79% of Americans agree with President Obama’s plan to take a third of US troops out of Afghanistan over the next two years, and 59% think he should withdraw more, and more quickly. These views do not accord with those of the generals in the Pentagon, who felt that Obama’s timetable is “more aggressive” than […]
Archives for June 2011
Senate Committee Backs Obama on Libya as Rebels capture major Arms Depot
Muammar Qaddafi’s increasingly beleagured security forces were hit with three demoralizing developments on Monday and Tuesday. First, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted to authorize President Obama to pursue the Libya war for one year. Although members of the committee were critical of the president for not coming to them in the first […]
Qaddafi, son, indicted by International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court has issued indictments against Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and the head of the secret police. This move is a great good thing, and combines with an increasing conviction among close observers that the regime’s time in Libya is coming to a slow, inexorable close. Free Libya forces […]
Rudolph: US Inequality Quiz
Can You Pass The US Inequality Quiz? The American mainstream media regularly laments the incontrovertible reality of rising inequality yet rarely provides historical perspective or detailed analysis. Rather, the typical article provides statistical facts of inequality coupled with theoretical claims linking capitalism, incentives, economic growth and inequality. While few doubt that capitalism is the preferred […]
Notar: Syria and the Palestine Card
Paul Notar writes a guest column for Informed Comment: Palestine: Bashar Assad’s Ace in the Hole? by Paul Notar There has been much speculation in the media that the Assad regime in Syria will be the next to fall in what has been called the “Arab Spring”. Many analysts conclude that Sunni elements in the […]
The Audacity of the Gaza Flotilla
A new Gaza aid flotilla is set to take off from Greece on Sunday, including 600 persons representing 22 countries, on ten ships. Pulitzer-prize winning author Alice Walker is among them. (Swedish author Henning Mankell participated in the 2010 flotilla). Yonatan Shapira explains why he is taking part in the new flotilla: The US State […]
House Libya Vote: Anti-War or Just Anti-Obama?
The Republican-dominated US House of Representatives voted down an authorization for President Obama to have the US participate in the Libya War on Friday. (Many Democrats also joined in). The House did not agree to cut off funding for the war. With regard to US domestic politics and the rule of law, the vote would […]
Afghanistan: How will Taliban React to Obama Drawdown?
Aljazeera English reports the Taliban have rejected President Obama’s plans for Afghanistan, but that President Hamid Karzai welcomed steps that would return the country to Afghan rule. Still, this report says that Mullah Omar himself has given his blessing to US-Taliban direct talks. Hard to know which one is right (both are unlikely to be). […]
Kukis: Leave Iraq, Too
Mark Kukis writes a guest column for Informed Comment: Leaving Iraq: Why total U.S. military withdrawal is best By Mark Kukis The Obama administration’s move to accelerate a U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan inadvertently highlighted an unsettled question about American forces in Iraq. Will U.S. troops leave Iraq entirely at the end of 2011, as outlined […]
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