War in Context

Doubting the evidence against Iran
By Mark Kukis and Abigail Hauslohner, Time, May 5, 2008
American circles in Baghdad and Washington are probably not pleased with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s plan for a special panel to investigate allegations of Iranian interference in Iraq. Many U.S. officials are already convinced of the worst and, for years, U.S. […]

Hezbollah trains Iraqis in Iran, Pentagon’s New York Times spokesman says
By Michael R Gordon, New York Times, May 5, 2008
Militants from the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been training Iraqi militia fighters at a camp near Tehran, according to American interrogation reports that the United States has supplied to the Iraqi government.
An American official said the […]

Terror talks: would contacting al-Qaida be a step too far?
By Ian Black, The Guardian, March 15, 2008
[Jonathan Powell was Tony Blair’s chief of staff for 12 years] Jonathan Powell’s candid reflections on talking to terrorists in his book revealing an insider’s view of the Northern Ireland peace process will ring true to anyone who has […]

The bullies converge
By John Robertson, War in Context, March 3, 2008
28 and 29 February: the US parks the USS Cole off the shore of Lebanon. Uh-oh.
1 March: Israeli forces launch a major operation into Gaza, killing as many as 60 Palestinians, many of them civilians and children.
Senators Clinton, McCain, and Obama daily wage verbal slugfests […]

A death in Damascus
By Roger Morris, War in Context, February 24, 2008
It was another car bomb in the Middle East, the victim this time one of those “notorious terrorists” seemingly generic to the landscape. Hezbollah’s Imad Mughniyeh died February 12 in Damascus as he lived most of his forty-five years, in that world of […]

Olmert: His own shlemiel, or Bush’s?
By Tony Karon, Rootless Cosmopolitan, January 31, 2008
While Israel’s Winograd Commission has certainly pulled no punches in excoriating the Israeli military and political leadership for their botched war in Lebanon last summer, there appears to be a massive lacuna in its conclusions. (I’m not even going to get into the […]

Israel test-fires ballistic missile after Iran warning
Israel successfully test-fired a long-range ballistic missile on Thursday, a senior official told AFP, days after warning “all options” were open to prevent archfoe Iran from obtaining atomic weapons.
U.S. plays down chance of Iran resolution soon
The United States on Friday played down the chance of major powers agreeing on […]

Why U.S. strategy on Iran is crumbling
By Marc Lynch, Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 2008
‘Everywhere you turn, it is the policy of Iran to foment instability and chaos,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned Gulf dignitaries in Bahrain last month. But in reality, everywhere you turn, from Qatar to Saudi Arabia to Egypt, you now see […]

Exclusive: Annual Israeli Intelligence Estimate
By Ron Ben-Yishai, Ynet, December 16, 2007
Deep pessimism alongside cautious optimism- those are the two key principles that emerge from this year’s Annual Israeli Intelligence Estimate. The report will be presented to the security cabinet in several days time by IDF Intelligence Chief Major-General Amos Yadlin, but the highlights are here […]

North Korea may have aided Hezbollah: U.S. report
By Arshad Mohammed, Reuters, December 13, 2007
North Korea may have given arms to Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers, according to a report compiled for Congress that could complicate U.S. plans to drop Pyongyang from its terrorism blacklist.
The report obtained on Wednesday by Reuters was written by […]

Darkness falls on the Middle East
By Robert Fisk, The Independent, November 24, 2007
It’s difficult to describe what it’s like to be in a country that sits on plate glass. It is impossible to be certain if the glass will break. When a constitution breaks – as it is beginning to break in Lebanon – you […]

Lebanese fail to elect president
BBC News, November 23, 2007
Lebanese MPs have failed to convene to elect a new president as the term of the incumbent, Emile Lahoud, expires.
Members of the Western-backed majority had hoped to hold a vote, but the pro-Syrian opposition did not allow the session to achieve the quorum needed.
The crisis has raised […]

A powder keg in Lebanon
By Milton Viorst, Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2007
While the eyes of the world are focused on the fading prospects of ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the upcoming meeting in Annapolis, Md., an electoral deadlock in Lebanon grinds inexorably to a climax, threatening to upset an 18-year factional truce and ignite […]

What happens next in Lebanon is anyone’s guess
By Michael Bluhm, Daily Star, November 21, 2007
Despite frantic international mediation and declarations of a desire for consensus from both of Lebanon’s feuding political camps, it remains impossible to say what will happen in the few days remaining before the country risks sliding into a constitutional vacuum, a […]

As presidential vote nears, Beirut’s residents sense they won’t be the winners
By Nada Bakri, New York Times, November 17, 2007
Mireille Adas took part in a march through downtown Beirut this week, demanding that Hezbollah end its yearlong occupation of the city’s commercial center. Her jewelry shop, steps away from the organization’s tent camp, has suffered […]