Much has been made of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and their increasing control over the Swat Valley. The Pakistani military has been shelling the area, killing scores of civilians and promising to eventually reconquer the region. But the problem of...
US Sold Phosphorus Shells to Israel
The Pine Bluff Arsenal, a United States Army installation in Arkansas, specializes in chemical and biological weapons. The military touts them as the only facility in the Northern Hemisphere which fills white phosphorus munitions. That's the important point here, as...
Pessimistic Reports Recommend Disparate Changes in Afghanistan Strategy
The situation in Afghanistan is bad. How bad? The head of the US military is warning against a comparison between Afghanistan and Vietnam because "Afghanistan is much more complex." The policy recommendations keep coming in as the Obama Administration plans its...
Relative End to Gaza War Bolsters Israeli Right in Polls
Keeping a nation out of war is usually something to emphasize in elections: in Israel, where the nation has gone over two weeks without much in the way of military conflict it is the end of the war rather than the beginning which is seen as undermining the ruling...
NATO Surge in Afghanistan Unlikely
As President Obama continues in earnest with his promised military "surge" in Afghanistan, which will double the number of American forces on the ground, it was expected that NATO would enhance its commitment to the seven year long military commitment as well. That...
Mullen: Afghanistan Is Not Vietnam – It’s Even More Complex
Joints Chiefs Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen warned that people should be "pretty careful" about making comparisons between the current military quagmire in Afghanistan and the previous American military quagmire in Vietnam. According to Mullen, "Afghanistan is much...
Iran Denies Rumors of High-Level US Talks
Reports have been swirling around for the past several days that the United States has been holding high-level but discreet talks with Iran even as the Obama Administration has publicly dismissed rumors of any official efforts to improve relations. Now, Iran too is...
Afghans Protest After US Raid Kills Civilians
Hundreds of Afghan protesters took to the streets Sunday in protest over a US raid they said led to the deaths of at least two civilians, the latest in a string to US raids which have killed a large number of innocent civilians. During the US raid in the Ghazni...
ElBaradei: Israel Violated International Law in 2007 Attack on Syria
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei was asked why he didn't condemn Syria and North Korea for "building a nuclear reactor" - referring to the alleged gas-graphite reactor some claim was being constructed along the Euphrates River. The...
Obama: Substantial Number of Iraqi Troops Will Be Home in Another Year
In an interview today on NBC, President Barack Obama was asked whether a "substantial number" of troops would be home in time for next year's Super Bowl (to be held on February 7, 2010). Obama replied "Yes. We are going to roll out in a very formal fashion what our...