Syria: Nukes or Peace?

Staff / Truthdig Apr 27, 2008 This past week, Syria made headlines not once but twice. One story implicates the country in enriching uranium and says that the CIA confirmed to Congress that the target of a mysterious Israeli air raid in northern Syria on Sept. 6, 2007, was a reactor built with North Korean help. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Israel Reportedly Ready to Return Golan

Staff / Truthdig Apr 23, 2008 "Informed sources" say the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a historically contested area between Israel and Syria, may soon find itself under new management. The two countries, which have been at war with each other since 1973, are both looking to resume the stalled 2000 peace talk process, which Syria has declared will not happen until the Golan Heights are returned. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mosaic: What Petraeus Didn’t Tell Us

Staff / Truthdig Apr 13, 2008 The latest "Mosaic Intelligence Report" takes a look at the "massive humanitarian crisis" that Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker failed to address in their update meetings with Congress about the Iraq war. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Iraq Exploding as Shiite Fights Shiite

Patrick Cockburn / Truthdig Mar 27, 2008 A new civil war may be looming in Iraq as American-backed Iraqi government forces battle Shiite militiamen for control of Basra and parts of Baghdad. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Angelina Jolie: Now’s the Time to Help Iraqis

Staff / Truthdig Feb 29, 2008 For those inclined to ask "who cares?" every time a celebrity-and-politics news item makes the rounds, consider it asked already. For everyone else, The Washington Post published an opinion piece by actress Angelina Jolie on Thursday about the problem of Iraqi refugees fleeing to Syria, Jordan and "a vast and very dangerous no-man's land" within their own borders. Now, Jolie says, is the time for Americans to "do some of the good we always stated we intended to do." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Grown-Ups Never Showed Up

Joe Conason / Truthdig Nov 29, 2007 The ascension of George W., according to many Bush loyalists, was a return of mature and wise foreign policy. Tell that to the ailing Middle East, whose future is now being pondered in a U.S. meeting that seems destined to fail. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Lesson in Courage From Beirut

Robert Fisk / Truthdig Oct 2, 2007 Not only is The Independent reporter Fisk, like many others in Beirut, no longer shocked by a murder of yet another member of parliament, but he also is no longer affected by viewing the remains of the dead. Such is life in Lebanon today. Here, Fisk relates how Lebanese officials are learning to exist in a perpetual fog of fear. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Lebanese Government on Verge of Collapse

Robert Fisk / Truthdig Sep 22, 2007 Another member of Lebanon's parliament, Antoine Ghanem, was killed on Sept 19 when a bomb went off in his car outside his home in Beirut This means, The Independent's Robert Fisk reports, that " It only takes one more murder for the democratically elected government of Lebanon to fall". Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

North Korea Denies Sharing Nukes

Staff / Truthdig Sep 18, 2007 The North Korean government has denied allegations that it shared nuclear technology with Syria. A senior U.S. nuclear official earlier insisted that North Koreans were in Syria, possibly to supply the latter with illicit equipment. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Syria Fires on Israeli Jets

Staff / Truthdig Sep 7, 2007 Ramping up already escalating tensions between the two nations, Syrian military officials claimed Thursday that Israeli warplanes violated Syrian airspace in the wee hours of the morning, prompting Syrian air defense forces to open fire until the planes turned around -- an account Israel has yet to confirm or deny. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Tensions Build Between U.S., Iraqi Leaders

Staff / Truthdig Aug 22, 2007 The Iraqi prime minster is now under attack from leading U.S. politicians. Even President Bush is distancing himself. As Nouri al-Maliki turns to find "friends elsewhere" -- in Syria, which he is visiting, and in Iran, with which he has close ties -- will he come to be viewed as yet another monster we created? Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

If We Ever ‘Stabilize’ Iraq, Will Anybody Still Live There?

Staff / Truthdig Jul 26, 2007 According to the U.N., roughly 50,000 Iraqis flee their homeland each month, bringing the total of refugees so far to over 2 million -- in addition to the 2 million displaced within Iraq. The United States, for its part, has welcomed just 133 Iraqi refugees over the last nine months. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )