Monthly Archives: May 2007

By Their Footprint, Ye Shall Know Them

Posted on May 30, 2007 by Tony

Okay, guess what the image above represents? A redesign of Manhattan southeast of Houston Street? A sprawling Southern California college campus? No, it’s an architectural plan for the new half-billion dollar U.S. embassy in Baghdad. This is how the architects’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Situation Report | 10 Comments

A Patriotic Officer Confronts Bush — And the Democrats

Posted on May 29, 2007 by Tony

I’ve long admired Andrew Bacevich’s analyses and commentary on the Bush Administration’s misadventures in the Middle East. Bacevich, a moderate Republican veteran of Vietnam and graduate of the U.S. military academy has taught in various strategic studies centers has written … Continue reading →

Posted in Situation Report, The 51st State | 28 Comments

Blowback in Tripoli

Posted on May 24, 2007 by Tony

A Lebanese mother mourns her soldier son Last March, I noted Seymour Hersh’s alarming report on the efforts by Dick Cheney and his friends in Saudi Arabia to wage a proxy war against Iran, by enlisting all manner of Sunni … Continue reading →

Posted in Situation Report, Unholy War | Comments Off

Blowback in Tripoli?

Posted on May 24, 2007 by Tony

Posted in Situation Report, Unholy War | 29 Comments

Iraq: The Slimiest Benchmark

Posted on May 20, 2007 by Tony

The art of political hegemony is achieved when a narrow group of people is able to convince a wider society that the group’s own, narrow interests, in fact, represent the general interest or the “greater good.” Nowhere is there currently … Continue reading →

Posted in Situation Report, The 51st State | 38 Comments

Getting Sarkozy Wrong

Posted on May 17, 2007 by Tony

Bonhomie does not a policy make: Sarkozy’s agenda is “to the left of Kucinich” One of the reasons I know I’m doing something right on this web site is the fact that I’m lucky enough to have Bernard Chazelle as … Continue reading →

Posted in Annals of Globalization, Featured Analysis, Guest Columns, Situation Report | 99 Comments

Palestinian Pinochet Making His Move?

Posted on May 15, 2007 by Tony

There’s something a little misleading in the media reports that routinely describe the fighting in Gaza as pitting Hamas against Fatah forces or security personnel “loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.” That characterization suggests somehow that this catastrophic civil war that … Continue reading →

Posted in Featured Analysis, Situation Report | 50 Comments

Gavin Evans: Why Blair Embraced Bush

Posted on May 11, 2007 by Tony

In all the political obits this week to Tony Blair, the one theme that nobody seems to have touched is what, in his personal makeup, allowed him to move from a paid up member of the Chile Solidarity Campaign in … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Columns, Situation Report | 17 Comments

What Belfast Teaches the Middle East

Posted on May 11, 2007 by Tony

Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness: hard men make a deal Yes, yes, I know, Northern Ireland and the Middle East are entirely different situation, and things that worked in one place are not going to necessarily work in the other. … Continue reading →

Posted in Situation Report, Unholy War | 52 Comments

Worse Awaits Olmert, More So Israel

Posted on May 10, 2007 by Tony

If you think it strange that Ehud Olmert is still prime minister of Israel even after it’s official inquiry into the war found him to be an incompetent shlemiel, that may simply be a sign of the leadership crisis in … Continue reading →

Posted in Situation Report, Unholy War | 17 Comments