for withdrawal, whether a residual force should be left there and which American objectives can still be salvaged.'

BBC/PRI 'The Changing World', 22 Jun 07
Armies for Hire
'Since the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, there has been a staggering boom in the demand for civilian soldiers who carry arms for private companies. In these documentaries produced for the BBC World Service series, Peter Snow moves with the men and women who operate in conflict zones, shedding light into this notoriously secretive world. He also talks with military experts who believe that these mercenaries are already an essential ingredient in world security in the 21st century.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Jun 07, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
An honor worth defending
'An ever growing number of Muslims worldwide feel that they are engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the West for power, for territory, for limited resources and ideas. As with all wars, symbols are important. But this is especially true in the Muslim mind which is governed by a rigid code of honor and shame.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Jun 07, by Amir Afkhami and Michael Soussan
Condemning 'Chemical Ali' is not enough
'In Irak, the conviction of Ali Hassan al-Majid does not absolve the international community from investing in the future of Kurdish town of Halabja.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jun 07, by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton
Overseeing the executive branch
'The 9/11 commission recommended not only increasing the powers of the federal government to protect us, but also enhancing the system of checks and balances to preserve the precious liberties that are vital to our American way of life. For this reason, the commission prescribed the creation of a board within the executive branch to ensure that the civil-liberties perspective got a fair hearing before national security decisions were made.'

Washington Post, 26 Jun 07, by Richard Cohen
How the GOP Could Win
'There are two ways to predict the winner of the 2008 presidential race: Check the polls or read some history. ... Just as it is hard to understand how the British ousted Winston Churchill after he had led them to victory in Europe in World War II, so it may be hard now to appreciate how Nixon won such a landslide while presiding over such a dismal war.'

Haaretz, 25 Jun 07, by Amir Oren
Blues for the blue berets
'The paradox regarding forces like the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon since the cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah war lies in the negative correlation between their effectiveness and survivability.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Jun 07, by Uri Dromi
Reverberations in Egypt
'The emergence of "Hamastan" in Gaza sent leaders in the Middle East and elsewhere scrambling for an answer: Whose fault is it? Is it reversible? Will the same thing happen in the West Bank? What should and could be done now? In this soul-searching process there is plenty of blame to share.'

International Herald Tribune, 20 Jun 07, by Ahmed Yousef
Your move, U.S./Israel
'The events in Gaza over the last few days have been described in the West as a coup. In essence, they have been the opposite.'

International Herald Tribune, 20 Jun 07, by David Makovsky
It's up to Hamas now
'Hamas will be more decisive than any other actor - including the United States - in determining whether it is isolated or not. The militant movement must now decide whether it will govern responsibly or remain mired in violence.'

Asia Times, 22 Jun 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Putting all the eggs in Fatah basket
'With the dust of Hamas' triumphant counter-coup in the Gaza Strip yet to settle, Israel and the United States have wasted little time on a counter-strategy, of supporting the rival Fatah organization in West Bank and trying to isolate Hamas economically and diplomatically.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jun 07, by editorial staff
Blair's flair as referee
'Bush wants the soon-to-be former prime minister as troubleshooter in the Middle East.'

International Herald Tribune, 20 Jun 07, by Boston Globe editorial staff
Costly collateral damage in Afghanistan
'The failure of American forces to take the utmost care to avoid harming Afghan civilians is making a difficult mission even harder to accomplish than it need be.'

PBS 'Frontline', 19 Jun 07
Endgame
'... as the U.S. begins what the administration hopes is the final effort to secure victory through a "surge" of troops, Gen. Jack Keane (Ret.), Col. William Hix, Col. H.R. McMaster, Maj. Thomas Mowle, State Department Counselor Philip Zelikow and other military and government officials talk about both the military and political events that have led up to the current "surge" strategy.'

Asia Times, 22 Jun 07, by Roger Morris
The tortured world of US intelligence
'Robert Gates has returned to Washington as secretary of defense with a quiet vengeance and with all the skills acquired in his rough-and-tumble years in the intelligence bureaucracy still intact. His laden resume, gathered over many decades, is evidence that Washington's tortuous, often misguided foreign policies did not begin with the Bush administration, and will not end with it.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jun 07, by John K. Cooley
West should commend Qaddafi's reforms with caution
'Western governments need to insist that the Libyan leader prove his good faith about democratic and judicial reform.'

Washington Post, 21 Jun 07, by Carl Levin
Lincoln's Example for Iraq
'In his only term in Congress, Abraham Lincoln was an ardent opponent of the Mexican War. ... But when the question of funding for the troops fighting that war came, Lincoln voted their supplies without hesitation. Sound familiar?'

Washington Post, 21 Jun 07, by David Ignatius
Bush's Make-Do Team
'Sailors have a colorful phrase to describe a boat that is so close to the wind that it has stopped dead in the water -- unable to fill its sails and make any headway. They say the boat is "in irons." ... "In Bush's view, we are not on the edge of failure or of blindingly visible success," says the senior official. Bush wants to see his troop-surge policy through, but his aides see a successful surge as a transition to a Baker-Hamilton approach that reduces the U.S. military presence in Iraq.'

Weekly Standard, 25 Jun 07 issue, by Frederick W. Kagan & William Kristol
Slow-motion Tet
'Al Qaeda is counting on sapping our will, and persuading America to choose to lose a war it could win.'

National Review Online, 18 Jun 07, by editorial staff
At War with Iran
'When one country trains a force to infiltrate and destabilize its neighbor, it has committed an act of war. And by now, it is hardly a secret that Iran has been funding, arming, and training radical factions of the Mahdi army. Still, most American politicians have been reluctant to call Iran's behavior exactly what it is: an act of war against Iraq, and against the United States.'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Jun 07, by Rami G. Khouri
Palestinian incompetence, Western hypocrisy
'It's hard to know who appears more ludicrous and despicable, the Palestinian Fatah and Hamas leaderships allowing their gunmen to fight it out on the streets of Gaza and the West Bank, or an American administration saying it supports the "moderates" in Palestine who want to negotiate peace with Israel.'

NPR 'Weekend Edition', 16 Jun 07, with John Ydstie
Iraq War Comes Down to Lessons for Future
'Americans must decide what the lessons of the Iraq war will be. Christopher Fettweis, assistant professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College talks about a recent essay discussing defeat in war and its consequences.'

Christian Science Monitor, 19 Jun 07, by Carl Minzner
After Iraq war, resist the isolationist impulse
'No matter how the war ends, the United States must stay engaged in the world.'

The New Yorker, 25 Jun 07 issue, by Seymour M. Hersh
The General's Report
'How Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, became one of its casualties.'

The New Yorker, 18 Jun 07, by George Packer
Partisan Warfare
'If Tolstoy is right, then what we call counterinsurgency is doomed to fail, and the Army and the Marines wasted their time drafting a new field manual last year, and the surge, based on counterinsurgency strategy, is wasting American lives.'

NPR 'Weekend Edition', 09 Jun 07, with John Ydstie
Is Missile Defense Fueling a U.S.-Russia Conflict?
'U.S. plans for missile defense shields in Eastern Europe are a cause of contention between President Bush and Russian President Vladmir Putin ... But that's not the only issue that has soured relations between the U.S. and Russia. Lilia Shevtsova, senior associate at the Moscow Carnegie Center, talks with John Ydstie about the conflicts.'

NPR 'Weekend Edition', 09 Jun 07, with John Ydstie
Nuclear Proliferation Discussion Deserves Urgency
Reflections on nuclear proliferation in the post-Cold War era.

National Review Online, 11 Jun 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Two Good Men
'... for men like Pace and Mullen, it's not really about courage or self. It's about service to country, and winning this country's fights no matter where, when, against whom, and how long it might take. They're cut from completely different cloth than their inquisitors who hope to trip them up and find reasons not to let them do what they best know how to do.'

PBS 'NewsHour', 14 Jun 07, with Margaret Warner and Jeffrey Brown
Iraq Perspectives
'Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and Edward Wong, who has reported from Baghdad over the course of the war, give their perspectives on the situation in Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Jun 07, by Azar Gat, Tribune Media Services
The return of Authoritarian Capitalists
'Today's global liberal democratic order faces a significant challenge from the rise of nondemocratic great powers - the West's old Cold War rivals, China and Russia, now operating under "authoritarian capitalist" rather than Communist regimes.'

Center for Security Policy, 12 Jun 07
Putin's ploy
'Chess is the national sport of Russia. It is, therefore, as Soviet Communists like Vladimir Putin used to say, "no coincidence, comrade" that the proposal on missile defense that he rolled out at last week's G-8 meeting was a sophisticated gambit, a crafty effort not to advance the protection of Europe and the United States from future Iranian missiles, but to block such anti-missile defenses. Call it Putin's ploy.'

International Herald Tribune, 13 Jun 07, by Patricia Cohen
Does capitalism lead to democracy, and how?
'When President George W. Bush declared last week that political liberty is the natural byproduct of economic openness, his counterparts in Beijing and Moscow were not the only ones to object. Even once ardent supporters have backed away from the century-old theory that democracy and capitalism, like Paris Hilton and paparazzi, need each other to survive.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Jun 07, by Margarita Mathiopoulos
Come together, right now
'We in Europe need to wake up to the reality that we cannot afford a weak America. Far from enhancing Europe's position in global affairs, America's failures have also been ours, from securing peace in the Middle East to curbing Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. Conversely, success has come to us when Europe and the United States have acted in close partnership, whether it was winning the Cold War or building a global economy.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Jun 07, by Helene Cooper
Options dwindle for U.S. in dealing with Palestinians
'For two years, the United States has tried to choke off Hamas, the militant Islamic group that has been ascendant in Gaza and the West Bank, while throwing limited aid and support to Fatah, its more moderate Palestinian rival. Now, with Fatah, the party of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, on the verge of collapse in Gaza, Washington is facing a shrinking menu of alternatives.'

People's Daily Online, 15 Jun 07, by editorial staff
Fratricide is really painful, heart-rending!
'As far as the appearances go, the escalating open infighting of Palestine is focused on the contention for control of the security right and a greater decisive say in political affairs. And the in-depth reasons behind, however, are attributed to the inevitable clashes of very different outlooks on value, ideas about wielding the power and the mode of action between the two sides in the special conditions.'

Asia Times, 15 Jun 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
A little bending can greatly benefit Iran
'Instead of flatly rejecting United Nations Security Council resolutions for the suspension of its nuclear enrichment program, the Islamic Republic of Iran must minimally comply or otherwise face tougher sanctions portended in last week's Group of Eight joint communique.'

Asia Times, 15 Jun 07, by John Helmer in Moscow
The Third way to win big - or lose
'The magic fraction when it comes to making money the easy way - by taking it from people who don't know they have it - is one-third. In Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan's case, that amounts to US$2.4 billion for facilitating Saudi purchases from a UK arms manufacturer. The Third rules in Russia too, but not in the same way, as Western oil and gas barons are discovering to their cost.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 Jun 07, by Helena Cobban
Negotiate a US exit from Iraq
'... if America's very vulnerable troop presence in Iraq is to be drawn down, either partially or – as I believe is necessary – wholly, and in anything like an orderly way, then that withdrawal must be negotiated. And no body but the UN can successfully convene these negotiations.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Jun 07, by H.D.S. Greenway, The Boston Globe
Change nears for Bhutan
'The only trouble with the recent mock elections in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is that most Bhutanese don't want democracy. They want their king to be in charge. It's the king who wants democracy.'

The Guardian 'Comment Is Free', 06 Jun 07, by Ehud Olmert
1967: Israel cannot make peace alone
'... Our victory in those six days in June 1967 - swift, complete and totally unexpected - showed us and the world we were not going to be wiped off the map that easily. Israel fought an unwanted war to defend her very existence, and today there are still leaders who call for Israel to be wiped off the map. But there is a danger that that will be forgotten, overtaken by a re-reading of history.'

New Statesman, 07 Jun 07, by Bridget Kendall
Russia: The beggar becomes the belligerent
'From threats over weapons systems to blame for the Litvinenko murder Putin is adopting a hostility towards the US and Europe not seen since the end of the Cold War.'

Washington Post, 06 June 07, by editorial staff
Message for Mr. Putin
'Western leaders should tell him that a return to Soviet-style diplomacy won't help Russia.'

Daily Times (Pakistan), 07 Jun 07, by Christopher Boian
There is rationalism in Putin's missile threat
'Tensions between the United States and Russia generated by the missile shield plans have probably been compounded by a series of factors since the 1991 break up of the Soviet Union that have fostered a sense in Moscow that Washington is not playing straight, analysts said.'

Washington Post, 07 June 07, by editorial staff
Stuck in Guantanamo
'President Bush tried to create a new legal system for terrorism suspects. He created a quagmire instead.'

Washington Post, 06 June 07, by Harold Meyerson
The Korean Analogy
'It took the Bush administration more than four years from the time U.S. forces invaded Iraq to formulate this thought -- or, more precisely, to promulgate it. There's substantial evidence that the administration has actually envisioned, and been building, permanent, large-scale U.S. military bases in Iraq for two years. But until the past couple of weeks, it denied it had plans for permanent bases there.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 Jun 07, by editorial staff
Iraq: the first Shiite Arab state?
'Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr calls for an end to killing Sunnis. Do he and Iran now want a different kind of Iraq?'

Washington Post, 04 Jun 07, by Dennis Ross
The Specter of 'Hamastan'
'Both Israelis and Palestinians were wondering about the consequences of Gaza's becoming, in their word, "Hamastan." ... But for every Palestinian and Israeli who argued for arming Fatah, I heard a contrary point of view that at this point it might not make any difference.'

Washington Post, 04 Jun 07, by Laura Blumenfeld
The Tortured Lives of Interrogators
'... interrogators for countries that pride themselves on adhering to the rule of law, such as Britain, the United States and Israel, operate in a moral war zone. They are on the front lines in fighting terrorism, crucial for intelligence-gathering. Yet they use methods that conflict with their societies' values.'

Christian Science Monitor, 04 Jun 07, by editorial staff
A clean slate of world leaders
'A new set of political leaders could strengthen US-Europe ties and make their mark on the world.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Jun 07, by James Wolfensohn
The four circles of a changing world
'When G-8 leaders meet for their annual summit this week, they will focus on reducing poverty in Africa and accommodating emerging powers. However, unless a new vision is forged to confront the changing reality of our international system, these challenges will remain insurmountable.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Jun 07, by William Pfaff, Tribune Media Services
Restoring balance to a globalized world
'... An important issue of discussion at last weekend's Venice workshop was how balance and social justice can be restored to the globalized economy to put the brakes on a process that has been the most profoundly destabilizing force the world has experienced since World War II. It has intimate connections with the social upheavals and progress of radicalization occurring in the world's poor countries.'

Washington Post, 04 Jun 07, by Fred Hiatt
Stay-the-Course Plus
'On foreign policy, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are closer to each other -- and to the Bush administration -- than you might think. ... those two candidates have laid out their foreign policy visions in parallel articles, released last week prior to publication in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs.'

Christian Science Monitor, 30 May 07, by John Hughes
Psychological warfare between the US and Iran
'They finally met for talks, but both sides are ramping up the pressure.'

Christian Science Monitor, 04 Jun 07, by Bart Jones
Chávez is no enemy of free speech
'... the case of RCTV – like most things involving Chávez – has been caught up in a web of misinformation. While one side of the story is getting headlines around the world, the other is barely heard.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Jun 07, by editorial staff
Dick Cheney rules
'Americans are accustomed to Vice President Dick Cheney's waiting out a terrorist threat in a "secure undisclosed location." Now it seems that Cheney wears the cloak of invisibility in secure disclosed locations. ... Cheney is the driving force behind the Bush administration's theory of the "unitary executive," which holds that no one, including Congress and the courts, has the power to supervise or regulate the actions of the president.'

Washington Post, 31 May 07, by David S. Broder
Endgame Ahead
'While the rest of us enjoyed our holiday, 10 more Americans were killed in Iraq on Memorial Day -- adding to the human toll of that accursed war. ... But the end is coming into view -- not soon enough to spare every precious life, but sooner than President Bush and Vice President Cheney may wish. The dynamic in Congress has been set in motion that will bring this war to an end -- or at least reduce the scale of American involvement and redefine the mission of U.S. troops.'

Heritage Foundation, 29 May 07, by Baker Spring
Four Percent for Freedom: Spend More on National Defense
'A policy of sustaining defense spending at 4 per­cent of GDP raises the same question from both ends of the ideological spectrum: Why 4 percent? ... The answer is that 4 percent would meet the military's requirements to protect the nation while allowing sus­tained long-term economic growth. The figure is based on separate arguments about why less than 4 percent is too little and why 4 percent is adequate in the context of robust economic growth.'

National Review 'The Tank', 30 May 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
'Presence' in Combat Leadership
'There's something to say about 'presence' in combat leadership -- the combined power of one's stature (physical or otherwise) and countenance; the ability to command respect and loyalty with a look, a word, the inflection in one's voice; and the obvious attributes of physical, mental, and emotional strength.'

International Herald Tribune, 31 May 07, by Avner Cohen
Israel and the bomb
'Forty years ago, Israel became the world's sixth nuclear nation. ... Israel has always been a different kind of nuclear proliferator - a reluctant proliferator. From the very beginning, Israel ran fast on the technology side, but remained ambivalent on the political side. Israeli military leaders in the 1960s, including Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin, saw no clear military utility in nuclear weapons. Nor did they believe that Israel would likely ever need such weapons, at least as long as the Arab-Israeli conflict remained conventional. That nuclear capability was treated as a sacred national insurance policy.'

Christian Science Monitor, 01 Jun 07, by editorial staff
Can humility save Africa's giant?
'Nigeria's new leader brings a quality of character that can fix corrupt voting and delta violence.'

Christian Science Monitor, 01 Jun 07, by Jeffrey Shaffer
The odd link between cold-war tension and UFOs
'A closer look at the genesis of America's Era of Anxiety. : If any historian in the future asks me to suggest a name for the latter half of the 20th century, my choice will be the Era of Anxiety. Along with millions of other Americans, I've grown up hearing constant warnings about dangerous threats to our national security.'

NPR 'Morning Edition', 01 Jun 07, with Steve Inskeep and Ted Koppel
Views on U.S. Policy on Iraq
[audio] 'A senior army officer says that U.S. troops will be in Iraq for at least another three to five years. News analyst Ted Koppel discusses what this means for the American public as the President tries to balance a plan that is acceptable for Iraqi leaders and sustainable at home.'

The Weekly Standard, 28 May 07, by Jonathan V. Last
The Memorials We Deserve
'To those who prefer their monuments to be monumental, this may come as something of a disappointment, if not an outright betrayal. Even at this late date, seemingly ordinary citizens can perform extraordinary feats, as Flight 93's heroic epic reminds us. The problem isn't that we've run out of heroes in America. We just don't know how to honor them anymore.'

National Review Online, 25 May 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
It's Not Political
'Beyond these two sets of graves are interred thousands of other soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines (including many more Civil War veterans and countless descendents of those Civil War veterans) from different times and future wars. My father, a Korean War veteran, is one of them.'

Christian Science Monitor, 25 May 07, by Paul Morin
Keep politics out of Memorial Day
'It's a day to honor America's heroes – not to make pro- or anti-war statements.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 May 07, by Kurt Beck
Let's talk about the U.S. missile shield
'The project is inflicting great harm on the current climate between Russia and NATO, just when we need new confidence, indeed a new phase of détente.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 May 07, by editorial staff
Bush's illusions and a war without end
'Never mind how badly the war is going in Iraq. President George W. Bush has been swaggering around like a victorious general because he cowed a wobbly coalition of Democrats into dropping their attempt to impose a time limit on his disastrous misadventure. ... And, ever faithful to his illusions, Bush was insisting that he was the only person who understood the true enemy.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 May 07, by Uri Dromi
More war, or peace?
'On the 40th anniversary of the Six Day War, both peoples should pause and think. Either they go on with the present course, which might lead to a Kossovo-like situation, eventually calling for an international intervention; or they endorse the path of two states living in peace with each other, with concrete, final borders that are not only formally recognized but are accepted in the hearts and minds of their peoples.'

Washington Post, 29 May 07, by Darrell Issa
The Case for Talking to Syria
'As distasteful as the Syrian government is, Washington must reconsider its policy of non-engagement with Damascus. Negotiations alone cannot fix the U.S.-Syrian relationship, and we should hold no illusions about the regime of Bashar al-Assad. But failure to talk with Syria limits U.S. ability to support attempts at reform and cuts us off from a major Middle East actor.'

Chicago Public Radio 'This American Life,' 25 May 07
The Center for Lessons Learned
'Four years into the Iraq War, what have we learned? Soldiers, civilians, Iraqis, and Americans talk—and sometimes yell—about what they've learned in the last few years...including how to stay alive and why the aftermath of a war can be the trickiest time of all.'

The Stanley Foundation/KQED Public Radio, May 07, with David Brancaccio
Beyond Fear: America's Role in an Uncertain World
'Every day the latest headlines reflect a world filled with fear. Terrorism, war, disaster, and disease are grim realities brought closer to home in our increasingly connected world. And, they ultimately shape America's national security and foreign policies. But fear itself cannot drive our daily lives.'

Washington Post, 27 May 07, by Andrew J. Bacevich
I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty.
'Although the First Amendment protects antiwar critics from being tried for treason, it provides no protection for the hardly less serious charge of failing to support the troops -- today's civic equivalent of dereliction of duty. What exactly is a father's duty when his son is sent into harm's way?'

Washington Post, 28 May 07, by Jackson Diehl
Shortchanging Democracy in Ukraine
'Amid the wreckage of the Bush administration it's easily forgotten that the export of democracy to formerly unfree societies has not always been a failing policy. For a decade after the end of the Cold War, the United States and its European allies worked through NATO and the European Union to convert 10 post-Communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 May 07, by Thomas Fuller
Can the Muslim world be re-branded?
'Whether or not the mission is successful, the meeting here of the third annual World Islamic Economic Forum put on display the frustration that many leaders in Muslim countries have for being associated with corrupt, dysfunctional governments and intractable conflict.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 May 07, by Felix G. Rohatyn
Democracy à la carte
'Democracy has many faces, and American democracy, viewed from abroad, has some unique facets. During my four years as U.S. ambassador to France, I saw the interest that the French have for everything American; I believe that to be true of all Europeans.'

International Herald Tribune, 27 May 07, by William Safire
Language: Benchmark and timetable
'What is a benchmark, and how does it differ from a timetable? What is a timeline, and how close is it to a guideline or a deadline? The synonymy of standard-setting needs a road map. To try this in today's poisonous atmosphere is to strike a match in a room filled with gasbags.'

National Review Online/The Tank, 24 May 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Soldier or Recruit: What's in a Title?
'Army officials contend that by calling Army trainees, "soldiers," from the beginning, it makes the new soldiers feel part of the Army family, part of the club, part of the team. And being a team member -- and a team player -- is crucial in creating a sense of future unit cohesiveness -- at all levels from fire-team to corps -- which the Army is trying to instill in its basic trainees from the outset of training.'

Investor's Business Daily, 23 May 07
Finishing Tehran
'Tired of the game, the U.S. now seems to be trying to send a message -- perhaps not just to Iran, but to the rest of the world as well. That message is: Get serious, or we'll get serious for you.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 May 07, by editorial staff
Washington backs down on democracy in Pakistan
'It seems the more unpopular Pakistan's military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, becomes at home and the less he is willing to fight the Taliban, the more the Bush administration clings to him.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 May 07, by Anatol Lieven
Defusing EU-Russia tension
'The present crisis in relations between the European Union and Russia is being exaggerated on both sides. Part of the problem is that too many Western commentators still set as their standard for good relations the utterly Western ambition of the early 1990s - a "democratic" Russia that would be completely subservient to the West.'

Washington Post, 22 May 07, by Nora Boustany
Nations Use Fear to Distract from Rights Abuses, Group Says
'Powerful governments and armed groups are spreading fear to divert attention from human rights abuses, exacerbating polarization in an increasingly dangerous world, Amnesty International said yesterday in its annual assessment of rights worldwide.'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 May 07, by Sara Miller Llana
Rising censorship among world's oil powers
'Venezuela's move to shut down a major TV station parallels recent crackdowns in Iran and Russia.'

Washington Post, 24 May 07, by Richard Feinberg
Get Out Of Our Garrisons
'With threats to American power growing stronger and American prestige slipping around the world, our professional Foreign Service officers are more crucial than ever. Unfortunately, our approach to their security is making it almost impossible for many of them to do their jobs.'

NPR, 23 May 07
A Booming China Spells Trouble for America
'... does China's economic boom spell trouble for the United States? That question was posed recently to a panel of experts in an Oxford-style debate, part of the "Intelligence Squared U.S." series. The debates are modeled on a program begun in London in 2002: Three experts argue in favor of the proposition and three argue against.'

Washington Post 'Letter to the Editor', 24 May 07, by Emira Woods, Co-Director, Foreign Policy in Focus, Institute for Policy Studies
Better Ideas for Liberia
'In his May 14 op-ed, "Liberia's Moment of Opportunity," Robert L. Johnson endorsed the Bush administration's newly created Africa Command military structure and urged that it be based in Liberia. This is misguided.'

Washington Post, 14 May 07, by Robert L. Johnson
Liberia's Moment of Opportunity
'Last September, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf captivated an audience at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York with descriptions of the extraordinary challenges facing her country. Sirleaf's courage and vision inspired me and a group of colleagues to commit to revitalizing the historic but dormant relationship between African Americans and Liberia.'

National Review Online/The Tank, 22 May 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Boy (and Girl) Scouts with Rifles
'They gripe for sure, like everyone else, but only among themselves. Outsiders just see cheerfulness, enthusiasm, an amazing sense of humor, and a personal professionalism usually only demonstrated by people much older and more experienced than they are. They get filthy dirty when they work, but are squeaky clean when they don't. They are trained to kill, but they all seem to have the soul of a Boy (Girl) Scout.'

International Herald Tribune, 24 May 07, by H. D. S. Greenway, AP
The politics of Turkey
'Turkey's modernization began as a response to military defeat. The long decline of the Ottoman Empire, and the constant defeats at the hands of Christendom, led the military to modernize, and then insist that the state follow suit.'

Washington Post, 22 May 07, by David Ignatius
After the Surge
'The new policy would focus on training and advising Iraqi troops rather than the broader goal of achieving a political reconciliation in Iraq, which senior officials recognize may be unachievable within the time available.'

Washington Post, 22 May 07, by Anne Applebaum
For Estonia and NATO, A New Kind of War
'And now for a quick quiz: A European country -- a member in good standing of NATO and the European Union -- has recently suffered multiple attacks on its institutions. Can you (a) name the country, (b) describe the attacks and (c) explain what NATO is doing in response?'

International Herald Tribune, 21 May 07, by James Carroll, The Boston Globe
How the Irish found peace
'The road to this peace has been twisted and long, stretching back through centuries of Irish resentment of British colonizers, Europe's longest-lasting wars of the Reformation, and deep hatreds bred of 20th-century violence that flared in 1916 and again in 1969.'

The Guardian, 22 May 07, by Ian Cobain
'No such thing as a former KGB agent'
'Andrei Lugovoi, the Russian businessman who was charged today with the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, professes to have left the service of the Kremlin in 1996.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 07, by editorial staff
As Pakistan goes, so goes a war
'The US needs to prepare for post-Musharraf rule in a nation so pivotal in the global war on terrorism.'

Washington Post, 18 May 07, by Michael Gerson
Tony Blair's Unshaken Logic
'More than that of any other world leader, Blair's foreign policy approach is a rigorous, logical argument.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 May 07, by Dimitri K. Simes
Striking a new realism
'Neither the Democratic takeover of Congress nor the beginning of the presidential campaign has yet started a meaningful foreign policy debate in the United States.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 May 07, by Anne-Marie Slaughter
Valued-based foreign policy
'American foreign policy has lost its compass. Voters across the United States, increasingly opposed to the war in Iraq and increasingly certain that the country as a whole is going in the wrong direction, are uncertain about the role that America should play in the world.'

Christian Science Monitor, 16 May 07, by John Hughes
The struggle to advance democracy in the Arab world
'Democratic progress is slow. Promoting liberty and freedom may be more fruitful.'

Washington Post, 18 May 07, by Charles Krauthammer
Prelude to the Six Days
'There has hardly been a Middle East peace plan in the past 40 years -- including the current Saudi version -- that does not demand a return to the status quo of June 4, 1967. Why is that date so sacred?'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 May 07, by Vladimir Ryzhkov
A plea to save Russia from an enemy within
'Under President Putin, Russians have pawned precious freedoms for economic growth.'

Washington Post, 13 May 07, by L. Paul Bremer
What We Got Right in Iraq
'Once conventional wisdom congeals, even facts can't shake it loose. These days, everyone "knows" that the Coalition Provisional Authority made two disastrous decisions at the beginning of the U.S. occupation of Iraq: to vengefully drive members of the Baath Party from public life and to recklessly disband the Iraqi army.'

Washington Post, 16 May 07, by Nir Rosen
What Bremer Got Wrong in Iraq
'... obsession with sects informed the U.S. approach to Iraq from day one of the occupation, but it was not how Iraqis saw themselves -- at least, not until very recently.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 May 07, by Daniel Schorr
A battle over benchmarks for Iraq
'As GOP frustration with the war grows, the Iraq Index becomes more important.'

Chicago Tribune, 16 May 07, by editorial staff
Springtime for Iran
'More than a year ago, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice revealed plans to spend $75 million to promote democracy inside Iran. ... the intent behind it -- to support real democracy in Iran, not the farce perpetrated by the mullahs who run the country -- is apparently making a paranoid regime even more paranoid. Case in point: Haleh Esfandiari, an Iranian-American academic who is director of the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.'

Military.com, 14 May 07, by Frank Gaffney
A L.O.S.T. Presidency
'Any minute now, President Bush is going to make a fateful mistake. He will announce that his administration will make a concerted effort to secure the prompt ratification of a deeply flawed multilateral accord universally known by its acronym – LOST, as in the Law of the Sea Treaty.'

Washington Post, 15 May 07, by David Ignatius
Running Out of Time in Iraq
'With a September deadline looming for U.S. commanders to report on the progress of the surge of U.S. troops into Baghdad, the core issue remains the need for a political reconciliation between the country's warring sects.'

Christian Science Monitor, 14 May 07, by Ali Abunimah
A political marriage of necessity: a single state of Palestine-Israel
'The case of South Africa shows that a unity government can succeed.'

PRI/HumanMedia 'Humankind', May 07, by David Freudberg
Checks and Balances
'This provocative one-hour documentary examines a number of forces that threaten to upset that delicate balance: the influence of big money on our government and media, America's soaring national debt, the war in Iraq and the tension between national security and our tradition of civil liberties.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 May 07, by Charles Dunbar, The Boston Globe
A need for eyes and ears in Tehran
'... the United States needs a diplomatic presence in Tehran. Particularly when relations between two governments are bad, high-level discussions between them need the careful preparation that a regular diplomatic dialogue could provide.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 May 07, by Paul Kennedy, Tribune Media Services
Embassies for sale
'... The United States Foreign Service has a long and noble tradition, and thus its own substantial cohort of experienced diplomats who are well versed in foreign cultures and languages. But it also is affected by another tradition, flowing from the very large powers given to every president ...'

The Ashbrook Center, May 07, by Mackubin T. Owens
A Tale of Two Mays in Wartime: What a Difference a Year Makes
'... things looked pretty bleak in Iraq last May as a result of the sectarian violence that Sunni insurgents had managed to unleash by destroying the great Shia mosque in Sammarah. But while Iraq is still problematic, things are looking up a bit as we enter this May. A new commander, Gen. David Petraeus, is in place and he is now implementing a new and more promising counterinsurgency approach.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 May 07, by A. N. Wilson
Blair: A player who never found his stage
'A little over a decade after he came in as the young hope of a New Britain, Tony Blair is a figure vilified and loathed by his own party and disliked by people in Britain at large. There is, however, one good legacy he bequeaths us, and we should not be ungenerous in recognizing it. That is peace in Ireland.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 May 07, by editorial staff
Hostage in Iran
'Exactly what the Iranian interrogators want of [Haleh] Esfandiari is not known. They may be trying to intimidate scholars; they may fear that she is part of an American scheme to promote a "velvet revolution"; she may be a pawn in the ongoing power struggle in Tehran.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 May 07, by Fuad Siniora
Give the Arab peace initiative a chance
'Last week, Israel's Winograd Commission published an interim report scrutinizing Israel's conduct during what it called the country's most recent military "campaign," last summer's bombardment of Lebanon. The report failed to draw the most essential lesson from the July war and the wars that preceded it: Military action does not give the people of Israel security. On the contrary, it compromises it.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 May 07, by Helena Cobban
The UN must drive Middle East peace
'Global stability can no longer be held hostage to the claims of Israeli settlers.'

Washington Post, 10 May 07, by Robert D. Novak
How to Lose an Ally
'[Colombia's president, Alvaro] Uribe is the first Colombian president to crack down on his country's corrupt army officer hierarchy and to assault both right-wing paramilitaries and left-wing guerrillas, but last week he confronted Democrats wedded to outdated claims of civil rights abuses and rigidly protectionist dogma. This is remarkable U.S. treatment for a rare friend in South America ...'

US Department of State , 10 May 07, by David Shelby, USINFO
Rice Praises Uribe of Colombia for Tackling Security Threats
'Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for rescuing his country from the brink of failure during his first five years in office and said Uribe is the type of Latin American leader the United States should be supporting.'

Christian Science Monitor, 11 May 07, by David Peck
Why President Bush needs a yardstick for failure in Iraq
'President Bush has a (changing) standard for success in Iraq. But does he have a standard for failure?'

Christian Science Monitor, 09 May 07, by John Hughes
Tenet of the Iraq war
'The ex-CIA director examines Saddam Hussein's foolish bluff about WMD.'

Washington Post, 10 May 07, by George F. Will
The Real World Bank Problem
'When the bank was born, a war-shattered world was haunted by memories of the collapse of global trade in the 1930s. Capital markets in the late 1940s were small and risk-averse. Today, the problems the bank was created to address are long gone.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 May 07, by David R. Francis
Are Iraq war costs spinning out of control?
'The tab is $423 billion and rising, prompting economists to reassess US military and homeland security costs.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 May 07, by editorial staff
A chillingly sunny picture of Mubarak's government
'In recent weeks, Egypt's government has further trampled the rights of its citizens, closing several branches of the Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services, which provides much needed legal assistance to workers. ... All of this somehow has escaped the Bush administration's ambassador to Egypt who, in a recent television interview in Cairo, painted a chillingly sunny picture of President Hosni Mubarak's government.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 May 07, by Hurst Hannum
A better plan for Kosovo
'Independence sets a bad precedent. Partition is better.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 May 07, by John K. Cooley
Islam on the ballot: Turkey's test
'A presidential bid revealed the fault line between secular nationalism and conservative Islamic views.'

Jerusalem Post, 07 May 07, by Liat Collins
Arrogance
'War is hell. And the Winograd Committee Report was damnation. Actually, the worst is yet to come as the findings, published amid media overkill on April 30, comprise only an interim report concerning the first few days of the war.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 May 07, by George Prochnik
Hail to the analysand
'"When a pretension to free the world from evil ends only in a new proof of the danger of a fanatic to the commonweal, then it is not to be marveled at that a distrust is aroused in the observer which makes sympathy impossible." This bit of mordant critique does not come from a spectator of the current quagmire in Iraq, but from the founder of psychoanalysis, reflecting on the negotiations that concluded World War I and helped lay the groundwork for World War II.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 May 07, by John Hughes
Imagining a world with more female heads of state
'Women have shown they can handle the top job. Yet gender bias has persisted.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 May 07, by Mustafa Akyol
The threat is secular fundamentalism
'It is no secret that Islamic fundamentalism is a threat to democracy, freedom and security in today's world, especially in the Middle East. Yet the same values can be threatened by secular fundamentalists, too. Turkey's self-styled laïcité, a much more radical version of the French secular system, is a case in point.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 May 07, by Afyare Abdi Elmi, The Boston Globe
Getting Ethiopia out of Somalia
'The UN's humanitarian affairs office in Somalia reports that the recent clashes between Ethiopian troops and Somali resistance groups have killed more than 1,000 civilians and displaced more than 350,000 Mogadishu residents. The European Union, which is investigating whether war crimes were committed, argues that civilian areas were intentionally targeted. The United States, however, is on a different page.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 May 07, by editorial staff
A Guantánamo exit strategy
'The 5-year-old military prison at Guantánamo Bay, with its indefinite detention rules, lack of judicial review and insufficiently regulated interrogation techniques, is an ugly stain on America's tradition of respect for the rule of law and an endless propaganda bonanza for the country's enemies. Yet it is clear that despite the good advice of friendly foreign leaders, members of Congress and even his own cabinet, President George W. Bush has no intention of closing the facility unless Congress forces him to do so.'

International Herald Tribune, 03 May 07, by H. D. S. Greenway, The Boston Globe
Europe's integration problems
'There are really only two European models for integrating immigrants, the French and the British. Neither has succeeded and both are now being questioned. The French insist on assimilation. ... The British have favored laissez-faire multiculturalism ...'

International Herald Tribune, 03 May 07, by Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt and Andrew Small
Beijing cools on Mugabe
'China is making increasingly pragmatic calculations about its involvement with regimes like Mugabe's.'

Christian Science Monitor, 04 May 07, by Daniel Schorr
Fabricating inspiration in a time of war
'When an Iraqi wedding reception is attacked by American planes, killing some 45 civilians, that is called "collateral damage," an accidental cost of war. When an American Army Ranger is killed by another American soldier in a firefight in Afghanistan, that is called "friendly fire." And friendly fire can be so embarrassing to the top command that it may have to be kept secret from the family and from the world.'

National Review Online, 30 Apr 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The News Stew in Iraq
'I can't speak for Petraeus, but from my own experience, none of this begins to suggest that there is not a very bloody guerrilla war taking place in Iraq: There is, to be sure. And as I mentioned in "The Tank," there are good and bad things happening "that don't make the nightly cut." Let me add, there are also skewed things that are making the cut.'

Asia Times, 28 Apr - 01 May 07, by Henry C K Liu
China And Appeasement
Part 1: Beyond Munich: Geostrategy and betrayal
Part 2: Not much rise, and even less peace
Part 3: China's misguided 'experts' on the US
'Beijing's leaders evidently believe that Washington has China's best interests at heart. Yet there is ample evidence not only that the United States cares only about the United States, but that it is, always has been and will continue to be particularly hostile to China. Beijing's leaders are getting bad advice.'

CBS News/60 Minutes, 29 Apr 07, by Scott Pelley
George Tenet: At The Center Of The Storm
'Now, three years after leaving the CIA, Tenet has written a book, aptly named, "At the Center of the Storm." This month, correspondent Scott Pelley sat down with Tenet. 60 Minutes wanted to know how he got "weapons of mass destruction" wrong. Are we using torture in the war on terror? And who was it at the White House who finally put the knife in his back?'

Christian Science Monitor, 30 Apr 07, by Robert Marquand
Why genocide is difficult to prosecute
'As public consciousness of the grim situation in Darfur grows, the difficulty of prosecuting what is often popularly called genocide is becoming clearer. For years, the term genocide was used to describe the ultimate crime. But that crime was rarely - if ever - charged, since international courts were too weak. Now, the mechanics of international justice are modestly rising to confront man's inhumanity to man ...'

Christian Science Monitor, 25 Apr 07, by John Hughes
In Cuba, a struggle over history's march to democracy
'Two recent events there underline the uncertainty that swirls around a post-Castro regime.'

Wall Street Journal, 01 May 07, by Ashok K. Mehta
The Flying Tigers
'The war in Sri Lanka has taken a dangerous new turn. For the first time in history, a non-state actor -- the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- has unveiled the beginnings of a regular air force. The question now is whether the Sri Lankan government will ratchet up the war or consider diplomatic means. Either way, the balance of power in this 24-year-old conflict has changed.'

Townhall.com, 26 Apr 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
VA Tech students under fire: Why didn't someone stop Cho?
'... make no mistake, no one really knows what they will do under fire, until they are in fact under fire. And like all combat actions, there are tactical variables at play that often carry more weight than any combination of courage, quickness, and reason ever will. Not that C,Q, and R don't matter: They do, and lives are nearly always saved because of them. But they are usually not enough to save everyone in the face of a determined killer or killers.'

Washington Post, 26 Apr 07, by Joe Lieberman
One Choice in Iraq
'Last week a series of coordinated suicide bombings killed more than 170 people. The victims were not soldiers or government officials but civilians -- innocent men, women and children indiscriminately murdered on their way home from work and school. If such an atrocity had been perpetrated in the United States, Europe or Israel, our response would surely have been anger at the fanatics responsible and resolve not to surrender to their barbarism.'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Apr 07, by editorial staff
Ranting at reality on Iraq
'If President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney believe the belligerently partisan and misleading things they have been saying about Congress' war spending bill, their grip on the few options left in this disastrous war is even more tenuous than we had guessed.'

Military.com, 24 Apr 07, by Ward Carroll
Recycling the Scandals
'Man, the U.S. Army's taking a lot of fire these days, aren't they? And I don't mean the Iraq and Afghanistan War kind of fire, I mean the bad press kind - you know, the kind that really matters. Scandal after scandal - from the Jessica Lynch thing to the Pat Tillman thing to the Jessica Lynch thing to the Pat Till - ah, hold one. How many things are we talking about here exactly?'

International Herald Tribune, 26 Apr 07, by James Carroll, The Boston Globe
The two types of violence
'There is neither physical nor moral equivalence between the carnage at Virginia Tech and the latest explosions in the U.S.-sparked Sunni-Shiite civil war, yet such outbreaks draw attention to an underlying force that has taken both nations hostage: violence.'

PRI's 'The Changing World', Apr 07
Who Will Explode the Next Nuclear Bomb?
'Sixty-two years ago, the US detonated two atomic bombs over Japan. Since then, nuclear know-how has spread throughout the world. In this documentary produced for the BBC World Service, we examine the threat of nuclear terrorism and the debate over nuclear deterrence.'

Armed Forces Journal, Apr 07, by Martin N. Murphy
Blue beret
'Irregular warfare is a nightmare. It is underhanded, vicious, cruel, thankless and interminable. ... it is not a form of warfare that most regular soldiers and sailors want to fight. Unfortunately, our adversaries do. ... This is a challenge not just for the Army and Marines. The Air Force and Navy need to confront it, too.'

The Weekly Standard, 30 Apr 07, by Max Boot
Can Petraeus Pull It Off?
'When General David Petraeus took command in February, he called the situation "hard" but not "hopeless." Today there are some glimmers of hope in the unlikeliest of places.'

National Review Online, 23 Apr 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Baghdad Calling
'First, aside from the complexities of establishing a working, unified government (not necessarily the task of the military), the U.S. military does have a sound plan for victory that is being implemented. The enemy does not. The U.S. plan is based on developing the Iraqi military and police forces to a point that they can independently assume most extra-national defense and all intranational defense/security operations in that country. This includes an improved Iraqi capability for logistics and command-and-control.'

The Weekly Standard, 30 Apr 07, by Max Boot
Can Petraeus Pull It Off?
'When General David Petraeus took command in February, he called the situation "hard" but not "hopeless." Today there are some glimmers of hope in the unlikeliest of places.'

National Review Online, 23 Apr 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Baghdad Calling
'First, aside from the complexities of establishing a working, unified government (not necessarily the task of the military), the U.S. military does have a sound plan for victory that is being implemented. The enemy does not. The U.S. plan is based on developing the Iraqi military and police forces to a point that they can independently assume most extra-national defense and all intranational defense/security operations in that country. This includes an improved Iraqi capability for logistics and command-and-control.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Apr 07, by Paul Krugman
A hostage situation
'There are two ways to describe the confrontation between the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration over funding for the Iraq surge. You can pretend that it's a normal political dispute. Or you can see it for what it really is: a hostage situation, in which a beleaguered President George W. Bush, barricaded in the White House, is threatening dire consequences for innocent bystanders - the troops - if his demands aren't met.'

Jewish World, 22 Apr 07, by Sara Yoheved Rigler
The idealism and faith of Israel's Army
'The opposite of mesirat nefesh is the "Me first" culture of the West, which has penetrated the discos of Tel Aviv but not the army of Israel. During last summer's war, more reservists showed up to fight than the number called. Not all of them returned.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Apr 07, by editorial staff
Iraq's desperate exodus
'... an incredible total of four million people - one out of every seven Iraqis - have been forced to flee their homes. If Iraq continues this descent, the refugee tide could turn into a regional tsunami, with potentially convulsive political consequences. Yet, as with so much about this war, the Bush administration is refusing to acknowledge the human cost of its horrendous errors and pretending that the problem will be contained within Iraq's borders. It will not.'

Asia Times, 23 Apr 07, by Sami Moubayed
The revenge of the Ba'athists
'The latest US-inspired initiative in Iraq to reach out to Sunnis is in full throttle. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is playing along as much as he can, and the recent withdrawal from Maliki's cabinet of Shi'ite ministers belonging to Muqtada al-Sadr's faction was engineered to appease the Sunnis. But the real test for Maliki - and the country - comes in the form of a bill before Parliament that aims to significantly rehabilitate the previously "disgraced" Ba'athists.'

Asia Times, 23 Apr 07, by Pepe Escobar
We build walls, not nations
'The US cannot cut off the head of the resistance in Iraq - simply because there is no head. Talking to the nine recently united leading Sunni Arab resistance groups would be a better idea.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Apr 07, by Bernardo Alvarez Herrera
A terrorist goes free
'Selective justice : After the attacks of Sept. 11, President George W. Bush forcefully argued that it was every country's duty to fight international terrorism. He made the case that sponsoring terrorism or simply looking the other way when it happened were equivalent acts, and the United States would stand for neither. But holes have started appearing in that principle, courtesy of a single Venezuelan terrorist, released this week from a New Mexico prison on bail.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Apr 07, by editorial staff
Boris Yeltsin's bequest
'Historians will long debate whether Boris Yeltsin, who died on Monday at the age of 76, did more good or bad for Russia. ... Perhaps the most accurate judgment was the one Yeltsin passed on himself when he abruptly resigned on the last day of 1999: "I want to beg forgiveness for your dreams that never came true. And also I would like to beg forgiveness not to have justified your hopes."'

Op-For.com, 21 Apr 07, by 'Slab'
Vietnam: Fact vs Fiction

International Herald Tribune, 19 Apr 07, by Barry R. Posen, The Boston Globe
Iraq : The risks of staying and the risks of leaving
'Supporters of the war in Iraq, including most recently Senator John McCain, tell us that a series of awful consequences will certainly result if U.S. forces disengage. This argument is offered with great confidence. Yet the costs of disengagement are less certain than is often argued, and the United States can reduce the risks that these costs will arise - and limit their consequences if they do.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Apr 07, by editorial staff
No more delay on Darfur
'Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, attaches as little value to the promises he makes to the international community as he does to the lives of the many thousands of people who are being murdered in Darfur. A newly disclosed United Nations report highlights his brazen duplicity, describing how the Sudanese government painted false UN insignia on an air force plane being used to deliver bombs to Darfur.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Apr 07, by The Boston Globe editorial staff
Putin checking Kasparov
'There is nothing funny about it, but the Kremlin's crackdown last weekend on small clusters of Russians protesting President Vladimir Putin's authoritarian rule had the feel of unintentional self-satire.'

Asia Times, 20 Apr 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Waiting for Godot - but only Gates arrives
'US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that diplomacy with Iran is working. It's not. The prospects for normalization are as bleak as ever and the rhetoric relentless: Iran is accused of aiding Shi'ite groups as well as "extreme Sunni" groups in Iraq, and said to be adding to the turmoil in Afghanistan. Iranians are wondering why they should bother to participate in next month's Iraq security summit.'

Asia Times, 20 Apr 07, by Jim Lobe
Iraq violence resurges amid 'surge'
'Although there are some signs of success in Baghdad, namely fewer civilians killed by death squads, it is hard to find much evidence that President George W Bush's "surge" strategy is turning the tide in Iraq. Much of the violence has simply migrated to other parts of the country.'

PBS, Apr 07
America at a Crossroads
'... explores the challenges confronting the post-9/11 world — including the war on terrorism; the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; the experience of American troops serving abroad; the struggle for balance within the Muslim world; and global perspectives on America's role overseas.'

Hoover Institution 'Policy Review', Apr-May 07, by Christopher C. Harmon
The Myth of the Invincible Terrorist : Vulnerabilities of an elusive enemy
'We are in a hard march in rough country. The "Global War on Terrorism" requires patience and perseverance, and yet notes of pessimism have become audible among our ranks as citizen-soldiers. ... In fact, there are good reasons to judge that we are winning this global war against terrorists. And not only because we have arrested or killed two-thirds of the middle- and lower-level leaders, as well as some of their superiors and commanders. It is because terror groups all have vulnerabilities.'

Asia Times, 17 Apr 07, by David Isenberg
An army popping at the seams
'Two events of the past week illustrated the increasing stresses and strains on the US military as it tries to sustain both its "surge" in Iraq and its overall military presence in Iraq.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Apr 07, by Geoffrey Wheatcroft, The Boston Globe
The shifting burden of war
'Nothing was more striking in the first half of the past century than the way in which the richer, educated classes bore their share of the burden of war, or more than their share. Nothing is more striking in the past generation than the way this has ceased to be true.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Apr 07, by James Dobbins
Who lost Iraq?
'As Iraqi and American public opinion pushes the United States inexorably toward the exit, a debate over who lost Iraq is already gaining momentum. There is no shortage of culprits.'

The Nation, 10-13 Apr 07, by Tom Engelhardt
Six Crises in Search of an Author
Part 1: Bush's Absurdist Imperialism
Part 2: Chaos in the Greater Middle East
Part 3: How Bush Destabilized the Arc of Instability
'At any moment, somewhere in the now-Bush-administration destabilized "arc of instability," with its six crisis areas, a seventh crisis could indeed rise, demand attention, and refuse to be ejected from the premises. There are many possible candidates.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Apr 07, by James Kirchick
Mbeki's Rhodesia problem
'Zimbabwe's colonial past might seem of little significance in resolving its current crisis. But there's an interesting twist in the history of Rhodesian independence that remains vitally relevant today.'

Washington Post, 17 Apr 07, by Anne Applebaum
Two Protests, One Sign of Hope
'And now, alert readers, it is time for a test: Here are two demonstrations, representing two political movements, that took place recently in two neighboring countries. For which country should fans of "democratization" cheer loudest?'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Apr 07, by Yulia Tymoshenko
Demand a level playing field
'In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, it was assumed that Russia's imperial ambitions had vanished - and that foreign policy toward Russia could be conducted as if former diplomatic considerations did not apply. Yet they must apply, for Russia is a rich and ambitious nation that straddles the world's geopolitical heartland. Encouraging economic and political reform - the West's preferred means of engaging Russia since communism's end - is of course an important foreign policy tool.'

International Herald Tribune, 16 Apr 07, by editorial staff
The generals of Bangladesh tighten their grip on power
'Promoting democracy, especially in Islamic countries, is supposed to be a major goal of President George W. Bush's foreign policy. But his administration has raised little protest as Bangladesh - until January the world's fifth most populous democracy - has been transformed into its second most populous military dictatorship.'

National Review Online, 09 Apr 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
The Roller Coaster of War
'Combat is like an amphetaminic drug: Thrilling at first, residual effects always, highly addictive, emotionally destructive, and physically dangerous. It's also difficult to explain why the experience is anything more than the latter two. But it is.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Apr 07, by John Dillin
America, Iraq, and the question of total war
'If the war in Iraq is really worth fighting, then America should fight with everything it's got.'

Military.com, 10 Apr 07, by Brian Bresnahan
There Was a Global War on Terror?
'I have earned an award that recognizes my service in a war that doesn't exist, at least as far as some Democrats in the House of Representatives are concerned. According to a March 27 House Armed Services Committee memo penned by the new Democratic leadership, the term "global war on terror" is not to be used.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Apr 07, by John Hughes
Diplomacy trumps machismo
'What should the US do about Iran? Britain's successful effort to free its 15 marines offers useful lessons.'

Washington Post, 12 Apr 07, by Joe Biden
The Real Surge Story
'Sen. John McCain [" The War You're Not Reading About," op-ed, April 8] is right to warn about the consequences of failure in Iraq. But he is fundamentally wrong when he argues that those potential consequences require us to stick with a failing strategy.'

Washington Post, 08 Apr 07, by John McCain
The War You're Not Reading About
'I just returned from my fifth visit to Iraq since 2003 -- and my first since Gen. David Petraeus's new strategy has started taking effect. For the first time, our delegation was able to drive, not use helicopters, from the airport to downtown Baghdad.'

Washington Post, 12 Apr 07, by Liz Cheney
The Truth About Syria
'Anyone familiar with the past two years of Lebanese politics would never claim, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did in Damascus last week, that "the road to Damascus is a road to peace." Her assertion must have seemed especially naive to the people of Lebanon, where the list of the slain reads like a "Who's Who" of Syria's most vocal and effective opponents.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Apr 07, by Bilal Y. Saab and Bruce O. Riedel
Hezbollah and Al Qaeda
'There is a general suspicion among parts of the intelligence community in Washington that Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, despite their differences, have cooperated in the past and continue to cooperate on jihad-related activities against the United States and its interests at home and abroad.'

Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr 07, by editorial staff
Russia's wedge into Europe
'Russia has split the West over a planned US missile shield in Eastern Europe. What does it want?'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Apr 07, by Henry Siegman
What the Arabs propose, and what they do not
'The Arab peace initiative has been widely misunderstood, and occasionally even deliberately misconstrued. ... The specific terms of a peace agreement are essentially left by the Arab initiative to the parties themselves. Whatever terms enable the parties to close the deal will be acceptable to the initiative's sponsors. Their concern is less that Palestinians will be too generous to Israel than that they will be too inflexible.'

Chicago Tribune, 10 Apr 07, by editorial staff
Now, two nuclear deadlines
'For years now, the Iranians have ignored deadlines to stop their nuclear program. They've been masterful at playing for time, stringing along the Europeans, the Russians and the United Nations Security Council with negotiations that went nowhere, threats of retaliation about the country's "right" to nuclear energy. The most recent example of Iranian misdirection: the British hostage crisis.'

Washington Post, 05 Apr 07, by William M. Arkin
Wounded Warriors and the America Way
'... the Pentagon announced that the Marine Corps has created a "Wounded Warrior Regiment," a new unit whose mission it is to assist wounded Marines and sailors, and their families, in their recovery from war injuries. It is the first time that the Marines have given one unit responsibility for tracking injured troops to one command.'

North Bay Nugget, 10 Apr 07
Lessons of two wars
'Canadians are shocked and saddened by the weekend killing of six of our own in Afghanistan. How much more difficult, then, to understand the deaths of thousands of Canadian troops in a single battle 90 years ago.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Apr 07, by Paul Kennedy, Tribune Media Services
The rise and fall of navies
'To world historians, there is nothing more fascinating than to notice a coincidence or a disjuncture across space but within roughly the same time. ... There is occurring, most interestingly - and not covered (so far as I can see) by any of the world's main media outlets - another remarkable global disjuncture at work. And it involves, as it did six centuries ago, massive differences in the assumptions of European nations and Asian nations about the significance of sea power, today and into the future.'

Washington Post, 06 Apr 07, by David Ignatius
Calming the Waters in the Gulf
'Here's an American acronym we ought to translate promptly into the Iranian language of Farsi: INCSEA. It's shorthand for a May 1972 agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union to prevent dangerous incidents at sea, and it's a model for how to begin reducing dangerous tensions with Iran.'

Chicago Tribune, 05 Apr 07, by editorial staff
Hostage diplomacy
Right now, it looks like hostage diplomacy worked for Tehran's leaders. The crisis pumped up oil prices, which is good for Iran's shaky economy. It bloodied the nose of a key American ally. Most important, it diverted attention, at least temporarily, from the far bigger story--Iran's continuing refusal to stop its outlawed nuclear program.'

Al-Ahram Weekly, 05 Apr 07, by Ayman El-Amir
A summit to end all summits
'Arab leaders closed their summit meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by opening up a Pandora's box of explosive issues which trouble the restive Arab region and the wider Middle East. For all their spirited articulations on various issues, particularly the Palestinian problem and its trappings, Arab leaders did not spell out a plan of action that could back up their demands beyond designating a follow-up Arab quartet to resuscitate the Middle East peace process.'

Christian Science Monitor, 04 Apr 07, by John Hughes
In the Middle East, a fresh look at the land-for-peace deal
'Will King Abdullah's bid to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gather momentum?'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Apr 07, by Nicholas Dungan
It could be the anti-Iraq
'The changing Iranian situation is a test of resolve for the trans-Atlantic alliance. If the West in fact remains united, its handling of Iran could be an historic success - the "anti-Iraq." '

International Herald Tribune, 04 Apr 07, by editorial staff
More than a feeling
'President George W. Bush and his advisers have made a lot of ridiculous charges about critics of the war in Iraq: They are unpatriotic, they want the terrorists to win, they don't support the troops, to cite just a few. But none of these seem quite as absurd as Bush's latest suggestion, that critics of the war whose children are at risk are too "emotional" to see things clearly.'

Der Spiegel, 03 Apr 07, by Christoph Schult
Olmert's Peace Show
'Ehud Olmert has surprised the world by inviting Arab leaders to a peace conference. But his enthusiastic words lack substance -- and Olmert risks discrediting the Saudis as the last widely recognized peace brokers.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Apr 07, by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
It's time to seek peace by stealth
'Given such strong disillusion with peacemaking among Israelis and such entrenched distrust of negotiations on the part of Hamas, can anyone, primarily the United States, save the Saudi initiative from again being shunted aside, as it was five years ago when it was launched at an Arab summit meeting in Beirut?'

RIA Novosti, 02 Apr 07, by Pavel Kandel
The last battle of Kosovo may have no winners
'Martti Ahtisaari, the UN's special envoy for Kosovo, recently submitted his plan on the status of the Serbian province to the UN Security Council. This signifies the beginning of the "last battle of Kosovo." Can anyone win it? And if so, what would victory and defeat mean?'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Apr 07, by Peter Godwin
Showing Mugabe the door
'... Mugabe has been a completely consistent leader. It's the West that has changed. During the Cold War, we in the West were so grateful that this militant Marxist had instantly become a benign capitalist that we ignored his history of political violence within his own party, and intimidation at the 1980 elections that brought him to power upon Zimbabwe's independence.'

Washington Post, 03 Apr 07, by Peter Eisner
How Bogus Letter Became a Case for War
'Interviews show Bush administration disregarded evidence disproving Iraq-Niger uranium claim.'

Washington Post, 03 Apr 07, by Eugene Robinson
Orwell at Guantanamo
'Here's what the Bush administration has done to the values, traditions and honor of the United States of America: An accused terrorist claims he confessed to heinous crimes so that agents of the U.S. government would stop torturing him, and no one is shocked or even surprised. There's reason to believe, in fact, that what the suspect says about torture is probably true. There's also reason to doubt that the suspect ...'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Apr 07, by Mark Trumbull
Risks of rising oil nationalism
'Governments may focus much of their oil wealth on other priorities, causing oil-field efficiency and investment to suffer.'

Melbourne Herald Sun, 03 Apr 07, by John Ferguson
The politics of Hicks
'David Hicks will return to Australia under circumstances best described as unsettling and surprising. The short sentence and the undemocratic gag order have added further layers of contradiction to a story that is as weird as it is unpredictable. There are many straightforward questions that need to be answered, starting with who ordered the political fix, why such a short sentence, and why stop a guilty man telling a story of his own wrongdoing?'

International Herald Tribune, 03 Apr 07, by H.D.S. Greenway, The Boston Globe
Meanwhile: The curious case of the severed head
'Dr. Watson, late of Baker Street, and having himself served in Afghanistan, would have appreciated what he undoubtedly would have called: The Curious Case of the Severed Afghan Head.'

Washington Post, 29 Mar 07, by editorial staff
The Results of Diplomacy
'Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors and marines on the day before the U.N. Security Council approved another resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran for its nuclear program may have been a coincidence. But the seizure illustrated a stubborn reality about the diplomatic campaign the Bush administration embraced two years ago: While successful on its own terms, the campaign has yet to produce any significant change in Iranian behavior.'

Christian Science Monitor, 29 Mar 07, by Helena Cobban
How analysts in the Arab world see the Iraq war
'The discussion commonly turns to how the fallout from Iraq can be managed, minimizing negative regional impact.'

Christian Science Monitor, 28 Mar 07, by John Hughes
Cautious steps toward Middle East peace
'Secretary Rice's efforts and intriguing moves by the Saudis offer hope.'

OhmyNews, 29 Mar 07
Importance of the Palestinian Refugee Issue
'... no Palestinian negotiator will accept any agreement that does not make up for the denial of a potentially good life and years of sub-human living Palestinian refugees have been forced to endure. This issue has the potential to destroy the chances of the Saudi initiative to bring peace and every future negotiation, as it has although not alone, those that have gone before.'

Christian Science Monitor, 29 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Cutting loose an African despot
'Pressure is building on Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe. Now is the time to prepare for a transition.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Mar 07, by editorial staff
A death embellished
'The Pentagon's investigation of the "friendly fire" death of Pat Tillman, the U.S. Army Ranger who became a Bush administration icon for its war on terror, has left the corporal's family doubtful that the truth has really come out.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Mar 07, by Giuliano Amato and Richard von Weizsäcker
Give negotiations another chance
'The future of the European Union cannot be separated from the future of the Western Balkans. The question, as the Security Council considers the proposal for Kosovo made by the UN Special Envoy, Martti Ahtisaari, is whether the European Union is succeeding or failing.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Mar 07, by David R. Francis
It's back: the global arms race
'China now sees itself as a major power, and US defense spending is at its highest inflation-adjusted level since 1946.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Mar 07, by John K. Cooley
At the table with Iran, what could the US concede?
'Dialogue is the right step. But the US must be ready to settle old claims of compensation.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Mar 07, by editorial staff
A Saudi-US fence around Iran
'The UN and the Arab League join the effort to contain Iran's regional and nuclear ambitions.'

New York Times, 26 Mar 07, by editorial staff
The Hamas Conundrum
'As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice moves into the final days of her Middle East trip, she still needs to come up with a way to translate the current lull in the violence between Israel and the Palestinians into an opening for genuine peace negotiations.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Mar 07, by editorial staff
The president's prison
'The president has been told countless times, by a secretary of state, by members of Congress, by heads of friendly governments - and by the American public - that the Guantánamo Bay detention camp has profoundly damaged this nation's credibility as a champion of justice and human rights. But Bush ignored those voices - and now it seems he has done the same to his new defense secretary, Robert Gates, the man Bush brought in to clean up Donald Rumsfeld's mess.'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Mar 07, by José Manuel Barroso
European Union: 50 years of freedom
'The peace in freedom and solidarity enjoyed in Europe must be nurtured very carefully.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Mar 07, by Adam Michnik
Waiting for freedom, messing it up
'For many years, the term Central Europe was missing from the American vocabulary. A simple expression was used instead: the Soviet bloc. The accession to the European Union of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Baltic states, and lately Bulgaria and Romania brings change not only in the symbolic dimension of language, but also in the geopolitical and spiritual dimensions.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Mar 07, by Ian Fisher
When governments give in to kidnappers
'The words, always, come more easily than the resolve. "We don't negotiate with terrorists," Sean McCormack, a U.S. State Department spokesman told reporters Thursday. "We don't advise others to do so as well." He was denouncing the swap that Italy made last week with the Taliban: five Taliban prisoners held in Afghan jails for an Italian reporter kidnapped in southern Afghanistan. The trade, officials around the globe warned, was wrong all around: It rewarded terror and encouraged more abductions.'

International Herald Tribune, 23 Mar 07, by Edward Wong
An advocate of Iraq regime change wonders what went wrong
'Scholar who wanted war wonders what went wrong'

Washington Post, 21 Mar 07, by David Ignatius
Rice's Mideast Minefield
'Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is crossing a modest threshold in her efforts to mediate the Palestinian problem: She is signaling her willingness to meet with some members of the Hamas-backed "national unity government," even though the Israelis have publicly opposed such a move.'

Turkish Weekly, 22 Mar 07, by George Soros
Bush's Latest Blunder
'The Bush administration is once again committing a major policy blunder in the Middle East by actively supporting the Israeli government in its refusal to recognize a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas. This precludes any progress toward a peace settlement at a time when progress on the Palestinian problem could help avert conflagration in the greater Middle East.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Mar 07, by Daniel Kurtzer and Rosemary Hollis
An Arab initiative that can work
'The Arab summit meeting in Riyadh this month promises a unique opportunity to invigorate the quest for peace. The gaps between Israel and the Arabs have never been narrower. The international Quartet -- the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- must seize the moment and act swiftly to make a breakthrough.'

New York Times, 22 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Congress's Challenge on Iraq
'It is normally the president who provides the leadership for American foreign policy and decides when there needs to be a change of course. But Mr. Bush stubbornly refuses to do either, and the country cannot afford to wait out the rest of his term. Given Mr. Bush's failure, Congress has a responsibility to do all it can to use Washington's remaining leverage to try to lessen the chaos that will likely follow an American withdrawal -- no matter when it happens -- and to ensure that the credibility and readiness of the United States military is preserved.'

Wall Street Journal, 21 Mar 07, by Edward Jay Epstein
KSM's Confession
'Last week Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) admitted to having been responsible for planning no fewer than 28 acts of terrorism, including the horrific September 11 attacks, from "A to Z." The sensational confession, made during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, raises a number of serious questions ...'

Asia Times, 21 Mar 07, by Henry C K Liu
Iran and the failed US Iraq policy
'Notwithstanding the long Iran-Iraq War that began in 1980 and ended with a stalemate in 1988, Tehran's chief security concern since the fall of the shah in 1979 has not been with Iraq, but with belligerent US intentions toward the Islamic Republic itself.'

Asia Times, 22 Mar 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Calling time out on UN sanctions
'South Africa, currently presiding over the UN Security Council, has urged everyone to cool it on Iran sanctions for 90 days. The US would be wise to go along with the suggestion, not only in the name of seeking Tehran's cooperation on Iraq but to re-inject credibility into the Security Council itself.'

Slate, 19 Mar 07, by Christopher Hitchens
So, Mr. Hitchens, Weren't You Wrong About Iraq?
'... the subsequent hasty compliance of Col. Muammar Qaddafi's Libya and the examination of his WMD stockpile (which proved to be much larger and more sophisticated than had been thought) allowed us to trace the origin of much materiel to Pakistan and thus belatedly to shut down the A.Q. Khan secret black market.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Homefront salute for soldiers in Iraq
'Like GIs, the phrase "Support our troops" should not be used to win the political debate over Iraq.'

National Review Online/The Corner, 15 Mar 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Trap and destroy
'This enemy tactic experienced by Stryker-borne U.S. soldiers in Baqouba may represent a developing trend in how guerrillas are trying to take out hard targets ... '

International Herald Tribune, 18 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Repairing the damage to the U.S. military
'... The first lesson is the continued importance of ground soldiers in a world that defense planners predicted would be all about stealth, Star Wars, satellites and special operations forces sent on short-term missions. Now we know that enemies hunkered down in caves and urban slums can be as dangerous as those in defense ministry bunkers -- and that rebuilding defeated nations is crucial to lasting security.'

Washington Post, 19 Mar 07, by Jackson Diehl
The Great Mideast Pretenders
'For years cynical statesmen have played a game of make-believe with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: From podiums in Europe or at the United Nations, they announce that their top priority henceforth will be promoting a "comprehensive settlement," brokered by the "international community." That Israelis and Palestinians may be nowhere near ready for such a deal doesn't concern them. Their interest is not the actual Middle East but political constituencies at home, or perhaps oil-rich Arab governments, for which the mere words "Palestinian state" are something of a talisman.'

Washington Post, 19 Mar 07, by Ayub Nuri
Casualty of the War
'The war has united Iraqis in their disappointment. I ask myself if our expectations were too high. It is hard to answer. But I look back and realize that the fears that I had four years ago were misplaced: If Bush had changed his mind about the war, things might be better now.'

AllAfrica.com/Financial Gazette, 14 Mar 07, by Ken Mufuka
Africa: It's the Iraq War, Stupid!
'President George W Bush is struggling to keep his foreign policy agenda alive, but finds that his enemies at home and abroad are emboldened by the failure of his Iraq policy.'

Christian Science Monitor, 15 Mar 07, by editorial staff
The costs of winning hearts and minds
'A proposed US budget increase for 'media diplomacy' to the Mideast will cost other parts of the world.'

The New York Post, 14 Mar 07, by Ralph Peters
Vlad's New Bad
'The dream of a free Russia is over. Vladimir Putin destroyed it as we watched, sucking our thumbs (to put it politely). The best for which we now can hope is that, once the Kremlin's done killing democracy, it won't start killing masses of human beings again.'

TCS Daily, 14 Mar 07, by Austin Bay
By the Way: We're Not Losing
'The chattering class nostrum that Free Iraq and its coalition allies have "lost the Iraq war" is so blatantly wrong it would be a source of laughter were human life and hope-inspiring liberty not at such terrible risk.'

Military.com, 14 Mar 07, by Edward Powell
Why We Support the Troops
'Since the beginning of military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and some places we don't hear much about, the American public has held fast to the notion that it is acceptable to debate the pros and cons of specific war decisions, while offering unequivocal support for the men and women who have volunteered to serve in the military.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar 07, by Nazenin Ansari and Jonathan Paris
Iranians should engage one another before the West engages Iran
'To engage or attack? This is the question gripping pundits on US-Iranian relations as the United Nations deadline for Iran's compliance on its nuclear program has come and gone and the United States participated in talks with Iran, Iraq, and Syria, about Iraq's future.'

Washington Post, 14 Mar 07, by editorial staff
The Right to Serve
'Gen. Peter Pace denounces gays and lesbians who are busy defending their country.'

Christian Science Monitor, 15 Mar 07, by Jan Oberg
Keep Africa's good-news story good
'Many [Burundians] have concluded that their civil war was not an "ethnic" war but a struggle for power amid poverty, corruption, and class divisions; ethnicity was merely the vehicle for playing it out.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar 07, by Joost Hiltermann
Why 'soft partition' of Iraq won't work
'In the escalating debate over the US role in Iraq, the latest panacea on offer is an option called "soft partition." However, like "hard" partition (Iraq's breakup) and a military surge, this proposal will fail in its goal to create a new and stable modus vivendi in Iraq.'

Washington Post, 11 Mar 07, by Robert Kagan
The 'Surge' Is Succeeding
'... the once insurmountable political opposition has been surmounted. The nonexistent troops are flowing into Iraq. And though it is still early and horrible acts of violence continue, there is substantial evidence that the new counterinsurgency strategy, backed by the infusion of new forces, is having a significant effect.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Another grim week in Iraq
'Anyone who wanted to believe that all Bush was seeking was a short-term security push -- as part of a larger strategy to extricate U.S. troops from this unwinnable war -- now needs to face up to a far less palatable reality. What is under way is a significant and long-term escalation. And as long as Iraq's leaders refuse to make significant political changes, the civil war will continue to spin out of control.'

Military.com, 05 Mar 07, by Peter Brookes
Korea: Long Way to Peace
'Some have gotten a bit giddy - or a bit nervous - about the prospects for vastly improved U.S.-North Korean relations coming out of the bilateral talks that start this week.'

Military.com, 08 Mar 07, by Oliver North
Latin Liberty Call
'Oil-rich Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez has pulled out all the stops to protest the man he calls "the devil." Well organized anti-American crowds are dogging President Bush at every stop during his week-long swing through Latin America. What Mr. Chavez and his Latin-leftist allies apparently don't realize is that rioting radicals clashing with security forces are nothing compared to what Mr. Bush left behind. He picked a good time to get out of town.'

Daily Star (Lebanon), 12 Mar 07, by Khalid Hroub
The real meaning of the Mecca agreement
'The "Mecca agreement" may have registered in the international media mainly for its role in the formation of a Palestinian national unity government after many torments and trials; but the significance of the pact is to be found as much in how it affects the regional balance of power around Palestine as in Palestine itself.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar 07, by Nazenin Ansari and Jonathan Paris
Iranians should engage one another before the West engages Iran
'The West should begin by empowering Iran's dissidents.'

International Herald Tribune, 11 Mar 07, by editorial staff
The failed attorney general
'During the hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Alberto Gonzales said he understood the difference between the job he held -- President George W. Bush's in-house lawyer -- and the job he wanted, which was to represent all Americans as their chief law enforcement officer and a key defender of the Constitution. Two years later, it is obvious Gonzales does not have a clue about the difference.'

Washington Post, 11 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Abuse of Authority
'The expansion of law enforcement powers approved by Congress after Sept. 11 and contained in the USA Patriot Act was conditioned on the notion that these new authorities would be carefully used and closely monitored. An infuriating report released Friday by the Justice Department's inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, demonstrates that the Federal Bureau of Investigation treated its new powers with anything but that kind of restraint.'

Christian Science Monitor, 09 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Darfur's aid groups on the front lines
'Even as Washington issued its incriminating report; even as its special envoy to Sudan returned from Khartoum last week without an agreement for a hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force there; even as the Sudanese government refused to deliver to the International Criminal Court two nationals indicted for Darfur war crimes, 13,000 humanitarian workers were on the front lines in a region the size of France.'

Asia Times, 09 Mar 07, by Jack A Smith
The futuristic battlefield
'Pentagon planners are busy laying the groundwork for the US to dominate every corner of the globe long after the Iraq adventure passes into history. Coming are more expensive fighters, sleeker tanks, robotic solders and the aircraft to transport them anywhere in the world. Nor is the nuclear side neglected. The US aims for nothing less than first-strike supremacy.'

Christian Science Monitor, 08 Mar 08, by Helena Cobban
The time is ripe for the US to engage Syria on Mideast issues
'Damascus seems willing to work with the US on the Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 Mar 08, by John Hughes
The team of Rice and Gates brings a fresh, engaging style
'Washington loves nothing better than the "who's up, who's down?" power game. Currently the buzz is that the team of Rice and Gates is up. And having supplanted the team of Cheney and Rumsfeld, it looks like Rice and Gates will dominate President Bush's foreign policy team for the last two years of his presidency.'

Townhall.com, 05 Mar 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Disgruntled soldiers were "cherry picked"
'Sean Hannity has – pardon the cliché – hit the nail on the head. This past Sunday on his new program, Hannity's America (9:00 pm Eastern on FOX News), he took to task CBS's recent 60 Minutes piece that featured a handful of active-duty soldiers speaking out against the Iraq War.'

Christian Science Monitor, 08 Mar 08, by Eric Farnsworth
On Latin America trip, Bush should strengthen ties with Brazil
'The US's ability to address global challenges would be directly enhanced by closer coordination with Latin America.'

Asia Times, 09 Mar 07, by Michael Scheuer
A catalogue of errors in Afghanistan
'Afghan insurgents, as they have done to previous armies, have forced a far superior military on to a path leading to evacuation. The US-led coalition has too few troops, has underestimated the strength of the Taliban, and has been a victim of Afghanistan being firmly on the jihadist map. The coalition has also not adequately studied the lessons of history.'

International Herald Tribune, 07 Mar 07, by Stanley A. Weiss
Myanmar's neighbors hold the key
'In this reclusive, war-ravaged nation that Kipling once said is "quite unlike any land you know," one fact is quite clear — Western efforts to bring Burma's brutal military dictatorship to its knees have failed.'

Asia Times, 09 Mar 07, by Joergen Oerstroem Moeller
Whispers in the wind
'Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao dropped some tantalizing hints about democracy in his speech to the National People's Congress. They were echoed by Vice President Zeng Qinghong. True democracy may be 100 years off, but the fact that the leadership is discussing the concept is significant.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Mar 07, by Kyndra Rotunda
Denying self-defense to GIs in Iraq
'As part of President Bush's troop surge now under way in Iraq, he insisted that Iraqi leaders "lift needless restrictions on Iraqi and coalition forces." That's an important step, but a deeply ironic one, because it overlooks other unreasonable restrictions imposed on US soldiers – by the US government.'

Washington Post, 05 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Sensible Security Fixes
'What the Senate's latest homeland security bill does, and doesn't, include'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Mar 07, by David R. Francis
Why Iraq's new oil law won't last
'It faces strong opposition, companies reluctant to get involved, and corruption – and may be contested as invalid.'

International Herald Tribune, 05 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Taking genocide to court
'... short of the international military interventions that never seem to come in time, the incremental enforcement of international law is one of the most important tools available for establishing accountability and deterring future genocides.'

Washington Post, 06 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Guantanamo Intimidation
'Lawyers for terrorism suspects are still being bullied.'

New York Times, 01 Mar 07, by Helene Cooper
In U.S. Overtures to Foes, New Respect for Pragmatism
'In the span of just two weeks, the United States has agreed to hold high-level contacts with Iran and Syria, and to start down the path toward formal diplomatic recognition of North Korea. Has the Bush administration gone soft on its foes?'

Washington Post, 28 Feb 07, by David Ignatius
U.S. Sanctions With Teeth
'Everybody knows that economic sanctions don't work. Just look at the decades of fruitless pressure on Cuba. But guess what? In the recent cases of North Korea and Iran, a new variety of U.S. Treasury sanctions is having a potent effect, suggesting that the conventional wisdom may be wrong.'

Daily Star (Lebanon), 01 Mar 07, by editorial staff
Iraqis are finally taking charge of their own destiny
'Iraqi leaders have taken a first step toward stabilization by inviting their neighbors, along with the permanent members of the Security Council and others, to attend a conference in Baghdad. ... The meeting could also go a long way toward defusing regional tensions ...'

Human Events, 23 Feb 07, by Vasko Kohlmayer
Radical Islam -- Ideology, Not Religion
'Given the stakes, it is vitally important that we understand who this enemy is, because only then we'll be in a position to formulate an effective strategy for the struggle ahead.'

AllAfrica.com, 28 Feb 07
Sudan: ICC War-Crimes Move 'A Good First Step'
'The decision by the International Criminal Court to name war-crimes suspects in Darfur was a sign of progress but there was still a long way to go before justice could be delivered, analysts said.'

Tehran Times, 01 Mar 07, by Yuram Weiler
Blackwater -- Bush's Republican Guard
'In a democracy, the fundamental problem with using a private military firm or mercenary armed force is the absence of citizen alertness and knowledge due to the lack of parliamentary debate and oversight.'

Los Angeles Times, 25 Jan 07, by Jeremy Scahill
Our mercenaries in Iraq
'The president relies on thousands of private soldiers with little oversight, a disturbing example of the military-industrial complex.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Feb 07, by Henry A. Kissinger, Tribune Media Services
It's time to start talking
'The time has come to begin preparing for an international conference to define the political outcome of the Iraq war. Whatever happens, a diplomatic phase is necessary.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Feb 07, by David E. Sanger
News Analysis: U.S. keeping options open on Iran
'As the Bush administration tries to rally allies to tighten sanctions on Iran yet again, it is sending mixed messages to Tehran about its commitment to a diplomatic solution, trying to create new openings for negotiations even while holding open, ever so vaguely, the possibility that the United States might some day resort to force.'

Asia Times, 27 Feb 07, by Michael T Klare
Three US reasons to attack Iran
'The Bush administration has already decided on a military attack on Iran, though the world will have to wait through several months of soap opera at the United Nations and world capitals before this happens. A clear indication of Bush's intention is found in his recent public statements, which amount to a three-point list of justifications for going to war.'

Blackfive, 23 Feb 07
Remember
'Today, the descendents of those Marines who fought and died on Iwo Jima - having gone through the same boot camps at Parris Island and San Diego and wearing the same eagle, globe, and anchor - are now fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other corners (some unknown) of the world in the war on terror.'

The Dallas Morning News, 23 Feb 07, by George F. Will
George F. Will: A lack of courage in their convictions
'So they aim to hamstring the president with restrictions on the use of the military. The restrictions ostensibly are concerned with preparedness but actually are designed to prevent deployments to Iraq.'

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 24 Feb 07, by George Will
From the sands to the letters of Iwo Jima
'Remember the searing first 15 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" - the carnage at Omaha Beach? In "Letters From Iwo Jima," it is exceeded, with harrowing permutations.'

The New Yorker, 05 Mar 07 issue, by Seymour M. Hersh
The Redirection
'Is the Administration's new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?'

Christian Science Monitor, 26 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Iran's sputnik
'Its space launch shows Tehran wants to be a global military player – one more reason for UN sanctions.'

Boston Globe, 25 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Crimson and camouflage
'Ties between Harvard and the military began to come undone during the Vietnam War. This has not, however, kept the services from sending many of their officers to Harvard for post-graduate training. There are now almost 100 officers at the business school and the Kennedy School.'

Christian Science Monitor, 23 Feb 07, by Kenneth Ballen
The myth of Muslim support for terror
'The common enemy is violence and terrorism, not Muslims any more than Christians or Jews.'

International Herald Tribune, 25 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Al Qaeda resurgent
'As New York Times reporters Mark Mazzetti and David Rohde reported last week, American intelligence and counterterrorism officials believe that Al Qaeda has rebuilt its notorious training camps, this time in Pakistan's loosely governed tribal regions near the Afghan border.'

American Thinker, 21 Feb 07, by Michael I. Krauss and J. Peter Pham
See Cynthia and Mohammad Play Tag Team
'Maybe one day, if Cynthia and Mohammad (and their "Tribunal") succeed in "changing the structure of U.S. politics," we can hold a Global Peace Forum in Washington. Until then, we can only hope, and pray.'

Military.com, 19 Feb 07, by Peter Brookes
Pointing the Finger at Iran
'The confusion among the White House, Pentagon and our military in Baghdad last week over the presence of Iranian weapons in Iraq - and whom to finger for sending them there - was, let's just say, a bit awkward for the administration.'

International Herald Tribune, 20 Feb 07, by H.D.S. Greenway, The Boston Globe
Renunciation of reality
'With carrier battle groups crowding the Gulf, and with the Bush administration beating the battle drum to a degree not heard since the buildup to the Iraq war, one can only conclude that either this is a demonstration of coercive diplomacy par excellence, or that the United States is going to attack Iran.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Charade in Jerusalem
'It speaks volumes when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flies to Jerusalem to try to revive peace talks between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and cannot even get the two to show up when she reads out the content-free joint statement to which they have grudgingly agreed.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Feb 07, by The Boston Globe editorial staff
Bush and Al Qaeda
'Recent descriptions by intelligence officials of Al Qaeda's renewed control of terrorist networks and training camps in the tribal areas of Pakistan contrast with previous administration depictions of isolated leaders reduced to acting as little more than a source of ideological inspiration.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb 07, by Brahma Chellaney
Musharraf's choice: president of Pakistan or dictator of 'Problemistan'?
'The fight against international terrorism cannot be won without demilitarizing and deradicalizing Pakistan. That's what makes Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's latest move so worrisome.'

International Herald Tribune, 20 Feb 07, by Daniel Altman
Managing Globalization: The integrated economy as a cause of war
'In countries around the world, globalization has been blamed for increasing inequality, extinguishing local culture, enabling transnational crime and a host of other evils -- with varying degrees of justification. But could globalization be a cause for another ill wind, that of war itself?'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Feb 07, by Boston Globe editorial staff
Rice's road to Jerusalem
'The need for a genuine peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is more urgent than ever. Yet there have been worrisome signs of hesitancy in the run-up to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's summit meeting on Monday in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Feb 07, by Hans Blix, Tribune Media Services
Will the United States attack Iran?
'... The military buildup is either to scare Tehran or to prepare for American attacks on Iran. Many remember that there was a U.S. military buildup in the Gulf during the autumn of 2002 and the first months of 2003 and that the U.S. attack on Iraq followed in March. Is something similar underway now?'

International Herald Tribune, 18 Feb 07, by David E. Sanger
U.S. talking to North Korea, so why not to Iran?
'Even while hard-liners and conservatives were assailing the administration last week for "selling out" to Kim Jong Il, some in Washington were wondering whether there were lessons here for dealing with Iran.'

National Review Online, 16 Feb 07, by Victor Davis Hanson
Casting the First Stone
'A new round of Middle East hysteria has broken out in Washington. It goes like this: Iran is not really such a serious threat; but once again we are cooking intelligence, ignoring moderates, being needlessly provocative, acting unilaterally and preemptively, looking for a mere pretext to strike, and refusing to try diplomacy. Supposedly Mr. Bush, if just for political reasons alone, can't wait to face the bad choice of removing the Iranians' centrifuges and the worst choice of letting them be.'

National Review Online, 19 Feb 07, by Michael Barone
The Misuses of Intelligence
'The Bush critics' position is that we must believe without reservation or criticism any intelligence that can be used to argue against military action and that we should never believe any intelligence, however plausible, that can be used to argue for it. That's not very intelligent.'

Christian Science Monitor, 20 Feb 07, by Waleed Ziad and Laryssa Chomiak
A lesson in stifling violent extremism
'The effort to help Muslim moderates and democratic reformers, President Bush insists, is a primary bulwark against ethnoreligious conflict and the terrorism it breeds. Yet, five years into the war on terror, real-world examples to support that contention are scarce. There is, however, a conflict zone that has developed a strong model of stifling violent extremism – one that could be replicated in hot spots around the world: Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.'

Washington Post, 19 Feb 07, by Jackson Diehl
Can a Saudi Dealmaker Rescue Bush?
'Can Bandar bail the United States out of the multiple crises it has stumbled into in the Middle East? Maybe not, but Washington's old friend may be one of the best bets a desperate Bush administration has going at the moment.'

International Herald Tribune, 19 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Making martial law easier
'A disturbing recent phenomenon in Washington is that laws that strike to the heart of American democracy have been passed in the dead of night. So it was with a provision quietly tucked into the enormous defense budget bill at the Bush administration's behest that makes it easier for a president to override local control of law enforcement and declare martial law.'

Christian Science Monitor, 15 Feb 07, by Richard Rosecrance
When terrorism succeeds – and fails
'US difficulties in Iraq and the "surge" of American forces into Baghdad raise again the important question: When does terrorism succeed or fail? Neither Robert Gates, the new secretary of Defense, nor the Iraq Study Group have provided an answer. Many conclude that terrorism almost invariably succeeds. But this response does not distinguish between two different situations.'

Christian Science Monitor, 15 Feb 07, by editorial staff
An Israeli-Palestinian peace ... by inches
'The slight shift by Hamas to 'respect' past Palestinian agreements with Israel is a straw to grab.'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb 07, by editorial staff
The lesson of North Korea
'It is welcome news that North Korea has agreed to move toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program in exchange for fuel oil and international acceptance -- including the hope of eventual recognition by the United States. ... The obvious question to ask is: What took so long? And even more important: Will President George W. Bush learn from this belated success? Will he finally allow his diplomats to try negotiation and even compromise with other bad and undeniably dangerous governments?'

International Herald Tribune, 14 Feb 07, by Henry Siegman
Mecca opens the way for Europe
'The recent agreement in Mecca between Fatah and Hamas demonstrates the fallacy of a widely held belief — that the United States alone holds the key to resolving the Israel- Palestine conflict. In fact, the Saudi-sponsored accord opens the door to a major European role in the Middle East peace effort. The question is whether Europe will walk through that door.'

Washington Times, 04 feb 07, by Arnaud de Borchgrave
China's dire prediction
'Assessing the American scene as conveyed by CNN, FOX, BBC and Al Jazeera, Chinese leaders can be forgiven if they have concluded the American Century -- the 20th -- may not be renewed in the 21st. While the American body politic has been almost totally immersed in and absorbed by Iraq and Afghanistan, China's Hu Jintao's current trip to Africa is the third to the continent by a top Chinese leader in a year.'

TCS Daily, 07 Feb 07, by J. Peter Pham & Michael I. Krauss
As It Turns Out, Preemption Works
'Now is, however, the time to look to the future, not the past. With Hezbollah having re-armed in Lebanon and threatening a coup d'état in that state, and with its Iranian paymaster looking to distract the international community from its ongoing pursuit of nuclear weapons, it is only a matter of time before things heat up again on Israel's northern frontier, as we predicted on this website both before and after last summer's war.'

National Review Online, 07 Feb 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Spotting Anti-Surge Propaganda
'An anti–Iraq war TV ad featuring six Iraq-war veterans is urging viewers to "Join the troops. Stop the escalation." Produced by political-action group votevets.org, the ad aired during the Super Bowl this past Sunday, but only in a few markets within a few states, including Maine, Minnesota, and Virginia. It is however making waves in the blogosphere, and it is beginning to appear on national television.'

Washington Post, 12 Feb 07, by Richard Holbrooke
Opportunity for Turks and Kurds?
'Whatever happens in Iraq, we must try to limit the terrible fallout from the war. The place to start should be with our indispensable NATO ally Turkey, the front-line state of the post-Cold War era, whose relations with the United States have deteriorated dramatically in the past six years.'

Washington Post, 11 Feb 07, by Richard Holbrooke
Victory Is Not an Option
'The new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq starkly delineates the gulf that separates President Bush's illusions from the realities of the war. Victory, as the president sees it, requires a stable liberal democracy in Iraq that is pro-American. The NIE describes a war that has no chance of producing that result. In this critical respect, the NIE, the consensus judgment of all the U.S. intelligence agencies, is a declaration of defeat.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Iraqis on the run: what the world can do
'Iraqis are on the run. At a rate of about 50,000 a month, they're fleeing sectarian violence, targeted killings, and banditry. It's the world's fastest growing refugee migration, and finally, the international community is awakening to the challenge.'

Asia Times, 13 Feb 07, by Gabriel Kolko
US force-marches Israel over Syria
'There has been a qualitative leap in military technology that makes all inherited conventional wisdom, and war as an instrument of political policy, utterly irrelevant, not just to the United States but also to any other state that embarks upon it.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Feb 07, by Abbas William Samii
Iranian foreign policy: not so revolutionary anymore
'Iran today is more concerned with ensuring regional stability than exporting revolution.'

OpinionEditorials.com, 15 Jan 07, by Mike Burleson
Bush Finds a General
'President George Bush, in prosecuting the War on Terror has yet to fire a top military commander (though since Vietnam failed generals aren't fired but promoted to higher command). His choice to bestow the top command in Iraq on David Petraeus seems a stroke of genius. Few in the Army are as widely respected as "King David", even by the too often overly critical Press. Petraeus led the famed 101st Division in the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom with Newsweek noting, "No force worked harder to win Iraqi hearts and minds".'

Family Security Matters, 06 Feb 07, by Tim Wilson
Dragging Ol' Glory Down
'It is astonishing that so many of the surrender monkeys have been to Iraq and yet have so little idea of what our fighting troops think. The arrogance with which they state such falsehoods as low morale (as not supported by the [forgotten] fuss over recruiting recently reviewed by W Thomas Smith Jr on National Review Online) is an even bigger insult than the hypocrisy by which politicians claim to represent their electorates (most politicians are elected by significantly less than half the population).'

Christian Science Monitor, 08 Feb 07, by Helena Cobban
Sunni Arab view of US-Iran tensions
'As the level of tension rises between the US and Iran, I am very concerned that the Bush administration is trying to paint a scenario of the probable consequences of a possible US military action against Iran that is far more rosy than the situation warrants. '

International Herald Tribune, 08 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Government inside out
'The United States is quickly becoming a government of the contractors, by the contractors and for the contractors. While the private security personnel in Iraq have attracted the most attention, many day-to-day operations are no longer in the hands of federal employees.'

Christian Science Monitor, 07 Feb 07, by John Hughes
US media can't cover the news if they don't cover the world
'It is ironic in this era of globalization, as international affairs rise to the top of the agenda, that some media companies are forsaking the responsibility to inform readers, listeners, and viewers of what is happening in the world, and analyze what it means.'

Khaleej Times, 08 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Playing with fire
'When it comes to playing with Muslim sentiments, Israel takes the cake. The ongoing excavation work near an entrance to the compound of Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest place, is a case in point.'

National Review Online, 02 Feb 07, by Andrew C. McCarthy
The FISA Follies Roll On
'Over two weeks ago, the Bush administration stunned both supporters and detractors of the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program - heretofore, involving warrantless eavesdropping on suspected enemy communications into and out of the United States - by announcing that the program would henceforth operate under the supervision of the FISA court.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Feb 07, by Fred Hill
How Tehran got the upper hand
'The Bush/Cheney build-up against Iran is taking shape. The terrible irony is that there are much more persuasive grounds for a full-scale confrontation, if not necessarily full-fledged war, with Iran than there were against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. And irony of ironies: the ability of the United States to lead a serious campaign against Iran's newly emboldened regime has been undermined significantly by the Bush administration's own failings and lack of strategic vision.'

International Herald Tribune, 02 Feb 07, by Michael Vatikiotis
The conflict that stalks Asia
'It's hard to imagine a place least affected by fallout from the war in Iraq and turmoil in the Middle East than bustling Beijing. Yet make no mistake: Fallout from Iran's controversial nuclear program is a hot topic for discussion in policy think tanks around town and the concern here is that Asia won't escape a U.S. confrontation with Iran as lightly as it did in the case of Iraq.'

Christian Science Monitor, 02 Feb 07, by John V. Whitbeck
What 'Israel's right to exist' means to Palestinians
'Since the Palestinian elections in 2006, Israel and much of the West have asserted that the principal obstacle to any progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace is the refusal of Hamas to "recognize Israel," or to "recognize Israel's existence," or to "recognize Israel's right to exist." These three verbal formulations have been used by Israel, the United States, and the European Union as a rationale for collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The phrases are also used by the media, politicians, and even diplomats interchangeably, as though they mean the same thing. They do not.'

Chicago Tribune, 03 Feb 07, by Mark Silva
Cost of war: $245 billion more
'In the pursuit of wartime budget-making, the Bush administration has worked outside the bounds of the traditional federal budget. So when President Bush proposes a new nearly $3-trillion federal budget next week, he also will be seeking another $245 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.'

Washington Post, 04 Feb 07, by Paul R. Pillar
What to Ask Before the Next War
'Imagine that the famously flawed intelligence judgments about Iraq's programs to develop unconventional weapons had been correct. What difference would that have made to the American effort in Iraq?'

Washington Post, 04 Feb 07, by Lynne Duke
No I-Told-You-Sos
'Opponents of the Iraq war voice pain, not vindication, at predictions they could only hope would be wrong.'

Washington Post, 04 Feb 07, by Holly Barnes Higgins
The Road to Helmand
'I went to Afghanistan to help rebuild people's lives. But I learned the hard way that good intentions aren't enough.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Feb 07, by editorial staff
Bullying Iran
'Given America's bitter experience in Iraq, one would think that President George W. Bush could finally figure out that threats and brute force aren't a substitute for a reasoned strategy. But Bush is at it again, this time trying to bully Iran into stopping its meddling inside Iraq.'

Townhall.com, 31 Jan 07, by Tony Blankley
No Third Way in Iraq
'Now is a good time for clear thinking and speaking. If we intend to succeed (and it is vital that we do), then we must persist. If the "surge" doesn't work, then more troops and different strategies should be employed.'

Washington Post, 29 Jan 07, by Stephen J. Hadley
Baghdad Is Key
'... the strategy with the best chance of success must have a plan for securing Baghdad. Without such a plan, the Iraqi government and its security institutions could fracture under the pressure of widespread sectarian violence, ethnic cleansing and mass killings. Chaos would then spread throughout the country - and throughout the region.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Jan 07, by Joseph R. Núñez
One NATO is not enough
'In international relations, leadership often involves getting allies and friends to do things they have not done but need to do. For example, one challenge facing America is to get more European countries to do heavy lifting in Afghanistan, where British, Canadian, Dutch and American troops are bearing the brunt of battles with Taliban forces. This needs to happen if NATO is to make good on its commitments in Afghanistan, which rightly have wide international support and legitimacy.'

National Review Online, 26 Jan 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Webb vs. Facts
'In his rebuttal to President Bush's State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Webb (D., VA) stated, "The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military." Where the Virginia senator got his definitive military majority is anybody's guess.'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Jan 07, by editorial staff
Bush's bait-and-switch
'We often wonder whether there is a limit to the Bush administration's obsession with secrecy, its disdain for Congress, its willingness to con the public and its refusal to heed expert advice or recognize facts on the ground. Events of the past week suggest the answer is no.'

United Press International, 26 Jan 07, by David C. Gompert
Outside View: No need to expand U.S. Army
'President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have announced plans to increase the size of the U.S. Army and Marines by 93,000, at a cost of $10 billion a year. At first blush, this seems to make sense. After all, it is now generally agreed that the United States has too few ground forces to meet its needs in Iraq without sapping its ability to defend American interests everywhere else. But on closer examination, the case for expanding the Army and Marines has not yet been made.'

Washington Post, 28 Jan 07, by Robert Kagan
Grand Delusion
'It's quite a juxtaposition. In Iraq, American soldiers are finally beginning the hard job of establishing a measure of peace, security and order in critical sections of Baghdad - the essential prerequisite for the lasting political solution everyone claims to want. ... Back in Washington, however, Democratic and Republican members of Congress are looking for a different kind of political solution ...'

International Herald Tribune, 28 Jan 07, by The Boston Globe editorial staff
Europe's wounded flank
'Recent elections in Serbia can have far-reaching consequences. The next government of Serbia will have a say on Kosovo's future status, the evolution of the European Union, Russia's relations with Europe, and the degree to which the overwhelmingly Muslim Albanian population of Kosovo feels at home in Europe.'

Military.com, 26 Jan 07, by Oliver North
Does Congress Care?
'In the aftermath of the President's State of the Union address, Democrats claimed that, "the majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought ­ nor does the majority of our military." Regrettably, no one in the so-called mainstream has bothered to challenge this unsubstantiated allegation about the members of our armed forces. There certainly isn't a shred of evidence to validate that sentiment here ­ or with any of the scores of soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardsmen or Marines with whom I stay in contact from my eight trips to the war. To the extent that there is discontent in our military it is aimed at the way the war has been misreported by my colleagues in the media and how it is being depicted by politicians in Washington.'

Opinion Journal/Wall Street Journal, 25 Jan 07, by Daniel Henninger
Talking Ourselves Into Defeat
'The United States is talking itself into defeat in Iraq. Its political culture is now in a downward spiral of pessimism. In the halls of Congress, across endless newspaper columns, amid the punditocracy and on Sunday morning talk shows--all emit a Stygian gloom about America.'

National Review Online, 24 Jan 07, by the editors
No Shock, No Awe
'The president made a solid case for victory in Iraq, and for the necessity of an increase in troop strength in effecting it. He did not acknowledge what an editorialist should but a president probably cannot: that the surge might not work.'

Asia Times, 24 Jan 07, by Adam Hochschild
Why the 'big push' sounds horribly familiar
'Those defending the Bush administration's "surge" in Iraq like to call it "the big push". But it's not a new phrase, or a new idea. It was used in 1916 to describe the Allies' disastrous plan for victory in the Battle of the Somme. Award-winning war historian Adam Hochschild explores other eerie resemblances between the World War I era and America's Iraq catastrophe.'

International Herald Tribune, 24 Jan 07, by Steve Crawshaw
UN must move from sound bites to action
'During his first few weeks as UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon seems to have had a hard time treading the line between his diplomat's desire to be Mr. Nice, and the requirements of a job in which speaking truth to power is essential.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Jan 07, by editorial staff
China's muscle flex in space
'China spread alarm and consternation among space powers when it destroyed one of its own satellites last week with a missile fired from the ground, thus becoming the first nation in more than two decades to successfully test an anti-satellite weapon. This aggressive show of force puts a wide range of U.S. military and intelligence satellites at risk and holds the danger of starting an arms race in space.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jan 07, by Bruce W. MacDonald and Charles D. Ferguson
Responding to China's antisatellite test
'The US should carefully weigh its options, taking a mix of military and diplomatic steps.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Jan 07, by editorial staff
Tell the troops
'It is bad enough for troops in Iraq to learn that their tours of duty have been extended. It is terrible for them to have to hear about it from loved ones at home rather than from their military commanders.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Jan 07, by Mark Moyar
The Vietnam history you haven't heard
'Before judging the Iraq war, get the facts on what really happened in the critical early years of the Vietnam War.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Jan 07, by Viktor Erofeyev
Moscow's image problem
'Who's to blame for the fact that Russia's image in the West has reached a catastrophic low?'

Washington Post, 16 Jan 06, by Lynne Duke
How to Bury a Secret: Turn It Into Paperwork
'At the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, something profound happened in the government secrecy system. With little fanfare, the paradigm of secrecy shifted. ... But it is not so simple. There is a dirty little secret about these secrets: They remain secreted away. You still can't rush down to the National Archives to check them out. In fact, it could be years before these public documents can be viewed by the public.'

Kathimerini (Greece), 22 Jan 07, by Nikos Konstandaras
A long road ahead for Turkey
'In Turkey, which is trying to gain entry into the European Union, people are still being killed in the battle for basic rights – for the right to determine their own national identity, for the right to disagree with the predominant mentality.'

Washington Post, 22 Jan 07, by Jackson Diehl
Rice's Rhetoric, in Full Retreat
'Last week [Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed] Aboul Gheit and Rice again appeared side by side ... Once again each offered a summary of the talks -- which this year, unlike last, included President Hosni Mubarak. This time Iran loomed large in their discussions, as did Iraq. But it was Rice who neglected to mention something: "democracy and reform." During the course of her visit to Egypt, and her latest tour through the Middle East, the words never publicly crossed her lips.'

USA Today, 19 Jan 07, by editorial staff
A very shaky ally
'For better or for worse, U.S. success in Iraq is largely a gamble on its prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.'

Military.com, 18 Jan 07
One Medic's View
'I've been over here a couple of months now, and I've learned more about this country than a year's worth of watching CNN. I've sat in mission briefs with Colonels, talked with village elders, had tea with Sheiks, played with the kids. And I agree with the President. We need more troops and we need to take greater action.'

International Herald Tribune, 21 Jan 07, by editorial staff
A product of the UN system
'Benon Sevan no longer works for the United Nations. But his indictment on federal corruption charges stemming from his long maladministration of the Iraqi oil-for-food program points to a continuing problem in the UN appointments system that Secretary General Ban Ki Moon needs to tackle without further delay.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jan 07, by editorial staff
The missing partner in Iraq
'... in the days following Bush's address, as in the days before, Maliki has demonstrated how far his own goals diverge from America's best interests or any reasonable path for containing Iraq's civil war.'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 Jan 07, by Karl F. Inderfurth
What the Iraq Study Group said about America's 'other war'
'Afghanistan deserves the attention of Bush and Congress just as much as Iraq.'

Washington Post, 18 Jan 07, by David S. Broder
Anatomy of a Wrong Approach
'... The question, really, is not whether we have the stomach for the fight but the brains to figure out what to do in Iraq. The vice president's effort to reduce it to a question of courage -- to suggest that those who want to expand the war are braver than those urging steps to limit it -- is a standard rhetorical trick. Whenever any Bush policy is questioned, someone from the administration almost automatically charges that its critics are soft on terrorism.'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan 07, by Dan Murphy
Islam's Sunni-Shiite split
'A look at the historic divide within the Muslim world.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jan 07, by James Dobbins
A bad plan for the Middle East
'... the greatest danger posed by the Bush plan is not that of horizontal escalation in Iraq, but of vertical escalation throughout the surrounding region. ... The far graver risk inherent in the president's plan is that the war in Iraq may spread to neighboring countries.'

Washington Times, 16 Jan 07, by Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
Impending energy threat
'Last week, President Bush addressed the nation to describe a "way forward" in the War for the Free World and its Battle of Iraq. Next week, he will give another address, one that may ultimately prove even more decisive in determining our success in the global conflict of which the Iraq theater is but one part.'

Washington Post, 18 Jan 07, by Jimmy Carter
A New Chance for Peace?
'I am concerned that public discussion of my book "Palestine Peace Not Apartheid" has been diverted from the book's basic proposals: that peace talks be resumed after six years of delay and that the tragic persecution of Palestinians be ended.'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan 07, by editorial staff
The self-isolation of Venezuela and Iran
'The US needs to simply let the faulty visions in these two nations fall of their own weight.'

The National Interest, 12 Jan 07, by by J. Peter Pham
Resurrecting Somalia
'As of this week, the United States is directly engaged in Somalia, Ethiopian forces are successfully advancing and Al-Qaeda and Islamic Courts Union (ICU) fighters have been effectively cornered--and yet Somalia still runs a risk of going the way of that most commemorated Black Hawk: down.'

Sunday Herald (Scotland), 14 Jan 07
Gunning for Somalia
'Some 13 years after withdrawing in haste following the disastrous Black Hawk Down mission, America was back in Somalia and a new front in the global war on terror had opened up in the most dramatic of fashions.'

PBS 'NewsHour,' 11 Jan 07, with Jim Lehrer
Plan to Increase Troop Numbers Comes Under Broad Scrutiny
'The proposed influx of more than 20,000 American troops in Iraq will change the composition of the U.S.-led operation. Middle East experts Zbigniew Brzezinski and Walter Russell Mead survey the current situation and discuss the implications of increasing troop numbers.'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Jan 07, by editorial staff
The new 'if' in Iraq
'For a commander with "zero tolerance" for terror and a teeth-gritting drive for "victory" in Iraq, President Bush has introduced a big "if" in his new war plan: The US may end its support "if the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises."'

Christian Science Monitor, 12 Jan 07, by Mackubin Thomas Owens
Why Bush's war plan can work
'The key to achieving a unified, self-governing Iraq is providing security for the Iraqi people.'

Jerusalem Post, 11 Jan 07, by editorial staff
The hidden enemy
'... the significance of the "surge" of more than 20,000 new US troops that Bush has ordered may lie less in their military impact than in what they signal: a rejection of the voices of retreat.'

Military.com, 30 Dec 06, by Quang X. Pham
Ford's Finest Legacy
'Ford became the savior to those lucky enough to escape the taking of Saigon by the North Vietnamese army. "I pray no American president is ever again faced with this grave option," Ford said at a public forum on the legacy of the Vietnam War 25 years later. "I still grieve over those we were unable to rescue." He added that he was thankful America was able to relocate 130,000 Vietnamese refugees (less than 1 percent of South Vietnam's population) and that "to do less would have added moral shame to humiliation."'

New York Times, 11 Jan 07, by editorial staff
The Real Disaster
'President Bush told Americans last night that failure in Iraq would be a disaster. The disaster is Mr. Bush's war, and he has already failed. Last night was his chance to stop offering more fog and be honest with the nation, and he did not take it.'

BBC News, 11 Jan 07, by Adam Brookes
Can Bush's new way forward work?
'On Wednesday night, before an audience of millions of Americans, President Bush conceded that strategy in Iraq was not working, and that this was "unacceptable". But this was no admission of defeat. Quite the contrary: it was a show of humility very deliberately deployed - an attempt to rally Americans behind an engagement in Iraq that will be longer, deeper and more costly in money and blood.'

Asia Times, 12 Jan 07, by Julian Delasantellis
Why 21,500 wrongs won't make it right
'Attributed to Confucius is a maxim that advises, "Never kill a mosquito with a cannon." If adapted and updated by the operational strategists directing the United States' war in Iraq, including Tuesday's battle of Haifa Street in Baghdad, it would now advise never to kill a mosquito with a cannon when you can drop a 500-pound bomb from an F-16 instead.'

Washington Post, 11 Jan 07, by Stephen Rademaker
Unwitting Party to Genocide
'Over the past three years, more than 400,000 people have perished in the Darfur genocide. Fighting has intensified in recent months as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict have faltered. The government in Khartoum bears principal responsibility for the continued killing, but recently an unexpected obstacle to ending the bloodshed has emerged: the International Criminal Court (ICC).'

Washington Post, 10 Jan 07, by Dan Froomkin
A Change in Tactics, Not Strategy
'As Washington journalists debate whether to call President Bush's plan to send 20,000 more American troops into Iraq a "surge" or an "escalation," they are letting the White House get away with a much more momentous semantic scam. The White House would have you believe that Bush tonight will be announcing a new strategy. But from all indications, all Bush will be talking about -- yet again -- is changing tactics.'

Center for Security Policy, 08 Jan 07
Memo to the President
'... your speech [Wednesday] must show the American people and their elected representatives that you are squarely addressing the challenge of our time - of which Iraq is but one part - in a comprehensive, multifaceted and determined way. Your intention to win must be forcefully communicated, not just because it is preferable to losing, but because the alternative to victory in this War for the Free World is unacceptable.'

Christian Science Monitor, 11 Jan 07, by John K. Cooley
The thorn in the Horn of Africa
'The next few weeks should reveal whether the US, Ethiopia, and other African allies face an Iraqi-type and Al Qaeda-linked Islamist insurgency in Somalia - or the gradual stabilization, however imperfect, of a state and society whose people have known little peace or well-being for generations.'

National Review Online, 10 Jan 07, by J. Peter Pham
Strikes in Somalia
'As a longstanding advocate of resolute action against the militant Islamists in the Horn of Africa who testified before Congress last year on the growing threat posed by Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Courts Union (ICU), I cannot help but be gratified by the group's defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian army acting with the implicit, and now explicit, support of the United States.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 Jan 07, by editorial staff
Bad move by Chávez
'President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela - the very portrait of a modern Latin American strongman - is not content to exercise near-total political and military control of his country. Now he is tightening his grip on the Venezuelan economy.'

International Herald Tribune, 10 Jan 07, by Peter R. Neumann
Can terrorists be tamed?
'Making peace : ... my own research shows that no peace process will succeed unless three conditions are met.'

New York Times, 11 Jan 07, by Danielle Trussoni
War's Rorschach Test
'Years after his tour, when my father knew just how quickly the numbers could turn - he landed in Vietnam during the Tet offensive - he never hesitated to tell me of his swift disillusionment with the "kill ratios."'

Christian Science Monitor, 11 Jan 07, by Helena Cobban
Shut down Guantánamo - and make sure it never happens again
'Thursday marks the fifth anniversary of the day the US military flew the first of some 700 battlefield detainees from Afghanistan to Guantánamo. Some of those same men are among the 395 still held at Guantánamo today. None of the detainees has ever had anything approaching a fair trial. Only 10 have ever had formal charges laid against them. Many are reportedly held in near-total isolation, and over the years both camp staff and released detainees have reported highly abusive treatment at the camp.'

New York Times, 08 Jan 07, by editorial staff
Congress and Your Security
'The new Congress is about to revisit some perilously neglected needs of homeland security ... The House, run now by the Democrats, plans swift passage of legislation requiring both stronger port security and the screening of all air cargo over the next three years.'

New York Times, 08 Jan 07, by Jonathan Stevenson
A Fleeting Victory in Somalia
'... unless America plays a constructive role in Somalia’s next stage, the conflict could become a regional war and a new field of jihad.'

Der Spiegel, 08 Jan 07, by David Gordon Smith
Is Israel Planning a Nuclear Strike on Iran?
'The British Sunday Times has reported that Israel is preparing for a nuclear strike on Iran's atomic weapons facilities. Planted or not, the story should serve as a wake-up call for the West.'

Washington Post, 08 Jan 07, by Wesley K. Clark
The Smart Surge: Diplomacy
'The odds are that this week President Bush will announce a "surge" of up to 20,000 additional U.S. troops into Iraq. Will this deliver a "win"? Probably not. But it will distract us from facing the deep-seated regional issues that must be resolved.'

Family Security Matters, 05 Jan 07, by Col. Jeff Bearor
An Unhappy New Year
'Half measures won't work. It's time for hard decisions - time to decide to either take the necessary actions to ensure success or start winding down in Iraq.'

Washington Post, 08 Jan 07, by Jackson Diehl
War Against Time
'The new plan for Iraq that President Bush will announce this week will suffer from the same fallacy that has infected each of his previous war strategies -- and also most of the counterproposals sprouting up in Washington. That is, the notion that American action can produce decisive results in Iraq in six to 12 months.'

Der Spiegel, 08 Jan 07, by Georg Mascolo and Bernhard Zand
Where's Plan C?
'The shaky images of the execution of former dictator Saddam Hussein have only deepened Iraq's tragedy. While Shiites celebrate the death of the man they hold responsible for their persecution, Sunni politicians are leaving the country. Contrary to all expectations, US President George W. Bush now wants to increase US troop presence in Iraq.'

Asia Times, 09 Jan 07, by Ramzy Baroud
One last chance for sanity in Iraq
'The United States is not Rome, and strengths and weakness are no longer measured alone by a nation's number of combatants. Yet President George W Bush's "new" Iraq strategy will call for thousands more troops, when withdrawal is the only viable option.'

Family Security Matters, 05 Jan 07, by Contributing Editors
2007 Predictions and Hopes
'... we cannot hope to win in Iraq or anywhere else in the world against radical religious ideologies (that spur conscripts to destroy themselves as a means of destroying us) unless we end the partisanship on Capitol Hill, remove the PC gloves, find a way to counter the MSM's deliberate manipulation of the masses who don't understand the dynamics of warfighting, and commit to destroying the enemy who is deathly committed to killing us.'

International Herald Tribune, 07 Jan 06, by editorial staff
The imperial presidency 2.0
'Observing President George W. Bush in action lately, we have to wonder if he actually watched the election returns in November, or if he was just rerunning the 2002 vote on his TiVo. That year, the White House used the fear of terrorism to scare American voters into cementing the Republican domination of Congress. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney then embarked on an expansion of presidential power chilling both in its sweep and in the damage it did to the constitutional system of checks and balances.'

Asia Times, 09 Jan 07, by Mark Perry and Alastair Crooke
No-goodniks and the Palestinian shootout
'Over the past 12 months, the US has supplied guns, ammunition and training to Palestinian Fatah activists to take on - and bring down - Hamas in the streets of Gaza and the West Bank. Egypt and Jordan, which assisted with the arms deliveries, are fast cooling to the idea, as are Israel and many in the Pentagon. Yet the architect of the project, Elliott Abrams - the last neo-con standing - is winning his fight to provide the Palestinians with enough rope to, he hopes, hang themselves.'

Asia Times, 09 Jan 07, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi
Iran and the crisis of disarmament
'The momentum for nuclear disarmament has come to a complete halt. Yet in light of the UN's recent initiatives vis-a-vis North Korea and Iran, the stage is now set for a new, invigorated approach that would compel the big powers to heed their obligations and revise their dangerous nuclear doctrines and policies.'

International Herald Tribune, 04 Jan 07, by John F. Kerry, The Boston Globe
A critical time for a fragile democracy
'Everywhere I traveled throughout the Middle East this winter, the feeling was inescapable that the region could explode at any time. The threat of three simultaneous civil wars that King Abdullah of Jordan spoke of is real, and perhaps the most imminent danger -- in Lebanon -- is the least understood.'

Christian Science Monitor, 05 Jan 07, by Daniel Schorr
Backsliding on Ford's ban on assassination
'... after 9/11, President Bush issued a "finding" which makes exceptions from the murder ban for known terrorist leaders if capture is impractical.'

Christian Science Monitor, 03 Jan 07, by editorial staff
First, a bipartisan surge over Iraq
'A new Congress convenes this week, eager to set a US exit from Iraq. Next week, President Bush unveils a new plan for "victory" in the war. Each side will probably describe its plans as a necessary sacrifice. But until each first gives way in its own positions, Americans may not rally to anyone's call for sacrifice.'

Washington Post, 05 Jan 07, by Charles Krauthammer
The Hanging: Beyond Travesty
'Of the 6 billion people on this Earth, not one killed more people than Saddam Hussein. And not just killed but tortured and mutilated ... For the Iraqi government to have botched both his trial and execution, therefore, and turned monster into victim, is not just a tragedy but a crime -- against the new Iraq that Americans are dying for and against justice itself.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Jan 07, by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
America needs history as never before
'... The United States is the world's dominant military power, and I believe a consciousness of history is a moral necessity for a nation possessed of overweening power. ... History is the best antidote to delusions of omnipotence and omniscience. Self-knowledge is the indispensable prelude to self-control ...'

New York Times, 02 Jan 07, by John M. Shalikashvili
Second Thoughts on Gays in the Military
'Two weeks ago, President Bush called for a long-term plan to increase the size of the armed forces. As our leaders consider various options for carrying out Mr. Bush’s vision, one issue likely to generate fierce debate is "don’t ask, don’t tell," the policy that bars openly gay service members from the military. Indeed, leaders in the new Congress are planning to re-introduce a bill to repeal the policy next year.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Jan 07, by editorial staff
Obstacles in Turkey's path
'It came as no surprise when the European Union recently suspended some of its planned membership talks with Turkey. The sticking points pertain to the strained relations between Turkey and Cyprus, which have long threatened to undermine Turkey's membership bid. What is surprising — and dismaying — is that the Union is treating this as primarily a legal problem. That's a distortion.'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Jan 07, by Najmaldin Karim
Justice, but no reckoning
'... executing [Saddam] now is both too late and too early. Too late, because had Saddam Hussein been removed from the scene many years ago, many lives would have been saved. Killing Saddam now, however, for ordering the massacre at Dujail in 1982, means that he will not face justice for his greatest crimes ...'

International Herald Tribune, 01 Jan 07, by Aleksandr Milinkevich
A plea for a free Belarus
'Last year was unprecedented for the democratic opposition in Belarus. Never before had we achieved such unity. Never before had the regime felt so threatened. Never before had the world shed such a bright light on a corner of Europe buried in seeming oblivion for so long.'

"Hunt for the Somali Pirates" airs soon on the National Geographic Channel.
When Somali pirates hijack the Maersk Alabama -- and international headlines -- Navy SEALs launch a sneak attack to rescue the ship's American captain. Pirate Hunters recounts the harrowing five days from hijack to final fatal shots, and reveals sophisticated Navy SEAL training methods that prepare the world's most elite reconnaissance teams for daring missions with no second chances.