Marc Lynch reads the United Arab Emirates newspapers because I can't. The latest talk is that the Shiite coterie around Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has lost patience with the Sons of Iraq and is urging outright disbanding:
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Butte, Mont. (Campaign Photo)
Obama Celebrates Fourth in Montana
Presidential Hopeful Revisits Patriotism With Veterans
By Sridhar Pappu
07/04/2008
BUTTE, Mont.-- Sen. Barack Obama's ongoing campaign theme fit the bill for the Fourth of July.
Commentary
Why Colombia?
By Julia Sweig
07/02/2008
It's the perfect place to flash your war-on-terror and free-trade bona fides, expose your rival's vulnerabilities and change the conversation from Iraq.
Truth & Consequences for CIA on Torture
By Milt Bearden
07/01/2008
The CIA's role in President George W. Bush's torture policy is bad news for a troubled agency with important work to do.
An Alternative Trade Policy
By Robert L. Borosage
06/26/2008
Obama's trade plans include staking a claim on green manufacturing jobs while investing in infrastructure modernization.
- 'Dream Home' for a Family of the Past
- Spying, a U.S. Psychic Dilemma
- McCain: I'm No Bush Echo
- Boumediene: Victory of Law
- A Personal Primary
- Chicago Machine Tips
- The Perfect Ticket
- Financial Weapons of Mass Destruction
- A (Mostly) Graceful Exit
- Notes in the Aftermath
- Race & Politics Since RFK
- When Did Talking Go Out of Style?
- The Other Subprime Loans
- Guantanamo Trial Unraveling
- California's Primary Kept Clinton Going
- Webb's Vision for Defense
- Clinton Shoots for Jacksonian Victory
- Obama as the Next Roosevelt
- McCain's Trade Deficit
- Bear Stearns Too Big to Fail?
CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT MEDIA
Top News
Justice in Hot Water Over Dubious Grants
By Matthew Blake
07/03/2008
Another Justice Dept. scandal is gaining traction. This time, it involves the wife of prominent Republican Bill Bennett.
Consumer Safety Panel Weakened
By Suemedha Sood
07/03/2008
Some lawmakers have been pressing for a bill that would reinvigorate the stumbling commission since last year's toy recall.
Obama's Faith Strategy
By Sridhar Pappu
07/02/2008
Sen. Barack Obama's speech on faith reveals both his campaign strategy and his plans for the Democratic party.
Spying Powers Face More Tests
By Mike Lillis
07/01/2008
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, amendments aim to hold telecom companies to account for cooperating in the White House warrantless wiretapping program.
Full Slate Awaits Senate
By Mike Lillis
06/30/2008
Amid election year politicking, pressing issues stalled, including Medicare and housing.
Al Qaeda Goes Viral
By Spencer Ackerman
06/30/2008
BOOK REPORT
Terrorism scholar Brynjar Lia traces the story of Abu Mus'ab al-Suri, author of an important how-to book on radicalism, and translates -- for the first time -- key portions into English.
Obama, Clinton Call for 'Unity'
By Sridhar Pappu
06/27/2008
UNITY, N.H. -- Here in New Hampshire, Democrats find the perfect place for a family reunion.
GI Bill Survives Partisanship
By Mike Lillis
06/27/2008
The bill -- a victory for veterans advocates -- survived attacks from moderate Blue Dogs and conservative Republicans.
Moving Up the Ranks
By Holly Yeager
06/27/2008
Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody described herself as a positive thinker and an improviser -- a character set she says is unusual for a military leader.
Moving Right or Dodging Bullets?
By Mike Lillis
06/27/2008
Housing advocates criticize Democrats for watering-down or cutting proposals that would curb predatory lending and push banks to refinance troubled loans.
Torture Policy Framers Testify
By Spencer Ackerman
06/26/2008
John Yoo and David Addington played pivotal legal roles from the dawn of the Bush administration's war on terrorism.
VIDEO: Torture Policy Architects Testify
06/26/2008
White House officials who crafted the Bush administration's torture policies, David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney and John Yoo, a Berkeley Law School professor and formerly of the Justice Dept.'s Office of Legal Counsel, defended their positions before a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday.
Words vs. Deeds
By John Dougherty
06/26/2008
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — An analysis of Sen. John McCain's Congressional work conflicts with his verbal support for the most biologically diverse corridor in the United States.
VIDEO: Torture at Gitmo Protest
06/25/2008
The American News Project catches up with TWI reporter Spencer Ackerman at Amnesty International's anti-torture protest on the National Mall.
War Contracting Gone Bad
By Matthew Blake
06/25/2008
To fulfill a $300 million Pentagon contract, 22-year-old arms dealer, Efraim Diveroli, turned to Albania for 40-year-old cartridges.
- Amnesty Brings Gitmo Cell to U.S.
- McCain's Path: A Tale of the West
- FISA Vote Tied to Telecom Donations
- In and Out With Offshore Drilling
- Watchdogs Rethink McCain
- The Return of the Neocons
- Long-term Harm From U.S. Torture
- Obama Reaches Out to Michigan
- Roadmap to Torture
- VIDEO: TWI Aboard Obama Plane
- Action Tougher Than Oversight
- History Through a Bush Lens
- Obama as Father Figure
- What Happened to Housing?
- Elite Smear Clashes with Tradition
- Pricey Alternative: Nuclear Energy
- EMILY's List in the Aftermath
- Big Oil Subsidies Dodge the Ax
- Afghanistan Unraveling
- McCain Calls Arizona a Swing State
Obama Willing to 'Refine' Iraq Withdrawal Plan
By Sridhar Pappu 07/03/2008 06:01PM
FARGO, N.D. -- Wait, he’s gonna talk to us again?
That was the feeling among many of the press corps as we finished our lunches, and filed stories from a tent set up at a children’s museum here in beautiful Fargo, when we learned Sen. Barack Obama would make himself available for press questions for the second time in one day. As one reporter noted, there are some weeks where he doesn't make himself available twice in one week.
Sadly, this wasn’t an act of generosity by the presumed Democratic nominee for president to his campaign chroniclers. He was using this second appearance to, um, clarify earlier remarks when, fresh off a flight from Colorado Springs, he told the group he’d be willing to “refine” his withdrawal plan from Iraq.
The Battle Over Housing the Poor
By Mary Kane 07/03/2008 05:10PM
A July/Aug. Atlantic Monthly article by Hanna Rosin about how a recent rise in crime in Memphis neighborhoods was linked to the demolition of public housing projects and the dispersal of residents with Section 8 vouchers throughout those communities prompted controversy and comments. The conclusions in the piece seemed to contradict the long-held notion that getting people out of overcrowded, run-down housing projects was the best option for fighting poverty and crime, and for improving their lives. As Miriam Axel-Lute explains in Rooflines.org, a blog published by the National Housing Institute, the article sounds "like fighting words to all low-income advocates, fair housing advocates, and people who don't believe that the poor are inherently criminal." Some of the criticism turned political, charging Rosin with demonizing public housing residents and giving the right wing new ammunition.
N.D.'s Three Electoral College Votes, Ripe for the Picking
By Sridhar Pappu 07/03/2008 04:52PM
FARGO, N.D.--Standing on a tarmac in Fargo, N.D. this morning, the press corps traveling with Sen. Barack Obama had every reason to ask what in god's name they were doing there. Not only had George W. Bush taken the state during the last two election cycles, North Dakota has a paltry three votes in the electoral college. But here was the presumed Democratic presidential candidate, ready to give an address on veterans at a local children's museum, before leading the group to Montana -- which also has a whopping three votes to add.
Jeb Bush, McCain Visit Mexico
By Matthew DeLong 07/03/2008 04:45PM
MEXICO CITY -- As reported earlier, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush accompanied Sen. John McCain on a tour of the Basilica of the Virgin Guadalupe this morning. During the visit, McCain received a blessing from the Basilica’s Monsignor Monroy.
Dissolving the Sons of Iraq?
By Spencer Ackerman 07/03/2008 04:21PM
Mullen's Choice: Troops For Afghanistan Or Troops For Iraq
By Spencer Ackerman 07/03/2008 03:39PM
With these words, Adm. Mike Mullen joins the ranks of the reality-based community:
We are exploring a number of options and opportunities to get a better understanding of the scope of the threat and the best means with which to counter it. I've made no secret of my desire to flow more forces, U.S. forces, to Afghanistan just as soon as I can, nor have I been shy about saying that those forces will not be available unless or until the situation in Iraq permits us to do so. It's a very complex problem, and it's tied to the drug trade, a faltering economy and, as I've said many times, the porous border region with Pakistan.
There's no easy solution, and there will be no quick fix. More troops are necessary, and some of our NATO allies have recently committed to sending more of their own, but they won't fully ever be sufficient. We need and are pursuing a broader interagency international approach, one that includes infrastructure improvement, foreign investment and economic incentives, and I'm hopeful these efforts will begin to pay off in the near future. But we all need to be patient. As we have seen in Iraq, counterinsurgency warfare takes time, and it takes a certain level of commitment. It takes flexibility.
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