My column in Salon.com: ‘The FBI’s plan to “profile” Muslims’: It’s unconstitutional, un-American — and it might hurt, rather than help, the FBI’s effort to stop real acts of terror. Excerpt: ‘ The U.S. Justice Department is considering a change in the grounds on which the FBI can investigate citizens and legal residents of the […]
Saghir: Timetable Demand not a Tactic; 53 Dead, 76 Wounded;
Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the chances that a Status of Forces Agreement will be concluded between Baghdad and Washington have declined substantially. The intention is now to sign a memorandum of understanding instead of a SOFA, according to Shaikh Jalal al-Din Saghir, an MP, a member of the Policy Council for National Security and […]
Attack on US Embassy in Istanbul
Six are dead in a terrorist attack on the US Embassy in Istanbul. The dead were 3 Turkish policemen and the three attackers, who appear to have been angry amateurs. The identity of the group behind the attack is not yet known. Aljazeera International’s Hoda Hamid reports from Istanbul: As Hamid notes, this attack comes […]
1 GI Killed, 5 Wounded in Iraq; Rubaie’s Comments Roil McCain Campaign
The statements of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and National Security Counsellor Muwaffaq Rubaie about the need for a timetable for US troop withdrawal may have an unexpected and significant impact on the US presidential campaign. On Tuesday, after consultations with Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najaf, Rubaie held a news conference. His remarks suggested that […]
Genetically Modified Seeds not Used in Iraq
A US observer with experience on the ground in Iraq writes with regard my link on Sunday to a piece about Monsanto and hooking Iraqi farmers on genetically modified seeds: The small report about Bremer dictating that Iraqi farmers cannot use their seed from year to year is utter nonsense. It is not true. Iraqi […]
Maliki and Timetable for US Withdrawal
A White House spokesman emphasized that US-Iraqi talks on a Status of Forces Agreement do not include mention of a hard date for US withdrawal. The disclaimer came after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for the first time spoke of seeking a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops. Al-Maliki is under pressure from the […]
Walleser: The List: Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies
In the months since my last post “On Mercy and Redress,” The List : Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies has grown in scope as well as in influence, but it still has a long way to go to fulfill its goals. Kirk W. Johnson, the creator of the Project has testified before congressional committees and […]
NYT: Napoleon’s Egypt in Paper
Napoleon’s Egyptgot a notice in the NYT “Paperback Row” by Elsa Dixler. ‘NAPOLEON’S EGYPT: Invading the Middle East, by Juan Cole. (Palgrave Macmillan, $16.95.) Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt — the first modern incursion by the West into the Middle East — is often remembered as the beginning of Egyptology or a template for Napoleon’s later […]
More on Kabul Bombing; String of Bombs Hits Karachi
Barnett Rubin has extensive comments on the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul. The toll has risen to 41 dead, 147 wounded. Aljazeera International has video: And, more South Asian bombings: Some group set off 6 bombs in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, in the Pushtun-dominated areas.
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