It shouldn’t come as a surprise, of course. And my biased and surely predictable perspective is that the hawkish right is using the current events in Iran to criticize the Obama Administration for appeasing or legitimizing the oppressive regime there.
And there has been no shortage of critics. On Friday, Charles Krauthammer could not have been [...]
Archive for the ‘Middle East’ Category
Iran as a Propaganda Tool in American Politics
Posted in Iran, Politics on June 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Maziar Bahari
Posted in Iran on June 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The same contact that has provided me with the Facebook updates I’ve posted here tells me that his associate is also a friend of Maziar Bahari, a Newsweek reporter who has been detained in Iran.
Newsweek reported yesterday evening:
Among the dozens of people arrested overnight in Tehran was NEWSWEEK reporter Maziar Bahari, who has covered Iran [...]
Another Personal Account From Iran
Posted in Iran on June 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The same 3rd hand source as in the post below:
Iran June 20, 2009 – a friend’s account
We went today, all the routes were closed but we made it to about a km away from revolution square but at every intersection they had riot police dispersing us, wouldn’t let us get through.
We managed to get some [...]
Children Among the Goons
Posted in Iran on June 21, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Yesterday afternoon Nico Pitney posted an email he received from a contact in Iran:
You couldn’t imagin what I saw tonight, I walked down many streets(Vali asr, keshavars, amir abad, Fatemi, Shademan, Satarkhan, Khosro), and I was injured by tears gas, but the main thing : The big killer group, called “Basij”, weared our special military [...]
International Solidarity
Posted in Freedom, Iran on June 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A few photos making the rounds on Twitter:
A Hat Tip to Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney
Posted in Iran on June 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today was his 6th consecutive day of live blogging the Iranian election fallout. He’s been invaluable in assembling order to the chaotic stream of information coming thorugh. Earlier he linked an excerpt from a Council on Foreign Relations interview with Carnegie Endowment Iran analyst Karim Sadjadpour:
The weight of the world now rests on [...]
Iran
Posted in Iran on June 18, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The post-election events in Iran are probably the primary inspiration for my renewed interest in putting my thoughts in print. Much has happened, leaving an awful lot to digest. Andrew Sullivan’s work in has been simply tremendous. In fact his first post on the topic, published over a week before the election, [...]
Anbar Province Ready to be Handed Over to Iraqi Control
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq on August 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Defense Dept:
Aug. 27, 2008 – Iraq’s once-deadly Anbar province could within the next few days become the 11th province to be turned over to Iraqi control, paving the way for a reduced U.S. Marine Corps presence there, the Marine Corps commandant said today.
Gen. James T. Conway told Pentagon reporters the marked drop in violence in [...]
We Have a Timetable
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq on August 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Wall Street Journal
BAGHDAD — U.S. and Iraqi negotiators reached agreement on a security deal that calls for American military forces to leave Iraq’s cities by next summer as a prelude to a full withdrawal of combat troops from the country, according to senior American officials.
The draft agreement sets 2011 as the goal date by which [...]
The Origins of McCain’s Foreign Policy
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, tagged mccain, the bush doctrine on August 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
David Kirkpatrick’s article today in the NY Times looks back at the evolution of McCain’s foreign policy and it’s development toward neoconservatism.
Whether through ideology or instinct, though, Mr. McCain began making his case for invading Iraq to the public more than six months before the White House began to do the same.
I didn’t recall – [...]
Obama to House Dems: If Sanctions Fail, Israel Will Likely Strike Iran
Posted in Iran, Israel, Middle East, tagged iran, Israel on July 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
From ABC’s Political Punch Blog
Obama told the caucus, according to an attendee, “Nobody said this to me directly but I get the feeling from my talks that if the sanctions don’t work Israel is going to strike Iran.”
I think an Israeli strike has been seen for some time as the most likely playout of events, [...]
Is the War Over?
Posted in Iraq, Middle East, tagged Iraq on July 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Eric Martin at Obsidian Wings slaps Michael Totten for a column which I touted here. Martin writes,
That is every bit as brash as “Mission Accomplished” was five years ago. While it is true that many former Sunni insurgents have ceased attacks on the Shiite-led Iraqi government and US forces (opting, instead, to collaborate [...]
The Straight Talk Express
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, The Straight Talk Express on July 26, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Looking at the clip of Wolf Blitzer’s interview of John McCain below this post, a few things become increasingly clear. McCain has resorted to stating, in highly definitive terms, things he cannot possibly know for sure. When Blitzer asks what McCain would do if Maliki demanded American troops withdraw from Iraq in a [...]
Quote of the Day
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq on July 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Well, yesterday’s quote of the day, anyway:
I was working on a draft of a post digging into all the problems with Sen. McCain’s explanation of why he’s all for Maliki’s 16 month timetable for withdrawal and dead-set against Obama’s 16th month timetable for withdrawal. But I think that sentence alone illustrates how thin a strategic [...]
More on Converging – and Diverging – Foreign Policies
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, tagged converging iraq obama bush mccain on July 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
From today’s NYT:
Republicans also say the administration’s decision to authorize high-level talks with Iran and North Korea has undercut Mr. McCain’s skepticism about engagement with those countries, leaving the perception that he is more conservative than Mr. Bush on the issue.
Essentially, as the administration has taken a more pragmatic approach to foreign policy, the [...]
The Straight Talk Express
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics, The Straight Talk Express on July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
CNN Political Ticker
John McCain defended comments he made in an interview on Tuesday when he incorrectly argued that the surge in Iraq gave way to the so-called “Anbar Awakening” – when Sunni leaders joined forces with U.S. troops to fight Al Qaeda in the fall of 2006.
The Arizona senator told reporters Wednesday afternoon that when [...]
No Help for Troops in Afghanistan as Long as Bush is President
Posted in Afghanistan, Middle East, Politics on July 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Excerpts from the Q&A portion of yesterday’s DOD briefing
The commanders have identified a need of three additional combat brigades. I think everybody in a position of power in this building has spoken about that at length publicly. That is what the commanders wish for. The secretary, working with the president in Bucharest, helped the president [...]
The Straight Talk Express
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics, The Straight Talk Express on July 23, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Hilzoy points to Spencer Ackerman’s exceptional work in exposing McCain’s latest historical revision, this time regarding the chronology of the Sunni Awakening and President Bush’s Troop Surge.
Update
H/T: Jed Lewison CBS apparently decided to edit out McCain’s botched answer:
On Converging Foreign Policies
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics, The News Media, tagged bush, converge, Iraq, mccain, obama on July 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Much has been made in the past few days on the supposed recent or current converging of competing Iraq policies.
One significant item I came across, which I can’t find anyplace else is this account of Terry Moran’s interview with Barack Obama, part of which was played on Nightline yesterday. AFP reports the following, [...]
Early Word on Obama’s Meeting With General Petraeus
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics, tagged Iraq, obama, petraeus on July 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Watching Obama’s live speech from Iraq now, he says of Petraeus (paraphrasing): His concern has to do with wanting to retain as much flexibility as possible. The focus of their discussion, Obama said, wasn’t on how precipitous the exit would be. He added that he’d feel the same way if he had Petraeus’ [...]
Maybe We’ll Print It if You Throw in a Timetable
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics, The News Media, tagged mccain, NYTimes, Op-Ed on July 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The NY Times committed what might be their most egregious error in judgement since putting Jayson Blair on the fast track up the newsroom ladder. It was announced today that they rejected an Op-Ed piece submitted by John McCain, which he wrote in responce to an Obama Op-Ed the Times ran last week.
In an [...]
Setting the Record Straight on al-Maliki’s Statements Regarding Troop Withdrawl
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics on July 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Following the disputed translation of Maliki’s comments to Der Spiegel, the NY Times confirms the accuracy of the translation:
The following is a direct translation from the Arabic of Mr. Maliki’s comments by The Times: “Obama’s remarks that — if he takes office — in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this [...]
The Straight Talk Express
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics, The Straight Talk Express on July 20, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Statement issued by the McCain Campaign yesterday:
“The difference between John McCain and Barack Obama is that Barack Obama advocates an unconditional withdrawal that ignores the facts on the ground and the advice of our top military commanders,”
Hmm….
From the Obama campaign website:
The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders [...]
Don’t Call it a Timetable
Posted in Iraq, Politics on July 19, 2008 | 1 Comment »
NY Times:
President Bush agreed to “a general time horizon” for withdrawing American troops in Iraq, the White House announced Friday, in a concession that reflected both progress in stabilizing Iraq and the depth of political opposition to an open-ended military presence in Iraq and at home.
It’s a preliminary measure and it’s short on details. [...]
The White House Turnaround on Diplomacy with Iran
Posted in Iran, Middle East, Politics on July 19, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It must be very rare to see such a White House stark position shift in such a short period of time. It was mid-May when, at the Knesset for Israel’s 60th anniversary celebration, President Bush discussed the notion of diplomacy with “terrorists and radicals”
“Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, [...]
Is the War Over?
Posted in Iraq on July 16, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Michael Totten:
What most of us still think of as “war” in Iraq is, at this point, a rough and unfinished peacekeeping mission. Whether it is officially over or not, it has certainly been downgraded to something else, and it’s about time more analysts and observers are willing to say so.
He cites Michael Yon, whom Totten [...]
McCain on Iraqi Sovereignty
Posted in 2008 Presidential Election, Iraq, Politics on July 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Back in 2004, before the Council on Foreign Relations:
Question: “What would or should we do if, in the post-June 30th period, a so-called sovereign Iraqi government asks us to leave, even if we are unhappy about the security situation there?”
McCain: “Well, if that scenario evolves then I think it’s obvious that we would have [...]
They Are a Sovereign Nation, Right?
Posted in Iraq, Politics on July 8, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
After four years of left vs right squabbling in Congress and campaign platforms through three election seasons over when and under what conditions to bring combat troops home from Iraq, there is one rather significant entity that we’ve heard very little from over the years on this matter: Iraq.
And it seems they’re about ready to put an end to the [...]
