Current Analysis Somalia Airstrikes Are Not the Answer On January 24, the US launched a second round of airstrikes in Somalia against alleged al-Qaeda terrorists believed to be responsible for the bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Intended to eradicate these extremist elements from the Horn of Africa, the airstrikes instead exacerb Khalid Mustafa Medani • 2 min read
Current Analysis Iraqis Deserved Better Justice For much of the time that I wrote my biography of Saddam Hussein between 2003-2005, its ending remained unclear. Throughout the process of researching and writing the book, Saddam’s government was overthrown, and he went into hiding. In December 2003, US soldiers participating in Operation Red Dawn Shiva Balaghi • 2 min read
Current Analysis Behind the Gaza Breakdown The latest convoluted set of events within Palestine, and at its borders, form a depressing tableau that mirrors the conflict as a whole. Chris Toensing • 3 min read
Current Analysis Study Group Shows Why US Must Leave It is time for the United States to leave Iraq. Not because the consequences of withdrawal won’t be dire for Iraq, but because these consequences are occurring anyway, in slow motion. Civil war and chaos already envelop the country, both conditions are getting worse and the United States is powerle Chris Toensing • 2 min read
Current Analysis Israeli Siege is Undermining Peace Since Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent Middle East tour concluded without concrete results, and unity talks between Fatah and Hamas remain at a standstill, the possibility of an Israeli-Palestinian political compromise appears bleaker than ever. But Palestinian lives and livelihoods shou Lori Allen • 2 min read
Current Analysis Grinding Palestine To Powder Secretary Rice’s recent Middle East tour concluded without any discussion of peace between Israel and Palestine. Unity talks between Fatah and Hamas have hit a standstill. In other words, the possibility of an Israeli-Palestinian political compromise appears bleaker than ever. Meanwhile, US and Euro Lori Allen • 4 min read
Current Analysis Humanitarian Crisis in Lebanon is Huge After passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and the ensuing "cessation of hostilities," hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese are venturing across bombed roads and bridges returning to their destroyed homes and villages in the south. Although Israel’s aerial bombardment h Samia Mehrez • 2 min read
Current Analysis Deflating Middle East Extremism President Bush and many other supporters of the current Israeli assault on Lebanon and its reoccupation of the Gaza Strip justify these military actions on the grounds that Hamas and Hezbollah do not recognize Israel’s right to exist. Negotiating with “terrorists” is impossible, they claim, because Joel Beinin • 4 min read
Current Analysis Letting Gaza Burn The captivity of Israeli solider Gilad Shalit is over two weeks old, with no sign of a breakthrough, and a second front with Hizbullah now threatens to divert world attention from the conflagration in Gaza. Following Israel’s grievously disproportionate military rejoinder to Shalit’s capture, over Chris Toensing • 3 min read
Current Analysis Court Wrongly OKs Profiling Should the police be able to arrest you based on your religion and then imprison you indefinitely while they search for a crime to charge you with? Of course not. The very idea flies in the face of American jurisprudence, whose traditions guarantee due process, equal protection and the presumption Moustafa Bayoumi • 3 min read
Current Analysis The Power of The Guantánamo Bar Association If you doubt that we are still “a nation of laws,” you haven’t visited the American Civil Liberties Union web site to peruse the thousands of pages of government documents concerning the “war on terror” made available through Freedom of Information Act litigation. While Bush administration policy ma Lisa Hajjar • 4 min read
Current Analysis National Unity in Iraq — As One Government or Three? As Iraq continues to slide into civil war, there is certainly a crying need for fresh thinking. Though he finally admits sending a few “wrong signals” with his Iraq policy, President Bush still calls for staying the course. Not every alternative suggestion, however, is a good one. The latest bad id Sinan Antoon • 3 min read
