War in Context

Washington’s cult of narcissism and Iraq

Paul Woodward — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:00:30 +0000

Tom Engelhardt writes: Hubris? We’re bigger than that! We’ve now been at war with, or in, Iraq for almost 20 years, and intermittently at war in Afghanistan for 30 years. Think of it as nearly half a century of experience, all bad. And what is it that Washington seems to have concluded? [...]

Why did Joe Biden insult America’s friends?

Paul Woodward — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:35:42 +0000

In an interview on CNN, Hillary Clinton was refreshingly blunt in saying that Israel insulted the US: But now that’s been clearly stated, why did Joe Biden have to cap the first insult by adding another when he said: “the United States has no better friend in the community of nations than Israel”? That’s not true — [...]

Poll: Half of Israeli high schoolers oppose equal rights for Arabs

Paul Woodward — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:00:19 +0000

Haaretz reports: Nearly half of Israel’s high school students do not believe that Israeli-Arabs are entitled to the same rights as Jews in Israel, according to the results of a new survey released yesterday [Thursday]. The same poll revealed that more than half the students would deny Arabs the right to be elected to the Knesset. [...]

CIA drone attacks produce America’s own unlawful combatants

Paul Woodward — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:00:22 +0000

Gary Solis, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, writes: In our current armed conflicts, there are two U.S. drone offensives. One is conducted by our armed forces, the other by the CIA. Every day, CIA agents and CIA contractors arm and pilot armed unmanned drones over combat zones in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including Pakistani [...]

Afghan tribal rivalries bedevil a U.S. plan

Paul Woodward — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 03:00:49 +0000

The New York Times reports: Six weeks ago, elders of the Shinwari tribe, which dominates a large area in southeastern Afghanistan, pledged that they would set aside internal differences to focus on fighting the Taliban. This week, that commitment seemed less important as two Shinwari subtribes took up arms to fight each other over an ancient land [...]

In early tally, tight Iraq race deepens splits

Paul Woodward — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 01:00:01 +0000

The New York Times reports: Iraq’s major coalitions were locked in a surprisingly close race on Thursday, in initial results from elections that deepened divisions across a fractured landscape. Candidates were quick to charge fraud, heightening concerns whether Iraq’s fledgling institutions were strong enough to support a peaceful transfer of power. The day was the most tumultuous [...]

Dubai tells spies to clear out

Paul Woodward — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:58:13 +0000

Newsweek reports: Police in the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai have advised all foreign spies to get out of town—and preferably out of the region—within a week. Although it is widely known in international spy circles, news of the expulsion threat has received little circulation beyond media in the Arab world. However, Gulf News, a newspaper [...]

Time for George Mitchell and the US to step aside

Paul Woodward — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:34:28 +0000

Among commentators unable to see beyond the bankrupt perspective that the United States has the indispensable role of mediating a Middle East peace agreement (if such an agreement is ever to be reached), much is being made about Joe Biden’s tough words “behind closed doors”. Laura Rozen quotes from a Yedioth Ahronoth report: People who heard [...]

Cornel West points out Obama’s hypocrisy on Israelis and Palestinians

Paul Woodward — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:00:25 +0000

Watch the clip above as Cornel West responds to this question: The Obama administration talks about a new era of engagement. You spoke earlier about a “friendlier face of empire”. What does that mean? Is that just marketing? Or is there actually a change in US foreign policy these days? Watch the whole 23-minute interview:

The peace-process masquerade falls apart

Paul Woodward — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:00:26 +0000

It turns out that at least when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the difference between the Bush administration and the Obama administration is this: team Bush had better choreography. The Guardian now reports: The US vice-president, Joe Biden, today attempted to salvage the Middle East peace talks after the Palestinians announced they were pulling out of [...]

East Jerusalem in a Jewish stranglehold

Paul Woodward — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:01:01 +0000

Isn’t it time that the “two-state solution” be regarded as an object of the imagination no more real than the Tibetan kingdom of Shambala? At the heart of this Middle Eastern fable is another Shangri-La: Jerusalem, capital of the Jewish state and a Palestinian state. In reality, Jews in an unremitting march of expansion are taking over [...]

The wrong kind of green

Paul Woodward — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:00:52 +0000

Johann Hari writes: Why did America’s leading environmental groups jet to Copenhagen and lobby for policies that will lead to the faster death of the rainforests–and runaway global warming? Why are their lobbyists on Capitol Hill dismissing the only real solutions to climate change as “unworkable” and “unrealistic,” as though they were just another sooty tentacle [...]

U.S. changing focus of Iran policy

Paul Woodward — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:36 +0000

The Los Angeles Times reports: After keeping a careful distance for the last year, the Obama administration has concluded that the Iranian opposition movement has staying power and has embraced it as a central element in the U.S.-led campaign to pressure the country’s clerical government. Administration officials and some allied governments believe that a combination of domestic [...]

OECD is ushering Israel in too easily

Paul Woodward — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:04:55 +0000

Seth Freedman writes: Despite all the diplomatic disquiet over Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, actions speak far louder than words when it comes to Israel’s international status. In May, the country seems set to be ushered into the OECD, following years of campaigning from successive Israeli governments. Such a move would be another step in welcoming [...]

Jewish lobbying fails to stop EU support for Goldstone report

Paul Woodward — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:30:54 +0000

On Tuesday, a headline for Haaretz declared: Jewish lobbying sways EU against support of Goldstone Gaza report The article said: Members of the European Parliament have backtracked from their plan to pass a resolution demanding implementation of the Goldstone report, in response to pressure from European Jewish leaders, Haaretz has learned. After leaders of all the major EP [...]