Neo-Nazi in Tel Aviv

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Tel Aviv, Israel.

Allepo’s castle burns

Monday, June 29, 2009

I was just cruising by, on my way to the airport, and as we turned the corner, the castle stood ablaze in front of me.

Iraq’s New Death Squad

Friday, June 05, 2009 - The Nation

Just after the U.S. took Baghdad in 2003, American Special Forces began training young Iraqis with no prior military experience in the desert of Jordan. The resulting brigade—the Iraq Special Operations
Forces—was a deadly, elite, covert unit, fully fitted with American equipment, that would operate for years under U.S. command and be
unaccountable to Iraqi ministries and the normal political process. It’s probably the largest special forces outfit ever built by the US and it is free of many of the controls that most governments employ to rein in such lethal forces.

Iraqis call them the “Dirty Brigade.” Many charge that they are an elite, private force for the Americans and Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki and accuse them of engaging in collective punishment. One American Lt. Colonel I talked to called them “shit hot.”

I broke this story in The Nation magazine. You can read the story at The Nation, or click “read full entry” below.

Research support was provided by New America Media, the Nation Institute, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.

Muslims in Syria Like Obama’s Tone but Want New Policy

Thursday, June 04, 2009 - New America Media

DAMASCUS, Syria--Muslim shopkeepers, activists, and analysts in Damascus who watched Obama’s speech Thursday appreciated what they saw as a clear change in the U.S. attitude toward the Muslim world. But most are skeptical, saying they want a fundamental shift in American policy, not just a shift in rhetoric.

Al-Qaeda Violence Rising as US Stretegy Unravels in Iraq

Monday, May 11, 2009 - New America Media

The U.S. military’s temporary strategy to use Sunni militias to bring stability to Iraq is starting to unravel, causing more violence than the country has seen in seven months.

Government statistics show that 355 Iraqis were killed in April, 290 of whom were civilians. Almost all of those deaths were caused by suicide bombings, and all of the attacks targeting civilians seemed to be aimed at the Shia. Eighty Iranian pilgrims were also slain.

Three of the April attacks killed more than 50 people each--a third of all attacks of this size in Iraq for all of 2008.

The steady increase in violence can be attributed in large part to the fact that the Iraqi government has been increasingly targeting the Sahwa, or Awakening Councils, often with the support of U.S. forces. As a result, many Sunni fighters credited for bringing down sectarian violence in Baghdad have been leaving their posts, making room for al Qaeda to resume its operations in the Iraqi capital.