The public statement by Iraqi chief of staff Lt. General Babakr Zebari , at a defense conference that the Iraqi army would not be ready to stand on its own until 2020 and US troops should remain until then is not a statement about security issues in general but is a highly ethno-sectarian piece of […]
6 Million Pakistanis need Immediate Aid as 1/3 of Country is Submerged
I can barely believe the words I am writing are not a nightmare from which I will soon wake up. A third of Pakistan is now under water, and fresh rainfall threatens two more waves of flooding in the southern Sindh province. Courtesy BBC The submerged area of the country is as big as the […]
Portugal’s Green Energy Revolution and the true Cost of Gas, Coal and Oil
Don’t miss Elisabeth Rosenthal’s important and well-written piece at NYT on Portugal’s energy policy. With remarkable clarity given the potentially technical subject matter, she explains exactly how the Portuguese government went from generating 17% of its electricity from alternative sources a few years ago to 45% today. (That is electricity, not all energy; so they’re […]
Cutting off Aid to the Lebanese Army Hurts US Interests
The Israel lobby in the US Congress is trying to hold up US military assistance to Lebanon after last week’s exchange of fire at the border between Israel and Lebanon. Withholding or blocking US military aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces, however, is a short-sighted policy that will harm US interests in the Middle East […]
2 Marines Killed, Base Attacked in Afghanistan;
Civilian Surge in Doubt
A prisoner trying to escape a US detention center in southern Afghanistan grabbed a gun and killed two US Marines before being cut down. The two US deaths brought the NATO total of fatalities for the weekend through Monday to 8, with the others having been killed by roadside bombs. In Paktika Province in the […]
Pakistan Flooding Threatens Grain Crop
Two million more people have been affected by Pakistan’s floods– 13 million — than were affected by the 2005 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the Haiti earthquake combined. (The other disasters surpassed Pakistan’s floods in their over-all death rates). The entire city of Muzaffargarh in Pakistani Kashmir south Punjab is being evacuated and is […]
Abedin: The Illusion of a ‘limited war’ against Iran
Mahan Abedin writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment: The Illusion of a ‘limited war’ against Iran The frank admission by Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and America’s highest ranking officer, that the U.S. has plans to attack Iran to prevent that country from acquiring nuclear weapons, is being […]
Rudolph: Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz?
Jeffrey Rudolph writes in a guest editorial for Informed Comment Can You Pass the Terrorism Quiz? Misconceptions about terrorism, regularly promoted by the mainstream media, have facilitated harmful US government actions—two wars, domestic legislation that curtailed civil liberties, excessive national security spending. That basic, factual information about terrorism is so rarely reported thus serves to […]
12 Million Affected by Pakistan Floods
The horrific flood in Pakistan, the worst in its history, has now destroyed more homes (650,000) than the 2005 earthquake. And, some 12 million Pakistanis, nearly 10 percent of the country’s population, have been at least somewhat affected by the floods. About 1600 persons have been killed. The floods, having hit first the Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa Province […]
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