Archive for 'Bush Administration'
FEATURE: Five ways to think about Iran under the gun
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 […]
Posted: May 1st, 2008 under Bush Administration, Iran.
Comments: none
EDITORIAL: Syria’s nuclear reactor
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 […]
Posted: April 25th, 2008 under Bush Administration, CIA, Editorials, IAEA, Israel, North Korea, ODNI, Syria, nuclear issues.
Comments: 12
FEATURES & EDITOR’S COMMENT: Torture and propaganda
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 […]
Posted: April 19th, 2008 under Bush Administration, Defense Department, Editor's comments, Guantanamo, War on Terrorism, torture, war in Iraq.
Comments: none
EDITORIAL: Who’s really special?
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 […]
Posted: April 8th, 2008 under Bush Administration, Editorials, Iran, Iraqi government, war in Iraq.
Comments: none
FEATURE: The price of the surge
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 […]
Posted: April 8th, 2008 under Bush Administration, war in Iraq.
Comments: none
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR - John Robertson: Mr Bush and his “legacy”
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 […]
Posted: April 6th, 2008 under Bush, Iraqi government, war in Iraq.
Comments: none
FEATURE: Why Bush should reflect on Pinochet
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 […]
Posted: April 2nd, 2008 under Bush, Cheney, Guantanamo, War on Terrorism, law, torture.
Comments: none
NEWS: Locals hold key in Pakistan
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 […]
Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Pakistan, War on Terrorism.
Comments: none
ANALYSIS: US moves towards engaging Iran
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 […]
Posted: March 27th, 2008 under Bush Administration, Iran.
Comments: none
OPINION & EDITOR’S COMMENT: Prankster president
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 […]
Posted: March 16th, 2008 under Bush, Editor's comments.
Comments: 2
ANALYSIS: Talking to Hamas without talking to Hamas
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 […]
Posted: March 16th, 2008 under Bush Administration, Hamas, Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Comments: none
NEWS & FEATURE: Fallon quits
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 […]
Posted: March 11th, 2008 under Bush Administration, Defense Department.
Comments: none
NEWS, OPINION & EDITOR’S COMMENT: The atrophy of conscience
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 […]
Posted: February 8th, 2008 under CIA, Cheney, Department of Justice, War on Terrorism, torture.
Comments: none
FEATURE: What did Israel bomb in Syria?
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 […]
Posted: February 4th, 2008 under Bush Administration, Israel, Syria.
Comments: none
NEWS, CAMPAIGN 08 & OPINION: The bankruptcy of American military power
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 […]
Posted: February 3rd, 2008 under 2008 Presidential Election, Bush Administration, Defense Department, foreign policy, international relations.
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