February 28, 2006 The visit to the Middle East last week by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice brought with it another reminder that American Middle East policy is firmly wedged between Iraq and the hard guys. There were never any easy answers to the Middle East morass, complicated further by the recent outbreak of [...]
The Middle East’s Festering Wound (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Wednesday, October 17, 2001 A few days after the bombings, a former State Department Middle East �expert� in the Clinton Administration was asked the inevitable question by a radio interviewer: �Why do they hate us?� In the meandering five minute answer that followed, never once did he utter the word �Israel.� On a [...]
Bush, Bali & the Beirut Connection (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Wednesday, October 23, 2002 by CommonDreams.org There has been much talk of the fact that the Bali bombing marked the second anniversary of the attack on the USS Cole. But the deadly blast also coincides with another milestone — one with even more significance to the current direction of U.S. foreign policy. Nineteen [...]
It’s the Policy, Stupid: Muslim Antipathy Driven Home by Latest White House Comments (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Wednesday, October 8, 2003 by CommonDreams.org Once again American strategic interests in the Islamic world have been sucker-punched by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and much of the U.S. body politic remains oblivious to the fact that they are even in the fight. President Bush’s defense of Israel’s attack on Syria in the wake of [...]
Beyond Insensitivity: Bush Sends Mixed Signals to Indonesian Muslims (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Friday, October 17, 2003 by CommonDreams.org In the corridors of power in Washington and on the campuses of American universities these days, the great topic of debate is: How can the U.S. government better communicate with Muslims around the world? The simply answer is, it cannot. Not as long as U.S. policy is [...]
Arabs and Democracy: Bush May Not Like It At Home (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Monday, October 20, 2003 by CommonDreams.org It is one of the ironies of post-911 America. The very sense of isolation and alienation felt by Arab-Americans in the wake of the World Trade Center bombing has turned that diverse series of communities into a political force to be reckoned with. “9/11 is a wakeup [...]
Lessons of Beirut Lost in Baghdad (Detroit Free Press)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Thursday, October 23, 2003 by the Detroit Free Press It all seemed so simple. Send in U.S. forces. Free and protect the local population. Install a pro-Western government acceptable to all factions. Build a wider Middle East peace. Then depart to the cheers of a grateful citizenry. But President Ronald Reagan’s encounter with [...]
Taking on the Shi’ites: How America is Creating a Powerful New Enemy (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Monday, April 5, 2004 by CommonDreams.org The eruption of bloody clashes between Iraqi Shi�ites and Coalition forces, combined with a threat from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to assassinate the head of Lebanon�s Shi�ite Hizbullah movement, raise the frightening prospect that the U.S. could soon face a powerful new enemy, with potentially disastrous [...]
Osama’s Wet Dream: Losing Hearts & Minds in Iraq and Beyond (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Friday, April 9, 2004 by CommonDreams.org Operation Resolute Sword. That�s what the U.S. military in Iraq is calling its effort to crush rebellious Shi�ite forces. Osama bin Laden could not have chosen a more inflammatory name. Who comes up with these things? Why not just stage a photo-op with President Bush in Richard [...]
Severed Head in the Freezer, Favorability Ratings in the Toilet (CommonDreams.org)
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Published on Wednesday, July 28, 2004 by CommonDreams.org Is that laughter I hear echoing from the mountains of Baluchistan? The latest survey results out of the Middle East show that America’s favorability rating is now, essentially, zero. That’s down from as high as 75 percent in some Muslim countries just four years ago. Two new [...]
