TEHRAN, Iran — It wasn’t the news of the raid by the U.S. Army against the Iranian interests section in the northern Iraqi town of Arbil that set off the alarm bells. Nor the announcement by Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that “twice in the past two or three weeks . . . we’ve captured Iranians,” followed by former Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk threatening “serious consequences” as a result of Bush’s new strategy of escalation against Iran. The announcement that a second aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. John C. Stennis, would be moving [...]
So far, U.S. forces in the East Africa have limited air strikes in Somalia — the alleged home of several high-ranking al-Qaida suspects — to one aerial assault earlier this month that killed dozens, none of which were high-profile targets, a Pentagon spokesman told World Politics Review. “That was the only air strike conducted there,” said the spokesman, refuting reports that U.S. forces have conducted follow-up attacks since the Jan. 8 strafing that left dozens dead. The U.S. military has said all those killed were Islamist fighters, though Somali witnesses on the ground reported some civilians killed. The Pentagon spokesman [...]
Last week’s London Sunday Times exposé “Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran” has set the media buzzing. Given the probable source for the thrust of the article — the senior Israeli military — this is not surprising. But what underlies the furor is the disconcerting reality and approaching menace of the first “in anger” nuclear strike since 1945. The Sunday Times article itself was almost a re-run of the paper’s March 13, 2005, “Revealed: Israel Plans Strike on Iranian Nuclear Plant.” (URL for link) Both were written by the same journalist, but with one notable difference: the latter suggested [...]
