By Phyllis Chesler
Yesterday in Iraq, a female homicide bomber, masquerading as a Shiite religious pilgrim, murdered 20-30 pilgrims, half of them women, and injured at least 100 others. Once again, the homicide bomber stopped at a resting tent for pilgrims.
By Andrew L. Jaffee
It’s bizarre. We hear all this belly-aching about how awful it was to dump Afghanistan after the Soviets were evicted. And it was awful to leave Afghanistan in the hands of the Mujahideen.
But now we hear that we should abandon Iraq “immediately.” The result would be the same as abandoning Afghanistan: the vacuum would be filled by Islamist terrorists.
By Phyllis Chesler
Four female suicide killers just murdered 57 people and wounded 300 others in Iraq. Many of their victims were on a religious pilgrimage.
This should no longer surprise us. Like men, women are human beings and are therefore as close to the apes as to the angels. Thus, like men, women are as likely to nourish as to destroy. Still, we live in a culture that on the one hand, suspects women of being sneaky, “bitchy,” even evil but on the other hand, idealizes women as morally superior to men and as Natural Born Mothers, not as Natural Born Killers. … (Continue reading…)
A briefing by Douglas J. Feith*
Douglas J. Feith was undersecretary of defense for policy in the Bush administration (2001-05), and is a professor of national security policy at Georgetown University. He previously served in several capacities in the Reagan administration. His articles on foreign and defense affairs have appeared in the Middle East Quarterly as well as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Commentary. He was educated at Georgetown University and Harvard College.
by Daniel Pipes*
As the United Nations mandate that legitimizes the presence of U.S forces in Iraq expires on December 31, 2008, a humanitarian and strategic disaster is coming into view. The fate of about 3,500 anti-regime Iranians will be decided in the course of status-of-forces negotiations between Washington and Baghdad.
By Andrew L. Jaffee
An Israeli Jew (Defense Minister Ehud Barak) shakes hands with a Shiite Arab (Iraqi President Jalal Talabani)… While I can understand why something like this is considered a “historic” moment, it is at the same time pathetic that it is considered a “historic” moment.
It is historic because an Arab/Muslim leader overcame years of convention and prejudice against Israel, and actually, formally recognized an Israeli leader. Perhaps the Coalition forces and contractors in Iraq have rubbed off on Talabani. Perhaps Talabani is starting to understand the democratic system he is operating in.
On the other hand, this moment is anti-climactic — two humans shaking hands. Israelis are almost always eager to be accepted on the international stage. Yet Arab leaders have treated Israelis as if they were dirty; as if when shaking hands, something Jewy would be left on Arab hands; as if there were no such thing as politeness or decorum.
By Shirzad Azad
This article suggests that Japan’s staunch support for the United States over the course of the Iraq War was substantially influenced by its foreign policy toward the Persian Gulf region in general and Saddam’s Iraq in particular after the 1990-1991 crisis, as well as by its security alliance with the United States.
In his January 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush branded Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "Axis of Evil." Less than three weeks later, Bush made a state visit to Japan. After a speech at the Japanese parliament on February 18, 2002, he met with then Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Joined only by National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Toshiyuki Takano, Bush informed Koizumi that the United States would attack Iraq.[1] Koizumi had roughly 13 months to prepare the ground for Japan’s support for this development.
by Scott Carpenter and Michael Rubin*
Within the next few months, Iraqis will once again wave purple fingers in the air as they cast ballots for provincial governments. As Iraq’s parliament debates a law to govern the elections, U.S. diplomats and international experts have an opportunity, if not to correct past mistakes, then to help put local government on the right footing.
A U.S. colonel in Iraq got so fed up with “corrupt, money grubbing contractors” and “commanders only interested in themselves,” felt “dishonored,” so he killed himself, leaving behind his men, a wife, and children. One of the colonel’s men wrote a post mortem letter to him, providing some great insights into the Iraq effort, and suggesting that no war — nothing in life — is perfect. You should read the whole letter in the Alibi, but here are a few excerpts:
by Michael Rubin*
During his February 5 testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell backpedaled from the December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and its claim that, “in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.”
Not only did McConnell testify that the Islamic Republic was working to master the enrichment of uranium - “the most difficult challenge in nuclear production” - but he also acknowledged that, “because of intelligence gaps,” the U.S. government could not be certain that the Iranian government had fully suspended its covert nuclear programs. “We assess with high confidence that Iran has the scientific, technical, and industrial capacity eventually to produce nuclear weapons,” he testified. “In our judgment, only an Iranian political decision to abandon a nuclear weapons objective would plausibly keep Iran from eventually producing nuclear weapons - and such a decision is inherently reversible.”
By Andrew L. Jaffee
I never thought I’d hear good news about Iraq — from the UN?
The UN’s top refugee official has hinted that security in Iraq may soon have improved enough for some of the 4m Iraqi refugees to begin returning home. …
By Andrew L. Jaffee
Al Qaeda has proven once again what a heinous group it is by burning prisoners alive, in the name of Allah, on video tape:
Al Qaeda’s latest display of terror has made its way onto the Internet, showing horrifying images of what appear to be prisoners in Iraq being doused with an inflammatory liquid and then burned alive. …
“And now that we have captured these scums who committed this dreadful crime, we will burn them with this fire,” the Al Qaeda leader says in Arabic. “The same fire which they committed their crime with.
“And I swear by God almighty that, I swear by God almighty that we will have no mercy on them,” he continues. “Allahuakbar, Allahuakbar.”
As he speaks, two of the insurgents pour liquid on the blindfolded prisoners. Then they push the bound men into the pit, where they are engulfed in flames.
Click here to see the video on a Turkish news site (WARNING: Very disturbing Images).
Click here to see the full video on Google (WARNING: Very disturbing images).
by Michelle Mostovy-Eisenberg*
In order to fully understand Middle Eastern politics and society, you must first grasp the underlying basis of Arab culture — specifically, the tribal organization central to life in the region, according to anthropologist and author Philip Carl Salzman.
During a lunchtime event held last week at the Center City law firm of Pepper Hamilton, about 50 people gathered to learn about the roots of contemporary Arab life and the potent affect it can have on conflicts in the region. The lecture was sponsored by the Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank.
By Andrew L. Jaffee
Well all you critics of the Iraq war, and especially the troop surge; what have you got to say now? From the Times Online:
Al-Qaeda in Iraq faces an “extraordinary crisis”. Last year’s mass defection of ordinary Sunnis from al-Qaeda to the US military “created panic, fear and the unwillingness to fight”. The terrorist group’s security structure suffered “total collapse”.
These are the words not of al-Qaeda’s enemies but of one of its own leaders in Anbar province — once the group’s stronghold. They were set down last summer in a 39-page letter seized during a US raid on an al-Qaeda base near Samarra in November. …
More than 80,000 Sunnis have joined the tribal groups of “concerned local citizens” [CLCs] that have helped to eject al-Qaeda from swaths of western and northern Iraq, including much of Baghdad. …
Yeah, yeah, I know it is not over ’til the fat lady sings, but please spare me your “blood-for-oil” crap…
What Will Be In It and Should It Be a Treaty?
by Michael Rubin*
Testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight; and
Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia
Chairman Delahunt, Chairman Ackerman, Honorable Members. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.
This hearing seeks to determine whether any proposed U.S. security commitment to Iraq should constitute a treaty. It is an important question, but there is no cut-and-dry answer: Too much depends upon the content of the agreement.
On November 26, 2007, President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki released a “Declaration of Principles for a Long-Term Relationship of Cooperation and Friendship between the Republic of Iraq and the United States of America.” Among the principles they outlined were:
You are currently browsing the archives for the Iraq category.
Articles/Entries