War in Context

The Iranian chessboard
By Pepe Escobar, TomDispatch, May 1, 2008
More than two years ago, Seymour Hersh disclosed in the New Yorker how George W. Bush was considering strategic nuclear strikes against Iran. Ever since, a campaign to demonize that country has proceeded in a relentless, Terminator-like way, applying the same techniques and semantic contortions that were […]

The Al Kibar nuclear reactor in Syria
By Paul Woodward, War in Context, April 25, 2008
As someone who voiced great skepticism about the initial claims that Israel destroyed a nuclear facility in the Syrian desert on September 6, 2007, I’ll be the first to admit that the evidence provided in the DNI background briefing presents proof […]

Behind TV analysts, Pentagon’s hidden hand
By David Barstow, New York Times, April 20, 2008
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human […]

Who’s really special?
By Paul Woodward, War in Context, April 8, 2008
Is George Bush, ever so slowly, inching towards détente with Iran?
If so, it’s probably something he won’t brag about. But what on earth could hint at such a possibility?
Consider these few things:
First, an interesting piece of speculation recounted by Sami Moubayed a few days ago […]

How U.S. strategy is hastening Iraq’s demise
By Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, May/June, 2008
The surge has changed the situation not by itself but only in conjunction with several other developments: the grim successes of ethnic cleansing, the tactical quiescence of the Shiite militias, and a series of deals between U.S. forces and Sunni tribes that constitute […]

Mr Bush and his “legacy”
By John Robertson, War in Context, April 6, 2008
According to Britain’s Daily Telegraph our war-hero “Decider” president has decided that he will pull no more troops out of Iraq. According to the report, which cites Pentagon sources, he feels that showing such “resolve” will cement his legacy - which, he obviously […]

The green light
By Philippe Sands, Vanity Fair, May, 2008

The abuse, rising to the level of torture, of those captured and detained in the war on terror is a defining feature of the presidency of George W. Bush. Its military beginnings, however, lie not in Abu Ghraib, as is commonly thought, or in the “rendition” of […]

Moderates hold key in Pakistan
By Carlotta Gall, New York Times, March 26, 2008
One of the most significant results of Pakistan’s elections in February was the defeat of the religious parties that ran this critical border province for the last five years. In their place, voters elected moderates from a small regional party that may now […]

US moves towards engaging Iran
By M K Bhadrakumar, Asia Times, March 27, 2008
The coming few weeks are going to be critical in the standoff between the United States and Iran as the upheaval in the Middle East reaches a turning point. And all options do remain on the table, as the George W Bush administration […]

Soft shoe in hard times
By Maureen Dowd, New York Times, March 16, 2008
Everyone here is flummoxed about why the president is in such a fine mood.
The dollar’s crumpling, the recession’s thundering, the Dow’s bungee-jumping and the world’s disapproving, yet George Bush has turned into Gene Kelly, tap dancing and singing in a one-man review called […]

Mideast players differ on approach to Hamas
By Glenn Kessler, Washington Post, March 16, 2008
During a trip to the Middle East this month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice served as an informal go-between for Hamas and its sworn enemy, the government of Israel, helping to arrange a tentative truce, according to U.S., Israeli and Arab officials.
The […]

Top U.S. commander in Mideast to retire early
By Thom Shanker and David Stout, New York Times, March 11, 2008
Adm. William J. Fallon, the top American commander in the Middle East whose views on Iran and other issues have seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is retiring early, the Pentagon said Tuesday […]

Anybody’s guess
By Dahlia Lithwick, Slate, February 8, 2008
It’s been a banner week for water-boarding. This centuries-old practice of simulated drowning to extract false confessions and false testimony has really benefited of late from a good old legal reassessment and a smoking-hot PR campaign. In the course of a few short years, water-boarding has morphed from […]

A strike in the dark
By Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, February 3, 2008
Shortly after the [Israeli] bombing [in Syria, last September], a Chinese envoy and one of the Bush Administration’s senior national-security officials met in Washington. The Chinese envoy had just returned from a visit to Tehran, a person familiar with the discussion told […]

Pentagon seeks record level in 2009 budget
By Thom Shanker, New York Times, February 3, 2008
As Congress and the public focus on more than $600 billion already approved in supplemental budgets to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for counterterrorism operations, the Bush administration has with little notice reached a landmark in military […]