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Opinion and analysis of current events: Geopolitics, U.S. politics, global warming and more. A realistic, moderate, left leaning look at politics.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'iran'
Deal Would Have the US Out of Iraq by 2012 - A Good Plan
NYT: Draft Accord With Iraq Sets Goal of 2011 PulloutNoteI cannot fully write about this yet because of the fact that the agreement has not been released, and I don’t know if the full treaty will ev...
China, Iran, and the Denuclearization of North Korea
IHT: U.S. to remove North Korea from terror list Background As part of a denuclearization deal, North Korea today handed over 60 pages of information on its nuclear power and nuclear weapons program....
Prisoner Swap with Hezbollah, Truce in Gaza - Rumblings in the Middle East
CNN: Israeli Cabinet to consider swap with HezbollahBBC: Rockets ‘violated Gaza ceasefire’Reuters: More indirect Israel, Syria talks in JulyBackgroundIsrael has been negotiating on two and a half ...
Shiites Blamed for Bombing of Other Shiites - Iran?
Reuters: U.S. blames Shi'ite group ... for bombing and killing of 63 ShiitesSure, it's easy to see they're trying to stir up sectarian violence. But if your sect is that important, why not blow up som...
U.S, Iran, Neighbors Meet Over Iraq
Reuters: U.S., Iran and Arab neighbors to meet on IraqThis will be the first time Iranian and American negotiators will (publicly) be in the same room since talks over Iraqi security have been suspend...
Will Israel Trade the Golan Heights for Peace with Syria?
BBC: Israel ready to return Golan Heights to Syria BackgroundThe Golan Heights is an a mountainous region in north east Israel that the Jewish state captured in the 1967 Six Day War from Syria and suc...
Will the Arming of Sunni Militias in Iraq Pressure Iran?
Daniel Graeber has an interesting article in UPI (h/t) on the long term consequences of arming Sunni militias in Iraq.But as the Sons of Iraq increasingly shed blood for the country, they are growing ...
Nominating a New CENTCOM Chief
BackgroundIt has just been announced that the commander of CENTCOM, the command that overseas the Middle East, Admiral Fallon, has resigned. This comes a week after a story was published in Esquire th...
Russia Toughens Stance on Iran - Why?
Reuters: Russia warns Iran over nuclear programThis is a strange move of sorts from Russia. The Kremlin has always been reluctant to impose sanctions on Iran, and have been only more reluctant since t...
Kosovo Independence: Russia-Serbia Relations and Russian Reaction
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on Sunday, ending months of waiting. The U.S. and most other NATO nations already have or will to recognize the nation as a sovereign state. This has all been ...
Good News: Sadr to Extend Ceasefire?
Sources tell Reuters that "powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is expected to extend a six-month ceasefire by his Mehdi Army militia."This is great news. Moqtada al-Sadr's peacefire has been one o...
What do New Iranian Sanctions Mean?
BBC: Iran sanctions accord 'imminent' These would be the first sanctions after the last National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran’s nuclear activities, and the first after the infamous Strait of ...
Cash Money
Days after I publish my analysis concluding the U.S. will use the NIE to work with Iran over Iraq... Well what do you know... More U.S., Iran talks next week ...
Iran and the NIE: Where We Go From Here
We’ve talked a lot about the recent National Intelligence Estimate, and rightly so. It is having a tremendous impact on U.S. foreign policy on the foreign policy of any great power. What we have not...
On My NIE Analysis
I would just like to say, as a disclaimer, that I have no experience in government intelligence or at think tanks or anything like that. Although, I do feel I have read enough news reports and enough ...
[POLL] Do You Think the Iranians Have a Nuclear Weapons Program?
Do you think the Iranians have a nuclear weapons program?YesNoOther pollcode.com free pollsOn My NIE AnalysisDo You Think the Iranians Have a Nuclear Weapons Program?Why The NIE Should Be TrustedThe ...
Why The NIE Should Be Trusted
I'm willing to trust the report for two reasons:1. It was approved by the DNI, who in turn was appointed by the President2. It doesn't make sense that Iran would have a nuclear programI will elaborate...
The Significance of the NIE
I left this out of the first post on this topic, so I'll include it now.The significance of this report is not that we can stop pressuring Iran, but 2 different points:1. Going to war with Iran would ...
How Will the Bush Administration Use the NIE Report?
About time I wrote about this. Iran nuclear weapons report finally released, and says Iran has suspended its nuclear weapons program, etc., here comes the analysis.It is important to consider the use ...
The Annapolis Conference: More Hurtful Than Helpful?
Yes, then Israelis and Palestiians appear to be finally making some progress. But it is hard to be optimistic. Beyond the Cusp (a fantastic blog/blogger) takes a cold, hard look at reality. What happe...
Russian Manipulation in Kosovo and Iran
Kosovo partial official results confirm Thaci win This is very interesting. Hashim Thaci, besides being the newly elected prime minister of Kosovo, is the president of the political party PDK, Democr...
The Right's Bloodlust
We’re not going to war with Iran. Get over it.Hawks on the right are screaming for war, and it’s scaring a lot of people. The good news is the Bush administration isn’t listening.No warAfter yea...
Russian Chess
IHT: The United States is prepared to offer concessions to Russia to soften its position on Iran and KosovoThis is much bigger than most news organizations seem to realize. Russia has gotten exactly w...
Israel's Syrian Target Was Nuclear: The One Theory That Answers All the Questions
After the September 6 Israeli strike on Syria, I concluded that my ‘bet [on the reason for the Israeli strike] is on destroying Syrian arms headed towards Hezbollah’. Although the majority of thos...
Nixon and China + Bush and Iran?
Part of a series.In July 1971, Henry Kissinger secretly journeyed to Beijing to confer with Premier Zhou Enlai, then in charge of Chinese foreign policy. This paved way for the landmark 1972 summit be...
No Missile Shield in Azerbaijan
So, Putin decided to make himself look a little nicer than he is; he offered to make a "compromise" on the whole missile shield situation. This paragraph from Stratfor pretty much sums it up.By reject...
Turkey to Invade Iraq?
A Turkish invasion is the last thing the region would need. Iraq is destabilized enough; Kurdistan is setting the standard for Iraq. Al-Qaeda would support Turkey and the insurgency would only get wor...
Regime Change In Iran-A Dangerous Venture
MiddleXeast writes about why the U.S. should promote democracy in Iran.SummaryMiddleXeast essentially says: to achieve victory in Iraq and the Middle East and to end Iran's nuclear program, the U.S. m...
How Iran Violated The Geneva Convention
There is a post at Political Grind that deals with the recent Iran-British Sailor situation, and how Iran did not follow the rules set out by the Geneva Convention. It was written by none other than y...
Bush Is Finally Doing It Right In Iran
For once, the Bush Administration (note: without Rumsfeld) may actually be doing something right. Sanctions, diplomatic pressure, and military pressure are all pushing the right buttons.The push for s...