Author: Alejandro

With his soft spoken style, transparent style of governance and support of the current President, Muslim politician Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is Nigeria’s current Presidential front-runner: Nigeria’s Soft-Spoken Top Candidate (Christian Science Monitor) Alleged “dirty bomber” case highlights the moral and strategic limitations of Bush administration’s counter-terrorism tactics: US Antiterror Tactics Crimp New Terror Case (Christian…

Washington Post reporter gives detailed eyewitness account of blast that hit Iraqi Parliament: In an Instant, a Junkyard of Humanity (Washington Post) Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations provides his analysis of militaries’ Middle East politics: Ruling But Not Governing: Militaries in the Middle East (Washington Post) Former Carter National Security advisor opines on…

While Iraq has been hit by some of the hardest fighting between joint US-Iraqi forces and Sunni militants, Sadr’s movement threatens to leave the government and escalate violence in the country:   Troops Backed by Helicopters Battle Insurgents in Baghdad (Washington Post) Iraq: Sadrists Threaten to Leave Gov’t (Associated Press) North Africa is rocked by…

Faced with the realities of a growing young and restless population, the Saudi government makes minimal concession by relaxing some of the country’s ultra-conservative social laws: Wave of Saudi Youths Challenge Kingdom’s Conservative Sway (Christian Science Monitor) The story of a joint Afghan-Dutch patrol’s firefight with Taliban units demonstrates the challenges to achieving security in…

Things continue to look bleak in Iraq as local militants continue their elusive and deadly tactics, Shi’as answer the call for an anti-occupation by Moqtada As-Sadr and even an Iraqi who helped topple a statue of Saddam Hussein after the invasion, looks back upon four years of occupation and violence with regret: Patterns of War…

“Our problem here is what? It’s how to eat, how to drink, and how to forget about our problems. We can’t do anything else…That cultivates hatred. It’s the hatred of not being able to do anything.” – Ibrahim Moussa In Jordanian Camps, A Sense of Nihilism (Washington Post) Fed up with bad image in the…

Middle East expert Juan Cole provides his excellent news round-up on developments in Iraq, as well as his analysis of the release of the British sailors from Iranian capture: 70 Killed in Iraq, Diplomacy of Iran May be Legacy of British Sailor Hostage Crisis (Informed Comment) …while other experts see the political drama of the…

American bi-partisan congressional delegation engages in diplomatic surge and meets with Syria’s President, Bashar Al-Assad: Pelosi Meets With Syrian Leader (Washington Post) Two month body count by the Washington Post provides gloomy empirical indicator of Iraq’s dangerous security situation… Sum of Death Statistics: a Perilous Iraq (Washington Post) …which helps to explain the challenges US…

Bush administration’s stance against Iran fails with the capture of the 15 British soldiers and strengthens its hardliner counterparts in Iran… U.S. Strategy on Iran May Have Backfired (LA Times) Iran’s New Hostage Crisis (Salon.com) …yet the administration persists–even at the risk of threatening UK–Iranian negotiations to release the sailors: Washington Hurting British Bid to…

The disastrous consequences of military intervention in Iraq:  Sunnis Surge Beyond Baghdad (Christian Science Monitor)  Driven by War to a No Man’s Land in Jordan: Lives of Palestinian Refugees From Iraq Reflect Six Decades of Dispossession (Washington Post)  Qaeda Is Seen as Restoring Leadership (New York Times)   Violence from military interventionism and poor security…