Washington Watch Articles From 2006
Revealing the Obvious
Here’s the obvious: the two principal factors accounting for this animosity are US policy toward Iraq and Palestine. In four of the five Arab countries covered in our 2006 survey (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan) respondents pointed to US policies in those two areas as the major reasons for their negative attitudes toward the US. Only Lebanon was different. There, of course, US policy toward this summer’s war on Lebanon was the main source of animosity.
ELECTIONS TO WATCH
Not the least of my concerns, of course, will be the macro-outcome, as in which party will control the House of Representatives and/or the Senate. Let me be clear from the outset—I am a Democrat, proud of the political philosophy of my party, though not always pleased with the positions taken by and performance of some of its leaders and standard bearers.
ELECTIONS 2006: THE DEADLY SILENCE
In not a single House or Senate race being contested this year will the candidates engage in a serious debate about the failed US policy in the Middle East. There are a number of races where the Iraq war is an issue, but in these instances the debate has more to do with how we got into the war, the mistakes we’ve made and how we should leave. There are, to be sure, supporters of the President’s vision (or fantasy) of the Iraq war; i.e., that we are producing a democracy that will transform the region. But in no case is there a serious discussion about Iraq, itself, or the consequences of our broader Middle East policy.
A STRANGE AND TROUBLING WAR
Almost years after President Bush declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq, this strange and troubling war just got even stranger and more troubling.