WASHINGTON, Nov 5: A deadly attack on a US outpost in eastern Afghanistan in July was executed with the support of local police and government leaders as well as villagers there, according to an internal US military report. The report, released on Tuesday, recommended that the district's Afghan police chief and governor be replaced, if […]
Condoleezza Rice leaves today for Israel/Palestine/Egypt/Jordan. Before her departure she took the mike at the Washington DoS briefing, usually run by Sean McCormack, to join the Obama lovefest. She's heading into a hornet's nest: Israel's recent military excursion into Gaza has prompted retaliation. Both sides say they’d prefer to adhere to the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire of […]
The National reports on the oil industry's reaction to the US elections. Excerpt: "The Gulf states will be unaffected by any new US energy policy because of their huge reserves, and their importance is bound to increase as production drops in other regions," Mr Bukhdur said. Hajjaj Bukhdur is an energy expert and economist based […]
Two days ago, a French aid worker was the latest to be targeted by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. In this case the aid worker, who was reportedly an education specialist from an unknown NGO, was kidnapped by a small group of Taliban members, who in the process killed a young Afghan civilian. Reportedly 19 humanitarian […]
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools […]
Samar Fatany, a Saudi woman visiting America to witness this election as part of a State Department program to prepare Middle Eastern women to run for office in their home countries, writes home from the US: In the Arab world, limited elections … hardly give one a taste of the incredible power of democracy as […]
Iraq is going to cut Awakening salaries from about$300 a month to $250. That's a 17% cut. The US can either step in and cover the difference or wait to see if there is any fallout.
Juan Camilo Mourino, Mexican Interior Minister, has been killed in a plane crash in Mexico City. Mourino was not only the second most important politician in the country, but also a close ally and advisor of President Felipe Calderon. Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, a former high-ranking official at the Unit of Special Investigations on Organized […]
… to voice their opposition as Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party holds its annual conference. Opposition groups denied a permit to hold another, contemporaneous conference in Cairo took their gathering online. You can check out the blog at anti-NDP.blogspot.com (Arabic).
In honor of Election Day here in America, how about we remind the two presidential candidates of a tremendously volatile and challenging issue they will all of a sudden be responsible for; Afghanistan/Pakistan democracy and stability. President-elect Obama or McCain will face quite the number of tests, and defeating the Taliban and Al Qaeda, bringing […]
The Brookings Institution's Middle East Youth Initiative is following the developments of the global economic whatever-we-are-calling it in a series called Food, Fuel and Finance: How Will the Middle East Weather the Global Economic Crisis? Slipping Oil Prices: is the Oil-Rich Middle East Prepared?, the first installment, offers a brief history of oil revenues over […]
During the past two weeks my mid-term exams at Georgetown University have consumed nearly all my time. After several papers, I’ve nearly finished my mid-terms with only one more to go in Economics for Latin American Studies… That said, I should be back on track writing frequently for the Mexico blog, along with Alejandro. In […]
A major consideration behind Congressional attempts to condition or reduce Egyptian military aid is the concern that Egypt is preparing for aggressive military action towards Israel. The late Tom Lantos led the initiative in Congress. He had this to say in June 2004 during a subcommittee meeting of the House Committee on International Relations: Cairo […]
Just last Thursday, Kazakhstan's thriving capitol, Astana, hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Heads of Government Council meeting. I could not find many reports about what was accomplished at the meeting besides the official statement from the group's website, which was drier than a drought in the Sahara's. The official statement reported that the group's members […]
