In a conference today in Damascus about security in Iraq, western officials praised Syria for its efforts to prevent foreign fighters from infiltrating into Iraq. The United States Charge d'Affaires however, condemned the host country, accusing them of "giving safe...
Karzai: Obama Vows to Fight Terror in ‘Region’
A Saturday phone call between President-elect Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai has yielded, according to President Karzai, a firm commitment to make Afghanistan and the "region" a top priority in the incoming Obama Administration. The "region" appears to...
Georgia Blames Russia in Reported Shooting at Saakashvili Motorcade
After a reported shooting near a motorcade taking Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and visiting Polish President Lech Kaczynski to the Ossetian border, the Georgian government issued a statement claiming Russian soldiers fired the shots from 30 meters away....
Kurdish Officials Acquired Arms From Bulgaria
US military officials are reporting that the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq took delivery of three planeloads of weapons from Bulgaria sometimes in September. The quantity of the arms caught US officials off guard, and has apparently irked the Iraqi central...
UK Denies Involvement in Latest US Drone Strike
Yesterday's drone strike in North Waziristan Agency, Pakistan, was perhaps most noteworthy among the dozens of US strikes in Pakistan's border regions in that it killed a dual citizen of Pakistan and Britain, Rashid Rauf, a terror suspect who officials have sought to...
Israeli Military Urges Contingency Plan for Iran Strike
Experts disagree on whether Iran even has the raw material to construct a single nuclear weapon if it chose to do so. They seem to agree, hawkish political sloganeering notwithstanding, that Iran has not diverted any of that material to military ends. Either way, the...
Maliki Says US Troops Will Leave if no Pact
Echoing comments last week from State Department adviser David Satterfield, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said his government will not seek an extended UN Mandate if the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US fails to pass parliament. Though both...
Israeli General Eyes Regime Change, Assassination in Iran
In an interview, former Israeli military chief and potential future Defense Minister General Moshe Ya'alon says that the Iranian revolution must be confronted "immediately," and suggests some rather extreme measures which this confrontation might involve. Firstly an...
Iraqi Official Threatens State of Emergency if Pact Rejected
With boisterous debate and a looming vote in Iraq's parliament over the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States, few things could have made the situation any more tense. The United States has issued repeated threats of extreme consequences if the...
US Drone Strike Kills Five in North Waziristan
Updated 11/22 7:05 PM EST In a sign of just how seriously the United States took this week's formal protest from the Pakistani government over its recent spate of air strikes, US drones have struck again, this time hitting a house in North Waziristan, killing five and...