We Must Negotiate with Iran

In a recent New York Times Op-Ed (January 30), Viorst makes a case for involving the Arab League in efforts to end the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, he contrasts this suggestion with that of the Iraq Study Group that emphasizes negotiation with Syria and Iran, “the very countries”, he asserts, “that have an interest in Iraq’s [...]

Escape from Iraq Through Iran

Many in Washington believe that the alternatives to a disastrous retreat from Iraq are few. One of the alternatives that some feel administration people are entertaining is a widening of the war to Iran. American statements in regard to Iran have been threatening since the “Axis of Evil” speech. Iran was never given credit for [...]

Ahmad Chalabi, Iran, and War in Iraq

I have recently realized that the war in Iraq may have been carefully nursed into flame by the Iranian government as a means of destroying their old nemesis (Hussein) and weakening their neighbor to the west, so that it could never aspire to much more than satellite status.
Ahmad Chalabi might be singled out as the [...]

Juan Cole and the Middle East

The reader of this blog can probably be as well informed as any about Iraq and its situation if he reads Juan Cole’s blog: http://www.juancole.com. The subtitle is “Thoughts on the Middle East, History, and Religion”. In spite of its broad range, in recent years the emphasis has been on the Iraq war. Cole [...]

Bing West’s War

In the latest Atlantic Bing West offers his upbeat vision of how things might be turned around in Iraq. I mentioned the CAP or Combined Action Platoons in an earlier posting. Bing was the one who originally presented this idea to me and other researchers at the Hudson Institute in the 1960s. He had [...]

The Bush Plan for Iraq

President Bush’s long awaited plan for Iraq was followed on television by several, mostly critical remarks by political leaders, political analysts and military experts. The plan is essentially to send about 21,000 additional troops into Iraq, 17,000 of them to be used in Baghdad to establish firm control over the city in conjunction with Iraqi [...]

University Projects for Iraq

Recent reports are that the United States and the Kurdish enclave have developed a plan for an “American University” modeled on that in Beirut. Instruction will be in English. It is to be located near Sulaimaniya in eastern Kurdistan. There seems to be initial funding and the land has been staked out. The report suggests [...]