World

A Better Iraq? That’s What Saddam Said

Anna Badkhen / Truthdig May 19, 2008 The war is over for now in Sahar al-Jawari's Baghdad neighborhood, but life is still a struggle. An American soldier encourages her not to be pessimistic, but it's hard to look on the bright side while supporting a family by selling off your jewelry. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Trading Spaces, Iraq Edition

Anna Badkhen / Truthdig May 15, 2008 Sectarian violence has driven millions of Iraqis from their homes. Now that the violence has abated in one formerly upscale Baghdad neighborhood, residents are returning to find squatters who refuse to leave and a government and occupying army unwilling to kick them out. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Baghdad’s Other Power Struggle

BLANK May 11, 2008 As one U.S. soldier tells Truthdig foreign correspondent Anna Badkhen, it's not entirely a bad sign that residents of Baghdad's Saidiyah neighborhood are complaining about their meager daily power allotment: A year earlier they were concerned about just staying alive. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Hillary Clinton Does Not Endorse This ‘SNL’ Sketch

Staff / Truthdig May 11, 2008 You just can't catch a break as a politician these days. Right when you think you look all "hip" and "endearingly self-deprecating" by allowing yourself to be skewered by certain late-night comedians (bonus points if you're actually on the show while this gentle, aide-approved ribbing is happening), those same wise asses up and turn on you. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Business Stirs in a Walled Neighborhood

BLANK May 9, 2008 In this first installment in her series of stories from Iraq for Truthdig, veteran foreign correspondent Anna Badkhen reports about the civilian costs of war, life under occupation and the precarious state of a Baghdad burger joint. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Bloated in Baghdad

BLANK Apr 29, 2008 Truthdig foreign correspondent Sarah Stillman reports from Iraq, where she finds parallels between America's fast food fortresses and the general engorgement of the war. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The High Price of Diplomacy With China

The Center for Investigative Reporting Apr 24, 2008 Two investigative reports uncover the Bush administration's efforts to suppress legal proceedings against high-ranking Chinese officials -- former Trade Minister Bo Xilai and Beijing's Olympic Organizing Committee President Liu Qi -- accused of torturing religious group members. Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

Palestinians’ Hard Choice: An Interview With Sari Nusseibeh

Jon Wiener / Truthdig May 3, 2007 Palestinian intellectual, political figure and former PLO official Sari Nusseibeh (above) talks with Jon Wiener, historian and contributor to The Nation, about Nusseibeh's new memoir, future prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and the 2006 July War in Lebanon -- a war, he says, that "both sides lost." Dig deeper ( 8 Min. Read )

Mr. Bush, Tear Down That Wall

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Apr 24, 2007 Walls don't unite, they divide. Contrary to Bush's rosy estimation of the "surge," the news that the U.S. is ghettoizing Baghdad is a sign of how chaotic the situation has become. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Middle East

Scott Ritter: Calling Out Idiot America

Scott Ritter / Truthdig Mar 24, 2007 The former weapons inspector and military intelligence officer plumbs the depths of American ignorance and offers this history of Iraq, the Mideast and Islam. When so few of our politicians, and even fewer of the citizens who elect them, understand the forces at work in Baghdad and beyond, is it any wonder the occupation has been a disaster?The former weapons inspector and military intelligence officer plumbs the depths of American ignorance and offers this history of Iraq, the Mideast and Islam. When so few of our politicians, and even fewer of the citizens who elect them, understand the forces at work in Baghdad and beyond, is it any wonder the occupation has been a disaster? Dig deeper ( 12 Min. Read )

Under the Shroud: Women and the Taliban

Staff / Truthdig Nov 29, 2006 The Feminist Majority's Lorraine Sheinberg created the 1999 documentary that first focused attention on the Taliban's brutal oppression of women in Afghanistan. It's worth another look now. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

TD Original

Afghan Autopsy

Christian Parenti / Truthdig Nov 29, 2006 America began its so-called war on terror with the intention of driving the Taliban from power in Afghanistan Five years later, the Taliban is back, Osama bin Laden is still alive, and insurgent fighters cite the US presence in the country as their main wellspring of rage How did it come to this? Truthdig contributor Christian Parenti, just back from Afghanistan, reportsThe Taliban is back in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden is still alive, and insurgent fighters cite U How did it come to this? . Dig deeper ( 19 Min. Read )