Saturday: 81 Iraqis, 4 GIs Killed; 10 Iraqis, 3 Coalition Soldiers Wounded
15 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Today, military authorities reported that three GIs were killed and another wounded by a roadside bomb in Baghdad yesterday. Another U.S. soldier died from small arms gunfire in Ramadi. At least 57 American servicemembers have died in Iraq during December. Also, two UK soldiers were injured in Basra by a roadside bomb. A contractor from New Zealand was also reported dead. And, 81 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 10 were wounded.

Libertarian Warmongers?
14 Dec 2006
Excerpt: The libertarian movement appears close to suing conservatives for divorce. The vaunted “fusion” between liberty-oriented and virtue-oriented conservatives that helped propel Ronald Reagan into the presidency is breaking down. If Republicans are going to spend like Democrats, expand government like Democrats, and centralize power in Washington like Democrats, then why should someone with libertarian inclinations vote Republican?

US Troops Raid Fallujah Hospital Again
14 Dec 2006
Excerpt: FALLUJAH —Iraqi doctors and medical staff are outraged over yet another U.S. military raid at Fallujah General Hospital.

Experts Expect Democrats to Increase Military Spending
14 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress are likely to drive U.S. military budgets even higher in 2007, experts say.

‘Gitmo Is Like Being Alive in Your Own Grave’
14 Dec 2006
Excerpt: KARACHI —“Guantanamo brings images of a man in orange overalls, his face down and a soldier holding him by the neck, like a dog on a leash,” says 14-year-old Zahra Paracha. “Animals are treated better,” she tells IPS.

The Urge to ‘Surge’
14 Dec 2006
Excerpt: In my column on the Iraq Study Group, I neglected to mention the most objectionable aspect of the Baker-Hamilton report, and that is the suggestion that it might be a good idea to inject a “surge” of U.S. troops to secure Baghdad and stabilize a regime that seems about to fall.

Survey: US Losing Arab Allies’ Hearts and Minds
14 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Attitudes toward the United States reached new lows through most of the Arab world over the past year, according to the findings of a major new survey [.pdf] of five Arab countries released here Thursday by Zogby International and the Arab American Institute (AAI).

Friday: 60 Iraqis, 2 Marines Killed
14 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Today, American military authorities reported that two U.S. Marines were killed in Anbar yesterday from “wounds sustained during enemy action.” This raised the number of Americans killed in Iraq during December to 53 deaths. Overnight, British bases in Basra were bombarded by katyusha rockets, but no casualties were reported. Also, 60 Iraqis were killed or found dead and two were injured in violent attacks.

Thursday: 110 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 35 Iraqis Wounded, Dozens Kidnapped
13 Dec 2006
Excerpt: A mass kidnapping in the capital is the focus of news reports from Iraq today. At least 20 people, perhaps as many as 70 Iraqis, were kidnapped from a shopping district. The Dept. of Defense also reported on the death of an American soldier from non-combat related injuries; the December tally now stands at 49 GI deaths. And a British soldier was wounded when a roadside bomb blasted his patrol in Basra. Overall, 110 Iraqis were killed or found dead and 35 were wounded in violent attacks.

War Without End
13 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Today, a rarity at the site. Two pieces, officially identified as such and piled atop each other—think of them like a double-decker bus—each focused on a different aspect of the Iraq situation as Washington imagines it. First comes a little “political bedtime story” of mine about how Washington has tried to “fix” everything but reality itself; then, an important analysis by Michael Schwartz of just why the withdrawal option, increasingly popular for the American public, is such poison to Washington’s movers and shakers. So dig in. Tom

Is James Baker a Match for AIPAC?
13 Dec 2006
Excerpt: The report by the Iraq Study Group is an attempt by elder statesmen of the American political establishment to take U.S. foreign policy out of the incompetent hands of President Bush and the self-serving hands of the Israeli Lobby. The Iraq Study Group’s effort may or may not succeed.

Sunni Groups: US Weighed Offer to ‘Clean Up’ Militias
13 Dec 2006
Excerpt: U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad negotiated with Sunni armed groups for several weeks earlier this year on an agreement that would have supported Sunni forces in attacking pro-Iranian Shi’ite militias, according to accounts given by commanders of armed Sunni resistance organizations.

US Public Ever More Pessimistic on Iraq War
13 Dec 2006
Excerpt: The findings of a spate of polls taken since last week’s release of the Iraq Study Group’s (ISG) recommendations for U.S. policy show a sharp drop in public confidence both in President George W. Bush’s handling of the war and in the chances that the U.S. will prevail there.

Wednesday: 125 Iraqis, 1 GI Killed; 96 Iraqis Wounded
12 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Several car bombs once again rocked the capital, while small attacks killed a number of people across the country today. Overall, at least 125 were killed or found dead and 96 people were injured in separate incidents. Also, the Department of Defense reported that an American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb yesterday in Mosul. The number of GI deaths stands at 48 for December.

The Baker-Hamilton Recommendations: Too Little, Too Late?
12 Dec 2006
Excerpt: One of Aesop’s fables recounts how once upon a time Mount Ida, the birthplace of Zeus, experienced a huge earthquake. “The earth commenced to tremble and shake—and huge boulders flew off the mountain top into the sky,” the fable goes. “It seemed as if the mountain was about to give birth.” Then the sky blackened and the thunderous sound became even worse. Finally, “an earthquake more violent than any ever before it set everything in motion—and in one terrifying moment, the mountain’s peak split wide open!” Some people got on their knees and began to pray. Others couldn’t take their eyes off the mountain, wondering how it would end.

Is the USA the Center of the World?
12 Dec 2006
Excerpt: (Author’s note: Some things don’t seem to change. Five years after I wrote this column in the form of a news dispatch, it seems more relevant than ever.) WASHINGTON —There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that the United States is not the center of the world.

Natives of Guam Decry US Expansion Plan
12 Dec 2006
Excerpt: A Pentagon plan for a massive military buildup on the Pacific island of Guam is meeting with resistance by ethnic Chamorros who live there and the Chamorro diaspora in the United States.

Israel, Alone
12 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Israel’s long-standing policy of nuclear ambiguity came to an end the other day when Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in answer to a question about his country’s rumored WMD arsenal, replied, “Iran openly, explicitly, and publicly threatens to wipe Israel off the map. Can you say that this is the same level, when they [the Iranians] are aspiring to have nuclear weapons, as America, France, Israel, Russia?”

Who Makes Foreign Policy?
11 Dec 2006
Excerpt: The Iraq Study Group released its report [.pdf] last week, giving the president several recommendations to consider in prosecuting the war. Similarly, the incoming Democratic leaders in Congress promise to urge the president to take a new course in Iraq. Meanwhile, one newly elected member of Congress was asked on national television about the Iraq war. She responded by saying she had no real opinion, and that foreign policy was “up to the president.”

‘Today Is Better Than Tomorrow’
11 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Right now, we have on the table a “possible exit strategy” from Iraq…

Knocking Opportunity
11 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Last week, the Iraq Study Group report [.pdf] burst upon a breathless world, and proved to be an empty piata. None of its recommendations has the slightest chance of reversing the course of the war in Iraq. Only those who just got into town on the last truckload of turnips expected anything more. All Washington “Blue Ribbon Commissions” are part of the kabuki, intended to fool the rubes back home into thinking something real is happening, when it isn’t.

Beware the Next Bipartisan War
11 Dec 2006
Excerpt: “I believe this is a recipe that will lead to our defeat … in Iraq,” said John McCain. He has a point.

More Cheer for the Holiday Travel Season
11 Dec 2006
Excerpt: This holiday travel season, Santa Claus is not the only one who is checking to see whether you’ve been naughty or nice. For the last four years, the U.S. government has been snooping by computer into people’s travel records and assigning them a risk score for being terrorists or criminals. Of all the government’s violations of civil liberties since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security’s Automated Targeting System (ATS) is probably one of the worst in terms of numbers of people affected.

Tuesday: 158 Iraqis Killed, 5 GIs Killed; 287 Iraqis Injured
11 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Several explosions rocked the capital today, including one that killed 70 people and wounded 236 others. Another bomb damaged the Golden Mosque in Samarra. Overall, at least 158 Iraqis were killed or found dead today and 287 were injured in various incidents. Also, the U.S. Military announced the deaths of five GIs today, bringing the December total to 47 American servicemember deaths.

Monday: 111 Iraqis Killed; 86 Iraqis, 18 U.S. Soldiers Injured
10 Dec 2006
Excerpt: Today the violence was marked by a number of smaller incidents and several kidnappings. At least 111 Iraqis were killed or found dead, 86 injured and 12 kidnapped. Also, a U.S. helicopter experienced a hard landing during a routine flight that did not involve combat. Eighteen aboard were injured, including nine that immediately returned to duty. The deaths of another three American soldiers were reported today as well, but they have been added to yesterdayand#8217;s tally.