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Advantage Iran My article at Salon.com, “The Iraq War is Over and the Winner is . . . Iran” is just out online. Excerpt: ‘ the Bush administration cannot have been filled with joy when Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and eight high-powered cabinet ministers paid an extremely friendly visit to Tehran this week. The […]

State Memo on Plame Stamped “Secret” Walter Pincus and Jim VandeHei have dug around and discovered that the State Department memo mentioning Valerie Plame (Wilson) as a CIA operative is itself stamped “Secret” and makes it clear she is undercover and that the cover should not be blown. The memo was on Air Force One […]

Four Sunnis pull out of Constitution Committee in Protest A Dozen Dead in New Attacks Arab News reports that ‘ Over a dozen more people lost their lives in Iraq yesterday, including eight killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the gates of an army recruiting center in Baghdad, the latest attack against […]

Pakistan Arrests 200 after London Bombing Pakistan is in the midst of a major crackdown on the leaders of radical Muslim groups, several of which had earlier been banned without much visible effect. Pakistani security forces have raided Muslim seminaries or madrasahs associated with the radical groups, and have arrested 200 persons, mostly apparently for […]

Gaza and the Orange Shirt Protests Or the Middle East Made Simple These are the people of Gaza: Even in ordinary circumstances, Gaza is a mess— a crowded slum with nearly a million and a half people crammed into a tiny portion of the strip, living in grinding poverty. Children’s health statistics have been plummeting. […]

The Roberts Nomination and the Iraqi Constitution: Bush’s War on Women George W. Bush’s nomination of John Roberts, Jr. is a setback for American women, just has his policies in Iraq have produced a setback for women’s rights in the Arab world. Indeed, Bush has been bad for women all around the globe. By nominating […]

27 Iraqis Killed Members of Constitution Committee Assassinated Al-Jazeerah is reporting a suicide bombing at Muthanna airport in downtown Baghdad that killed 5 and wounded 15 on Wednesday morning. Guerrillas sprayed a car transporting Sunni Arab members of the constitution-writing committee with gunfire on Tuesday killing all three. They were Shaikh Mujbil al-Shaikh Isa, Aziz […]

The Australian Military and Iraq Given Australian PM John Howard’s appearance with Bush in Washington on Tuesday, the question of the role of Australian troops in Iraq remains a live one– especially in view of British plans to draw down their contingent to only 3,000 in the next year. Brian writes from Australia: ‘ You […]

24 Dead in Iraq Women face Restrictions PM Ibrahim Jaafari’s discussions in Tehran with the Iranian government have gone well. A number of economic deals were struck that will help Iraq recover its ability to produce electricity. AP reports that guerrilla violence left 24 dead in Iraq on Monday. AP says that most of the […]