Georgia says Russia troops blocking refugee return

By Mark Trevelyan
1 hour, 9 minutes ago

GORI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russian troops deep inside Georgian territory are stopping thousands of refugees from returning to their homes, a Georgian official said on Saturday.

Putin: US orchestrated conflict in Georgia

By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 47 minutes ago

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Thursday of pushing Georgia toward war and said he suspects a connection to the U.S. presidential campaign — a contention the White House dismissed as "patently false."

U.S. Has Little to Back Up Tough Talk With Russia

Experts Believe Russia Has Little to Fear From U.S. Threats

By KIRIT RADIA
Aug. 28, 2008

Washington is warning the Kremlin it could face consequences for a decision this week to recognize the independence of two breakaway regions in neighboring Georgia and for continuing to defy calls by the United States and its allies to remove Russian troops from Georgian territory.

Who Started Cold War II?

Tue Aug 19, 3:00 AM ET

The American people should be eternally grateful to Old Europe for having spiked the Bush-McCain plan to bring Georgia into NATO.

Russia not honoring ceasefire: Pentagon

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Russia is still not honoring its ceasefire agreement with Georgia and continues to maintain a "large presence" of troops in the former Soviet republic, the US Defense Department said Monday.

Defiant Russia still entrenched in Georgia

by Stuart Williams
39 minutes ago

TBILISI (AFP) - Russian forces were on Saturday still deployed deep inside Georgia, keeping their grip on a strategic port city, as Moscow brushed aside Western accusations it was failing to abide by a ceasefire deal.

Day-by-day: Georgia-Russia crisis

A day-by-day look at how the conflict involving Russia and Georgia over the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia is unfolding.

Soviet roots to Georgian conflict

Diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall traces the fault lines in the current Georgian conflict back to the Soviet era and finds some ominous echoes of the Cold War.

There have been ominous signs of score settling between Russia and Georgia

My first visit to Georgia was in 1977. I was staying with an old lady, the widow of a rather famous Russian artist called Vassily Shukhaev¸ who spent 10 years in exile in Siberia under Stalin.

Nato wonders what to do about Russia

By Paul Reynolds
World affairs correspondent, BBC News website

Russian troops in Georgia: What now for Nato relations with Moscow?

On the eve of a special meeting of their foreign ministers to discuss the conflict in Georgia, Nato governments are divided on what to do about Russia.

Ossetian crisis: Who started it?

By Jenny Norton
BBC News

Georgia was filmed firing rockets into South Ossetia on 8 August

The fighting may well be over in South Ossetia, but the war of words between Russia and Georgia shows no sign of dying down.

Russia promises to start Georgia pullback

By Margarita Antidze
2 hours, 46 minutes ago

TBILISI (Reuters) - Russia said it would complete a pullback of troops in Georgia by the end of Friday but it stopped short of the extensive withdrawal demanded by the West, saying it would keep a force deep inside Georgia's heartland.

Russia and West at odds over UN Georgia resolution

By CARLEY PETESCH, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - Russia and key Western nations remained at odds Thursday over a U.N. resolution aimed at bringing peace to Georgia, with the U.S., France and Britain insisting on immediate withdrawal of Russian troops and a commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity.

Russia blocks Georgia's main port city

By BELA SZANDELZSKY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago

POTI, Georgia - Russian forces dug trenches and built fortifications in key areas of Georgia Thursday, but also rolled columns of tanks north toward home, picking and choosing how their nation would comply with the terms of a peace accord.

Russia again says it will begin withdrawal from Georgia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, voices strong support for Georgia's desire to join NATO, a goal that has fed Moscow's anger toward Saakashvili and the West.

By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 18, 2008

TBILISI, GEORGIA -- The Kremlin said Sunday that Russia's military would begin withdrawing its forces from Georgia today, though it was not immediately clear how far or how fast the troops would move.

Georgia-Russia conflict a blow to Bush foreign policy

The president's reliance on diplomacy based on personal relations with leaders such as Putin and his push to establish democracies from the top down has proved not so viable.

By Julian E. Barnes, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 18, 2008

WASHINGTON -- In the last week, two major pillars of President Bush's approach to foreign policy have crumbled, jeopardizing eight years of work and sending the administration scrambling for new strategies in the waning months of its term.

Russian soldiers take prisoners in Georgia port

By BELA SZANDELSZKY, Associated Press Writer
20 minutes ago

POTI, Georgia - Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgians in military uniform prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia on Tuesday, blindfolding them and holding them at gunpoint, and commandeered American Humvees awaiting shipment back to the United States.

How to Stop Putin

By Charles Krauthammer
Thursday, August 14, 2008; Page A17

The Russia-Georgia cease-fire brokered by France's president is less than meets the eye. Its terms keep moving as the Russian army keeps moving. Russia has since occupied Gori (appropriately, Stalin's birthplace), effectively cutting Georgia in two. The road to the capital, Tbilisi, is open, but apparently Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has temporarily chosen to seek his objectives through military pressure and Western acquiescence rather than by naked occupation.

East Europe tries to protect itself from Russia

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 17 minutes ago

WARSAW, Poland - Poland strikes a deal on a U.S. missile defense base. Ukraine tries to limit the Russian navy's movement in its waters. The Czech Republic's leader warns his nation is in danger of being sucked back into Moscow's orbit.

Russian forces pull back from Igoeti's center

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 33 minutes ago

IGOETI, Georgia - Russian forces pulled back Saturday from the center of a town not far from Georgia's capital after Russia's president signed a cease-fire deal, but his foreign minister later suggested there would be no immediate broader withdrawal.

Bush: Georgia deal 'hopeful,' Russia must withdraw

by Olivier Knox
1 hour, 1 minute ago

CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) - US President George W. Bush on Saturday warily welcomed Russia's signing of a deal to end its conflict with Georgia as "a hopeful step," but warned Moscow must now withdraw its forces.

Russia: Poland risks attack because of US missiles

By JIM HEINTZ, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 4 minutes ago

MOSCOW - A top Russian general said Friday that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposes the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.

Georgia president signs cease-fire with Russia

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
34 minutes ago

TBILISI, Georgia - A reluctant Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Friday he signed a cease-fire agreement with Russia and declared in the presence of the chief U.S. diplomat that the West had behaved in ways that invited the invasion.

Despite angry words, Pentagon seeks to avoid Russia conflict

By Nancy A. Youssef | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Despite an angry pronouncement and a threat of U.S. action from President Bush, the U.S. military is determined to avoid inserting itself between its Georgian allies and its former superpower rival, Russia.

Russian soldiers block the road on the outskirts of Gori, northwest of the capital Tbilisi, Georgia, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008.

U.S. flies aid into Georgia, backs ceasefire

By Matt Robinson and Margarita Antidze
30 minutes ago

TBILISI (Reuters) - U.S. military planes began delivering aid to Georgia as Washington stepped up support for a shaky ceasefire with Russian troops around the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

West warns Russia over military push into Georgia

By PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writer
15 minutes ago

LONDON - The West is threatening to revoke Russia's membership in an elite Group of Eight nations club as punishment for the military incursion into the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Three countries have already pulled out of a joint military exercise with Russian forces that began in an era of cooperation after the Cold War.

Abkhazia War Dance

Demonstrators perform a traditional "war dance" during a demonstration by supporters of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in front of the Georgian consulate in Istanbul August 13, 2008.

REUTERS/Fatih Saribas (TURKEY)

Russian convoy heads into Georgia, violating truce

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA and MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer
39 minutes ago

OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia - Russian troops and paramilitaries thrust deep into Georgia on Wednesday, rolling into the strategic city of Gori and violating the truce designed to end the six-day war that has uprooted 100,000 people and scarred the Georgian landscape.

US insists it still strongly backs Georgia leaders

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday he is skeptical that Moscow is honoring a cease-fire in neighboring Georgia, demanding that Russia end all military activities in the former Soviet republic and withdraw all its forces.

At UN: Confirmation of Russia's Georgia advance

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Aug 11, 11:27 PM ET

UNITED NATIONS - Georgia brought another last-ditch appeal Monday to the United Nations Security Council to stop Russia's advancing army, which U.N. officials confirmed has driven beyond Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russians move toward gorge despite cease-fire

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 13 minutes ago

CHUBERI, Georgia - The Russian troops sprawled on top of the tanks in a 135-vehicle convoy looked relaxed, with bandannas on their heads rather than helmets. Some smoked, one ate a chunk of watermelon. Many drivers had slung flak jackets over vehicle windows.

Georgian oil pipeline: the front line

The BTC pipeline was conceived in the 1990s as a way of reducing the West's reliance on oil and gas from the Middle East and, crucially, Russia. Now it is under threat. At stake are the balance of power in the Caucasus, and the vital questions of how, and where, the US and Europe will obtain their oil.

Vladimir Putin capitalises on US ambivalence

Gerard Baker: American view

Say what you will about Vladimir Putin, the man certainly has chutzpah. As his forces drove further into Georgia yesterday across the border from the province of South Ossetia, the Russian Prime Minister lashed out at the US for helping Tbilisi in the escalating war.

Russian Offensive Imperils U.S. Aims on Iran, Energy

Janine Zacharia
Tue Aug 12, 6:29 AM ET

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Russia's military campaign in Georgia may threaten the U.S. strategic aims of preventing Iran from building a nuclear bomb and securing Central Asian energy supplies for Europe.

US, allies weigh punishment for Russia

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 29 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Scrambling to find ways to punish Russia for its invasion of pro-Western Georgia, the United States and its allies are considering expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of wealthy nations and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.

Russia: Georgia must accept non-use of force deal

By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Moscow will agree to peace with Georgia if it removes its troops far beyond the borders of South Ossetia and signs a legally binding promise not to attack it, Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Russia orders halt to war, Georgia skeptical

By Oleg Shchedrov and James Kilner
42 minutes ago

MOSCOW/TBILISI (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday but Tbilisi cast doubt on the announcement, saying Russian fighter jets had just bombed two villages.

Russian president halts attacks, says Georgia 'punished'

MOSCOW (AFP) — Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday ordered a halt to the military offensive against Georgia saying it had been punished but could be hit again.

U.S. tells Russia to halt Georgia conflict

By Matt Robinson
29 minutes ago

TBILISI (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush told Russia on Monday to end its armed conflict with Georgia after Moscow's forces advanced deeper into its pro-Western neighbor's territory, ignoring Western pleas to halt.

Bush warns Russia to pull back in Georgia

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday demanded that Russia end a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in Georgia, agree to an immediate cease-fire and accept international mediation to end the crisis in the former Soviet republic.

Russo-Georgian conflict is not all Russia's fault

By Charles King
Mon Aug 11, 4:00 AM ET

Washington - Following a series of provocative attacks in its secessionist region of South Ossetia late last week, Georgia launched an all-out attempt to reestablish control in the tiny enclave. Russia then intervened by dropping bombs on Georgia to protect the South Ossetians, halt the growing tide of refugees flooding into southern Russia, and aid its own peacekeepers there.

Russians march into Georgia as full-scale war looms

Russia's punitive campaign in the Caucasus threatened to intensify into all-out war against Georgia last night, with Russian troops seizing control of strategic towns a couple of hours from the capital, and aircraft pounding Georgian infrastructure.

Georgia claims Russians have cut country in half

By DAVID NOWAK, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago

GORI, Georgia - Russian forces seized several towns and a military base deep in western Georgia on Monday, opening a second front in the fighting. Georgia's president said his country had been effectively cut in half with the capture of the main east-west highway near Gori.

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the Roots of Terror''

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the Roots of Terror''

Israel's Debate Over an Iran Strike

By TIM MCGIRK AND AARON J. KLEIN / JERUSALEM
Fri Jul 25, 2:05 AM ET

Despite President Bush's insistence that the military option remains "on the table" for dealing with Iran's nuclear program, Israeli officials have recognized that a U.S. air strike on Iranian nuclear sites is increasingly unlikely in the waning days of the Bush Administration. The Israelis, along with everyone else, are now counting on European-led diplomatic efforts to persuade the Iranians to halt their uranium-enrichment program. But they know diplomacy may fail, which is why a debate now rages in the highest circles of Israel's government and military: If the Europeans fail and the Americans remain reluctant to launch another war in the Middle East, should Israel strike alone against Iran?

Economic, political pressure on Iran is best: Pentagon

by Jim Mannion
56 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Washington believes economic and political pressure are the best ways to dissuade Iran from seeking atomic weapons, a Pentagon spokesman said Tuesday, following an appeal by Israel's defense minister to keep "all options" on the table.

Iran's Ahmadinejad backs 'just' nuclear talks

by Farhad Pouladi
23 minutes ago

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Tehran would continue talks with world powers aimed at resolving the crisis over its atomic drive provided these are "on equal footing."

Iranian president: 'Big powers' going down

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 29, 8:38 AM ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's president on Tuesday blamed the U.S. and other "big powers" for global ills such as nuclear proliferation and AIDS, and accused them of exploiting the U.N. for their own gain and the developing world's loss.

Iran says nuclear talks 'positive and progressive'

by Farhad Pouladi
1 hour, 34 minutes ago

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said on Tuesday that talks with world powers aimed at resolving the crisis over its atomic drive were "positive and progressive," local media reported.

U.S. to establish presence in Tehran: report

1 hour, 47 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States will announce in the next month that it plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years, a British newspaper said on Thursday.

Would an attack on Iran be legal?

By Paul Reynolds
World Affairs Correspondent, BBC News website

As diplomatic attempts continue in the UN Security Council to get Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment activities, the question has been raised about an American attack on Iran and whether it would be legal under international law.

Bush's big Iran problem

By Hooman Majd

It is foolish for the Bush administration not to negotiate seriously with Iran at this point, thanks to circumstances largely of its own making.

Foreign Affairs; World War III

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: September 13, 2001

As I restlessly lay awake early yesterday, with CNN on my TV and dawn breaking over the holy places of Jerusalem, my ear somehow latched onto a statement made by the U.S. transportation secretary, Norman Mineta, about the new precautions that would be put in place at U.S. airports in the wake of Tuesday's unspeakable terrorist attacks: There will be no more curbside check-in, he said. I suddenly imagined a group of terrorists somewhere here in the Middle East, sipping coffee, also watching CNN and laughing hysterically: ''Hey boss, did you hear that? We just blew up Wall Street and the Pentagon and their response is no more curbside check-in?''

I don't mean to criticize Mr. Mineta. He is doing what he can. And I have absolutely no doubt that the Bush team, when it identifies the perpetrators, will make them pay dearly. Yet there was something so absurdly futile and American about the curbside ban that I couldn't help but wonder: Does my country really understand that this is World War III?

Rice says US will defend Gulf; Iran tests missiles

WASHINGTON July 10, 2008, 02:44 pm ET ·

Condoleezza Rice flexed America's muscles in the Middle East Thursday, forcefully warning Iran the U.S. won't ignore threats and will take any action necessary to defend friends and interests in the Persian Gulf.

How might Israel attack Iran's nuclear sites?

Tue Jul 8, 2008 8:45am EDT

(Reuters) - Iran would retaliate against any attack on its nuclear facilities by "burning" Tel Aviv and U.S. assets in the Gulf, an aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

G8 says concerned about Iran proliferation risk

Tue Jul 8, 2008 10:40am EDT

TOYAKO, Japan (Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight rich countries expressed serious concern on Tuesday at the proliferation risks posed by Iran's nuclear program.

Iran says will hit Tel Aviv and U.S. ships if attacked

Tue Jul 8, 2008 1:43pm EDT
By Parisa Hafezi and Zahra Hosseinian

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and American interests around the world if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear activities, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Study urges long-term policies to influence Iran

Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:52am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A military strike on Iran would be unlikely to force changes in Tehran's nuclear policy, the Rand research organization said on Thursday in an analysis recommending long-term policies to deal with the country.

Israel backs Iran sanctions but says might act

Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:33am EDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday he favored the use of diplomatic pressure and sanctions against Iran's nuclear program but cautioned that Israel was "not afraid to take action".

Iran tests more missiles as U.S. vows to defend allies

Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:36pm EDT

By Alistair Lyon

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran tested more missiles in the Gulf on Thursday, state media said, and the United States reminded Tehran that it was ready to defend its allies.

McCain on Iran: Bush all over again

An alarmist John McCain is using Iran as a political weapon against Barack Obama -- even as he misjudges our Middle East adversary.

By Hooman Majd

Iranian president says no war with US, Israel

By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 8 minutes ago

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that he sees no possibility of a war between his country and the United States or Israel.

Panel calls for new war powers legislation

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Congress should pass legislation to require the president to consult lawmakers before going to war, according to a bipartisan study group chaired by former secretaries of state James Baker III and Warren Christopher.

Iraq insists on withdrawal timetable

By SALLY BUZBEE, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 32 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

Medvedev: No progress with US after Bush meeting

By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jul 8, 6:34 AM ET

TOYAKO, Japan - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that his meeting with President Bush at a summit of the Group of Eight industrial powers resulted in no progress toward bridging deep disagreements between the former Cold War foes.

Iran to "hit Tel Aviv, U.S. ships" if attacked

By Parisa Hafezi
Tue Jul 8, 6:12 AM ET

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran will hit Tel Aviv, U.S. shipping in the Gulf and American interests around the world if it is attacked over its disputed nuclear activities, an aide to Iran's Supreme Leader was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Iran indicates it has no plans to halt enrichment

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 19 minutes ago

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran indicated Saturday that it has no plans to meet a key Western demand that it stop enriching uranium, a day after Tehran sent the European Union a response to an international offer of incentives for halting enrichment

Iran warns of Gulf blitzkrieg, Hormuz closure

Sat Jul 5, 8:24 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's military chiefs warned on Saturday that the Islamic republic would shut down the Strait of Hormuz vital for oil exports and use "blitzkrieg tactics" in the Gulf if it came under attack.

The Coming Catastrophe?

The finishing touches on several contingency plans for attacking Iran

by David DeBatto

Books: The Third World War

By John Hackett - July 15, 1987

Books: Opening Guns of World War III: Washington's Assault on Iraq

by Jack Barnes (Author), Mary-Alice Waters (Editor)

Get Ready for World War III

by Paul Craig Roberts

August 15, 2005

With every poll showing majorities of Americans both fed up with Bush's war against Iraq and convinced that Bush's invasion of Iraq has made Americans less safe, the White House moron proposes to start another war by attacking Iran. VP Cheney has already ordered the U.S. Strategic Command come up with plans to strike Iran with tactical nuclear weapons.

Bush's World War Three

by Michel Chossudovsky


" We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel. So I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon. I take the threat of Iran with a nuclear weapon very seriously...." (George W. Bush, 17 October 2007)

McCain Watch

McCain Uses Swift Boat Vet Bud Day To Rebut Wesley Clark
June 30, 2008 06:05:31 AM EST

The Huffington Post News Team

Sen. John McCain's campaign on Monday launched the McCain "Truth Squad" - a group of political and Vietnam contemporaries who would counter attacks on the Senator's military record.

Iran foreign minister dismisses threat of attack

By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer
37 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday dismissed talk of a U.S. or Israeli attack against his country, calling the prospect of another war in the Middle East "craziness."

Iran says any attack would provoke fierce reaction

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 50 minutes ago

MADRID, Spain - An attack on Iran would provoke a fierce response, the country's oil minister warned Wednesday at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid.

McCain says only World War III would justify draft

COSTA MESA, California (Reuters) - Only World War III would prompt Republican presidential candidate John McCain to bring back the military draft, McCain said on Tuesday.

Many Americans are fearful the U.S. government will be forced to reinstitute the draft given the prolonged Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

U.S. Says Israeli Exercise Seemed Directed at Iran

By MICHAEL R. GORDON and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: June 20, 2008

WASHINGTON — Israel carried out a major military exercise earlier this month that American officials say appeared to be a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

U.N. nuclear team to inspect bombed site in Syria

By Karin Strohecker
Mon Jun 23, 5:49 AM ET

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.N. nuclear inspectors headed on Monday for an alleged nuclear site in Syria that the United States says housed a secretly built reactor nearing completion when it was bombed by Israel nine months ago, a diplomat said.

Israel shows abilities for Iran strike

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 12 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A large Israeli military exercise this month may have been aimed at showing Jerusalem's abilities to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

Russia's Lavrov warns against attack on Iran

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 25 minutes ago

MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

How Iran would retaliate if it comes to war

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 25 minutes ago

MOSCOW - Russia's foreign minister on Friday warned against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

Obama establishes lead over McCain: Poll

Press Trust of India
Thursday, June 12, 2008 (New York)

Presumptive Democratic candidate for the US presidential election Barack Obama has established a small early lead over his rival Republican John McCain, a new poll shows.

Bush Faces Rome Anti-War Protests

Thursday, Jun. 12, 2008 By AP/DEB RIECHMANN

(ROME) — President Bush can look forward to a hearty welcome from his old friend, the charismatic Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, and Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Rome. That's not what was found on the streets, however, where anti-Bush sentiment over the war in Iraq still lingers.

Perpetuating the al-Qaeda-Iraq Myth

By ROBERT BAER
Tue Jun 3, 5:10 PM ET

In an interview with the Washington Post last week, CIA Director Michael Hayden claimed we're beating al-Qaeda. As Hayden put it: "Near strategic defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Near strategic defeat of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia."

Oil falls after CNBC says Saudis hike output

Tue Jun 10, 9:38 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Crude oil futures fell on Tuesday from highs over $137 a barrel after CNBC reported Saudi Arabia had increased output by 500,000 barrels per day to 9.45 million bpd this quarter, traders said.

Oil consumption forecasts cut as prices surge

By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer
16 minutes ago


NEW YORK - The U.S. Energy Department and the International Energy Agency both lowered their global oil consumption forecasts for this year because of surging prices, but said demand continues to accelerate in developing nations.

Global cluster-bomb ban draws moral line in the sand

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer
and Michael Seaver | Correspondent

ISTANBUL, Turkey; and DUBLIN, Ireland - Diplomats from 111 countries will unveil a treaty on Friday to ban cluster bombs that have left war zones around the world littered with lethal weapons long after hostilities ended.

Europe balks at $8 a gallon gas

Protests have rocked London, Paris, and other cities across the continent this week.
By Mark Rice-Oxley

London - Trucks blocking a main London highway, fishermen blockading French ports, Dutch drivers petitioning parliament, Spanish and Italian fishermen voting to strike – Europeans are becoming restless at relentlessly high energy costs.

Talks to keep U.S. troops in Iraq provoke ire

By Howard LaFranchi
Tue Jun 10, 4:00 AM ET

Washington - An agreement the United States is negotiating with Iraq on the conditions for the long-term stationing of American forces there is under fire from national legislative leaders in both countries.

Bush and allies embrace possible Iran sanctions

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer
7 minutes ago

KRANJ, Slovenia - President Bush and European allies on Tuesday threatened tougher sanctions to squeeze Iran's finances and derail its potential pursuit of a nuclear weapon. Bush said the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran would endanger world peace.

Oil rises jump more than $10 to new record high

By ADAM SCHRECK, AP Business Writer
15 minutes ago

NEW YORK - Oil prices shot up more than $11 to a new record above $139 Friday after Morgan Stanley predicted prices would hit $150 by the Fourth of July. The unprecedented jump is all but certain to drive gas prices well past the $4 mark in the coming weeks

U.S. sidesteps questions on Israeli threat against Iran

Fri Jun 6, 2008 1:31pm

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday sidestepped questions about an Israeli threat to attack Iranian nuclear sites if it continues uranium enrichment, saying it was committed to dealing with Tehran through multilateral diplomacy.

Oil jumps over $6 as dollar weakens

Fri Jun 6, 2008 11:36am EDT

By Margaret Orgill

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil soared by more than $6 a barrel to over $134 on Friday, bringing gains in the last two days to $12 as the dollar weakened further on a jump in the jobless rate in the United States.

Remarks by Israel's transport minister that an attack on Iranian nuclear sites looked "unavoidable" and a Morgan Stanley report predicting oil could reach a record high of $150 by July 4, also sent crude prices roaring upwards.

Israel to attack Iran unless enrichment stops: minister

Fri Jun 6, 2008 9:02am EDT

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites looks "unavoidable" given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential, one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's deputies said on Friday.

‘So Close To'

We came so close to World War Three that day

James Forsyth and Douglas DavisWednesday, 3rd October 2007

On 6 September, when Israel struck a nuclear facility in Syria


A meticulously planned, brilliantly executed surgical strike by Israeli jets on a nuclear installation in Syria on 6 September may have saved the world from a devastating threat. The only problem is that no one outside a tight-lipped knot of top Israeli and American officials knows precisely what that threat involved.

McCain criticizes Obama on Iran

By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 3 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain raised the specter of a nuclear Iran in a speech to a pro-Israel group, once again chastising Democrat Barack Obama for his willingness to meet with leaders of Iran and other U.S. foes.

A Tantalizing Look at Iran’s Nuclear Program

By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Published: April 29, 2008

Barbed wire and antiaircraft guns ring a maze of buildings in the Iranian desert that lie at the heart of the West’s five-year standoff with Tehran over its program to enrich uranium.

Iran, IAEA to resume nuclear talks: envoy

Christopher Stern
Sun May 11, 2:09 PM ET

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton, who lost her lead among party superdelegates this weekend and has $20 million in campaign debt, will continue her fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, her campaign spokesman said.

U.S. sees food aid on track despite high costs

At the same time, oil prices have reached record highs, increasing the cost of shipping.

World food crisis to last four to six more years

By Inae Riveras

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - High world food prices will not ease for another four to six years, when global grain production should catch up with new demand from emerging countries, a senior Brazilian farm official said.

Iran nuclear talks in China fall short of agreement

By Chris Buckley

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Six-nation talks looking to revive nuclear negotiations with Iran fell short on Wednesday of agreeing on a new package to present Tehran, while Iran's president said he was open to talks within limits.

The Bubble of American Supremacy

A prominent financier argues that the heedless assertion of American power in the world resembles a financial bubble—and the moment of truth may be here.

by George Soros

Missile Defense Deal Unlikely in Russia

AP foreign, Saturday April 5 2008

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) - The White House says it does not expect President Bush's talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to produce a deal on a missile defense system based in Europe.

NATO backs Bush's missile defense system

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago

BUCHAREST, Romania - President Bush won NATO's endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe over Russian objections. The proposal also advanced with Czech officials announcing an agreement to install a missile tracking site for the system in their country

McCain: Iran's influence on the rise

We continue to be concerned about Iranian influence and assistance to Hezbollah as well as Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons," McCain said.

Commander warns of al-Qaida threat to US

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
Fri Mar 7, 6:24 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Al-Qaida terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit followers, the U.S. military commander in charge of domestic defense said.

Turkish troops pull out of Iraq

CUKURCA, Turkey - Turkey's military said Friday it has ended a ground offensive against Kurdish rebels in Iraq, but said that foreign influence did not play a role in its decision.

It's Not About Iran

By Shibley Telhami
Monday, January 14, 2008; Page A21

As President Bush travels through the Middle East, the prevailing assumption is that Arab states are primarily focused on the rising Iranian threat and that their attendance at the Annapolis conference with Israel in November was motivated by this threat.

Serbs protesters attack UN police

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC, Associated Press Writer
18 minutes ago

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA, Kosovo - Serbs protested against Kosovo's independence for a fifth straight day Friday, attacking U.N. police guarding a key bridge in the province's north with stones, glass bottles and firecrackers

Jesus Juice, 9/11, and an Emerging Pre-emptive Nuclear Doctrine at NATO

It was Presidential candidate and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who uttered the words, " I drink a different kind of Jesus Juice, " but likely not in reference to the now-proverbial " Kool Aid, " itself a latent semantic reference to the 1970s Helter Skelter fiasco.

Perhaps 9/11 is to Huck's Jesus Juice, the modern era's proverbial Kool Aid, with the emerging pre-emptive nuclear doctrine now being " floated " by NATO playing the part of protagonist. In other words, without the pre-emptive nuclear option, Iran will soon become a nuclear threat which, given 9/11, bears all of the characteristic resemblance of the kind that would intend to strike with similar atomic force. Hence, as the logic holds, it must be " pre-empted."

Moreover, we recall Dick Cheney's comment after 9/11 regarding the idea about " limited nuclear strikes " being plausible, presumably, again, to deter poltical violence, and that it was Dick Cheney who supported the disbandment of the once-hallowed ABM Treaty.

In this vein, 9/11 becomes, like the WOMDs that Curveball claimed to exist, an idea dispelled by Hans Blix, and, though less forcefully so, likewise by George Tenet and Valerie Plame, the latter once being a clandestine CIA operative before Cheney's office blew her cover; 9/11-as-Kool-Aid becomes pretext for the pre-emptive atomic deterrence of political violence that could only render ever rising tensions with Iran, which could only themselves become greater pretext for the plausibility of first strike nuclear deterrence.

The kind of Jesus Juice most of us who, like Mike, prefer to drink, is probably the kind that sees in an EU constitution, still yet to be ratified, the possibility for a one-state option which will render power to any EU state to block NATO outright, but with particular regard to the use of atomic force, for any reason, particularly preemptively.

But the biggest problem might be Russia, which NATO may be - in light of EU stability concerns and what the republics offer in carrots in the form of petroleum, which is an answer to the kind of EU involvement in the Middle East - the War In Iraq - that may be seen as the actual culprit of the political violence directed at Beslan, Madrid, London and Belgian embassies - inclined to support a Russia whose military may want to pull out of the INF Treaty, again, yet another Cold War staple of counterproliferation.

Is Russia seeking to intimidate NATO into the more forceful, preemptively atomic option that the vast majority of EU states would be unlikely to support, while offering the republics up as carrots ? One can never be sure, but so too did Litvenenko drink a different kind of Jesus Juice.

Or maybe it was the radioactive Kool Aid.

Pre-emptive nuclear strike a key option, Nato told

Ian Traynor in Brussels
Tuesday January 22, 2008
The Guardian

The west must be ready to resort to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to try to halt the "imminent" spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, according to a radical manifesto for a new Nato by five of the west's most senior military officers and strategists.

Blair urges NATO unity amid Afghan friction

By Jonathan Spicer

TORONTO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Thursday that NATO must challenge its enemies in Afghanistan firmly and in a united way, despite recent reports of friction among Western countries

Blackwater Used Gas on Iraqis, US Troops

According to the New York Times, Blackwater was running a convoy in 2005 when they ran into trouble near a checkpoint. What do they do? They gas the crowd, with US troops right there. To be fair, this isn’t the kind of gas the Reagan Administration supplied to Saddam Hussein and that he used on his own people.

The Russo-Iranian Nuclear Program

The tragedy is that the Ayatollah appears to have been open recently to making official peace but, he says, that now is not the right time. I'm not quite sure why, but I disagree, as Iraq's leader, Maliki, is a moderate Shiite, which should lend itself to natural stabilization, at least over time.

But the Ayatollah also claims to have made a deal with Washington in 2003 regarding rhe nuclear program, the terms of which he claims Washington reneged on, which is the reason why it restarted. The problem with the nuclear program is that it's not a domestic Iranian issue, but one that's governed by international law and could threaten American troops on Iraqi soil, perhaps not entirely legally.

The other issue with the Iranian nuclear program, which we might call the Russo-Iranian program is the Chechen rebels. If Russia remits from INF with Chechnya a Russian federal state, as Boris Yeltsin argued when he attacked Grozny in 1994, and Iran is to ship uranium to Russia, which may have been a part of the 2003 deal that Iran claims to have made with Washington, the question might be about whether the Chechens could legally possess short to intermediate range nuclear weapons which might even be conceived by some in the international community to be a deterrent to Grozny III.

In other words, what could Russia possibly have in mind when it threatens to pull out of INF and wants to renegotiate adapted CFE ?

The problem with the Russo-Iranian nuclear program has less to do with Iran than it does with Russia, which twice decimated Grozny at a level that approached Hiroshima and Nagasaki, wiping out half of its population and may now be implicating Iran in yet another round of Grosnian genocide by inducing Iran to ship uranium over which Iran will lose control once it crosses Russian borders.

Is the Administration telling the Truth about Iran or Trying to Save Face?

This year, the Bush Administration vociferously claimed two rationales for attacking Iran:

1) that Iran had nuclear weapons, which posed an imminent threat;

2) that Iran's government had armed U.S. enemies in Iraq (as opposed to drug lords or other individuals operating in Iran without government approval).

Intelligence and War

Nobody would argue that 9/11 was anything short of, in manifold ways, one giant unmitigated breakdown. The 9/11 Commission is still, to the behest of the Bush administration, investigating possible CIA wiretapping, torture and secret prison coverups, each of which encompassing its own interesting, unique dimension relative to international law, which remains to be vital, inconsistencies critical, where force, as a generalized notion becomes extensible to political violence. In other words, inconsistencies in international law, which might even be conceived as ineffiencies of sorts, in the realm of information, encompass a unique capacity to translate into political violence as a function of the entropy generated in the wider sphere of human relations - alliances, in particular - as some by-product of those ineffiencies.

With Abu Ghraib I think there are two things that are really important. The story of how it became such a big story – it partly has to do with Seymour Hersh [the journalist who broke the story], it partly has to do with whoever leaked those pictures to the media, but it is also true that even when the pictures were first shown, it was not quite such a big story in the United States until President Bush was forced to comment on it. And the reason he was forced to comment on it is because the pictures were also circulating in the Arab world. There was a big reaction in Arab public opinion, and he felt it was necessary to comment on that. So that fact that there are these other flows of information besides the ones involving Western media — it is not purely national, it is a global flow of information. And Bush has to respond to that.

Charlie Wilson's War, Stalingrad, Metal Furtinha, World War Three - and yet when I watch the news I sometimes remain unable to distinguish between what I see on the History Channel and what's being reported in the media. In other words, why would I need to watch a movie about history when what's happening right before my very eyes is history itself - not in the sense of its relativity to a future or potential future, but to the past ? Hence, if psyche as structure exists in time, as space, analogically related, on some level to geopolitical space, then it must possess the elements of psyche in the form of id, ego and superego, the analog of which is the past, present and future.

--- national identity ecology

Heidegger may have been the most prominent recent philospher to have made the distinction that might be best generalized as a question of time and existence or, " Being and Time. " While in the study of acoustics it's called the " Time Reversal Phenomenon. " Do we, as a civilization, have the power to determine the future, determine our own destiny, by re-determining history in a current context ? Why is Chechnya not Afghanistan ? Why is Osama not Osama ? To what extent is collective human behavior guided by some prevailing symbolism ? Is it a Jungian question ? Do symbols - some prevailing symbolic architecture - dictate the zeitgeist ? Is there a symbolic architecture that might exist in time and space that communicates, perhaps in much the same way an acoustic signal does, with human cognition, both on an individual and collective scale ?

What strikes me is the notion that both history and the future can be determined by the present - in some current context - but not necessarily as Marx may have conjectured, because history repeats itself but rather because sociological systems are, to competing extents in time and geopolitical space, both conservative and progressive, yet not in equal measures.