If Obama passes this health care bill, that he began serious involvement in after a year of debate, he'll be a moderately insignificant two term president, maybe. At best...If it fails, we'l… Read More

[EC's note: I'll return to this blog infrequently. The amount of time I have (short term) to blog is adequate. By April or May, my posts will be very infrequent -- if at all.My return is bro… Read More

Should I stay, or should I goFor a few days, the United States asserted that Moqtada al Sadr was in Iran, and some Sadr loyalists said this was not the case. CNN has an Iraqi official, Sami… Read More

Before I qualified for language training with the Army, I purchased set 1 and 2 of Rosetta Stone's language course in Arabic. The cost was just under $330. The program is one of the best way… Read More

George W. Bush insists that maybe the government of Iran is behind attacks in Iraq. The Washington Post: "What we don't know is whether the head leaders in Iran ordered the Quds Force to do… Read More

Three died in two terrorist attacks on buses Tuesday. Robert Fisk:Yet the politicians now talk openly of this terrible possibility and the rumours - through every community here - that large… Read More

The administration's and the military's intelligence that Iran is behind attacks on Coalition military personnel is a little thin at this point. There are artillery shells in Iraq from South… Read More

Patrick Cockburn, of the Independent, notes that Iraqi government security agents kidnapped the Iranian diplomat. Iran accuses the Ministry of Defense. That is near the end of his story, but… Read More

A Pakistani Muslim, who served in the British Army, explains why his brother -- who died in Afghanistan -- and he volunteered, the London Times.Syed Saleem Shahzad of Asia Times Online belie… Read More

There are two camps. Warner, Webb and Hagel, all veterans, oppose the surge (Washington Post). McCain, a veteran, supports the surge (Washington Times). McCain and those in his camp state th… Read More

The quiet conflict with IranCNN reports that two United States agencies are investigating links to Iran in the abduction and execution of five American soldiers. One of those soldiers was Ca… Read More

Scores of Shiite were killed on their holiest day today.Messianic cultThe BBC has a balanced account of Abdul Zahra's odd cult and dramatic end. McClatchy reports thousands of rifles and hun… Read More

Operations continue, but the situation has calmed considerably.The Los Angeles Times has the best summary of the confusion in this battle:Iraqi security officials offered conflicting account… Read More

The Los Angeles Times:BAGHDAD — Muqtada Sadr, the radical anti-American cleric, has backed away from confrontation with U.S. and Iraqi forces in recent weeks, a move that has surprised… Read More

George W. Bush will seek $10.6 billion for security and reconstruction in the country, AP. The Defense Department announced that 3,200 soldiers of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, wi… Read More

What are Prime Minister Maliki's actual motivations in the coming months? I do not think anyone but he can say with certainty. Maliki vows to crackdown on militias but continues to exclude S… Read More

What is needed? Reconstruction teams and trainers. What would be a half-measure provoking more harm than good? A small "surge" that can't stop the sectarian violence and the insurgencies, bu… Read More

Though we must be very cautious as Iraq seems to take one step forward and then two quickly in the opposite direction.Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times reports that bodies found in Ba… Read More

Military enthusiastsCNN: Attackers in Karbala, responsible for the deaths of five US service personnel, were able to pose as US military officials to get past Iraqi guards.This level of soph… Read More

President Bush made a speech. Maliki pulls aside a handfull of reporters and gets front page coverage. Here is how the London Times headlines the interview: "Give us guns – and troops… Read More

Martin Kettle of the Guardian:[I]t is difficult not to sense a frightening naivety about the practicalities of the operations that are envisaged on the ground, both in Baghdad and Anbar. Gra… Read More

Tariq al-Hashimi, a (Sunni) vice president of Iraq, has what must be the most pathetic reason for continued optimism in today's Washington Post:During the Asian Games in Qatar last month, Ir… Read More

George W. Bush will announce Wednesday a “surge” of additional American military power to achieve his goal of a stable, democratic Iraq that is a reliable ally in the war on terr… Read More

Ali Allawi in the Independent:The SolutionIt requires genuine vision and statesmanship to pull the Middle East from its death spiral. The elements of a possible solution are there if the wil… Read More

CNN (my emphasis):CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced plans Monday to nationalize Venezuela's electrical and telecommunications companies, pledging to creat… Read More