Circumstances in Iraq are insanely complicated, but not generally indecipherable. The major players are known—some well, some not so well—many major occurrences are reported, and a fair number of people who are either in Iraq or know the country well regularly provide commentary and analysis. Yet the US press continue to rely largely on the […]

Jackson Diehl, the deputy editorial page editor of the Washington Post, has an op-ed today in which he asserts that the lack of political progress in Iraq is an argument for staying there indefinitely. It’s another version of the now familiar If-Things-Are-Getting-Worse-We-Must-Stay-In-Iraq-And-On-The-Other-Hand-If-Things-Are-Getting-Better-Then-We-Must-Stay-In-Iraq argument that, whatever its deficiencies might be, is at least admirably consistent.
But I’m […]

The latest signal came from George Bush, warning of a “nuclear holocaust” if Iran gets The Bomb (despite an IAEA report that Iran isn’t as much of a threat as Bush claims). There can’t be any more provocative words than “nuclear holocaust” to justify the purported prevention of one. Nor can there be any doubt […]

It’s yet another example of reporting that makes no effort at analysis of Bush’s claims. This time, Bush says that an American withdrawal from Iraq would have an effect like that of our withdrawal from Vietnam - a bloodbath resulting in the deaths of millions of people.
…one unmistakable legacy of Vietnam is that the price […]

The American Psychological Association now says that its members can’t take part in water-boarding, sleep deprivation or sexual humiliation, among other techniques that have become part and parcel of Bush tactics against alleged terrorists at Guantanamo. If they see such activities, they are now required to intervene to stop them, report them to superiors, and […]

The war - George Bush’s War, the Neo-con’s War, Joe Lieberman’s War, the Republican-Democrat’s War - is as catastrophic as its opponents predicted, but the reality of it is far more catastrophic than they could have imagined, because it’s impossible to imagine such endless, grinding horror. It must be lived to be known. Words can […]

I’m puzzled. When Karl Rove finally spoke in public about the Plame Affair last week, he said that Armitage was the one who “used her name.” But didn’t Novak look it up in Who’s Who?
Aha. I see you subscribe to the immaculate leak theory of Plameogenesis.
It’s true that Novak started making that claim after the […]

Two British men suffer for Bush’s sins…

Bush tells Saudis: I’ll never leave Iraq!

Among the great occasional pleasures I enjoyed while living in Hawaii for more than a decade were evenings spent lounging around on the lanai of Steve Geimer, the general manager of Arturo’s, and chowing down on his invariably tasty pupus and dinners. The Arturo of the company is Arturo Montoya, who arrived in Hawaii during […]