Peace and Conflict

The Iraqi people’s human and civil rights were - and remain -swept aside by the acts of war and the continuing fact of occupation … [Read more]

Mullah Omar, the elusive leader of the anti-government Taliban, appears to have rejected an offer from Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president,&n … [Read more]

 It is obvious to just about everyone – with the apparent exception of the government of Robert Mugabe, the president – that Zimbabwe's economy has passed "tipping point". 

Inflation escalated from 7,500 percent a year ago to 100,000 percent in January and 11.2 million per cent in June. Current estimates put the annual rate at around 30 million per cent for September.

But because no one is able to measure prices accurately, the precise figure is not known.

In the past two weeks alone the Zimbabwe dollar has collapsed from 300 to the US dollar to 15,000, on some occasions, losing half its value in a day. Last week, the rate collapsed from 7,500 to 15,000 to the dollar.

Production in agriculture, mining and manufacturing has more than halved since the political crisis started in 2000, and a recent industrial survey shows that manufacturing industry is operating at less than 20 per cent of capacity. 

The shops are empty. More and more people are resorting either to crude barter – a cabbage for an egg, or a few tomatoes for a loaf of bread – or to under-the-counter deals in foreign currency.

Foreign currency … [Read more]

From the front lines of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, a searing, unforgettable book that captures the human essence of the greatest conflict of our time.

Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, the prizewinning New York Times correspondent whose work was hailed by David Halberstam as “reporting of the highest quality imaginable,” we witness the remarkable chain of events that began with the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s, continued with the attacks of 9/11, and moved on to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Filkins’s narrative moves across a vast and various landscape of amazing characters and astonishing scenes: deserts, mountains, and streets of carnage; a public amputation performed by Taliban; children frolicking in minefields; skies streaked white by the contrails of B-52s; a night’s sleep in the rubble of Ground Zero.

We embark on a foot patrol through the shadowy streets of Ramadi, venture into a torture chamber run by Saddam Hussein. We go into the homes of suicide bombers and into street-to-street fighting with a battalion of marines. We meet Iraqi insurgents, an American captain who loses a quarter of his men in eight days, and a young soldier from Georgia on a rooftop at midnight reminiscing about his girlfriend back home. A car bomb explodes, bullets fly, and a mother cradles her blinded son.
… [Read more]

A gripping narrative that spans five decades, The Looming Tower explains in unprecedented detail the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, the rise of al-Qaeda, and the intelligence failures that culminated in the attacks on the World Trade Center. Lawrence Wright re-creates firsthand the transformation of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri from incompetent and idealistic soldiers in Afghanistan to leaders of the most successful terrorist group in history. He follows FBI counterterrorism chief John O’Neill as he uncovers the emerging danger from al-Qaeda in the 1990s and struggles to track this new threat. Packed with new information and a deep historical perspective, The Looming Tower is the definitive history of the long road to September 11.

About the Author
Lawrence Wright graduated from Tulane University and spent two years teaching at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker and a fellow at the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law. The author of five works of nonfiction—City Children, Country Summer; In the New World; Saints and Sinners; Remembering Satan; and Twins—he has also written a novel, God’s Favorite, and was cowriter of the movie The Siege. He and his wife are longtime residents of Austin, Texas. 

As violence in Iraq reaches unnerving levels in 2006, a second front in the war rages at the highest levels of the Bush administration. In his fourth book on President George W. Bush, Bob Woodward takes readers deep inside the tensions, secret debates, unofficial backchannels, distrust and determination within the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department, the intelligence agencies and the U.S. military headquarters in Iraq. With unparalleled intimacy and detail, this gripping account of a president at war describes a period of distress and uncertainty within the U.S. government from 2006 through mid-2008.

The White House launches a secret strategy review that excludes the military. General George Casey, the commander in Iraq, believes that President Bush does not understand the war and eventually concludes he has lost the president's confidence. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also conduct a secret strategy review that goes nowhere. On the verge of revolt, they worry that the military will be blamed for a failure in Iraq. … [Read more]

From The Nation, "You already know the perps and the crimes, but to read their actual words is chilling. Bob Woodward's latest opus is the In Cold Blood of national security journalism."

Reading Bob Woodward's The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008, is like reading raw transcripts of documents and interviews from a sensational murder trial: you know what happens, and you know who the victim and the perpetrator are. But to read their actual words is chilling. It's the In Cold Blood of national security journalism.

I read it last night, cover to cover. Yes, it's written in that frustrating Woodward style, with little or no attribution for much of what he writes. (He does provide sketchy footnotes, but they mostly say: "The information in this chapter comes primarily from background interviews with firsthand sources.") … [Read more]

Sgt. Juan Jimenez had one of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq, ushering top Administration officials through the war-torn streets of Baghdad. He returned home with two Purple Hearts and shrapnel lodged in his right arm. Today he is gravely ill.

What Jimenez didn't realize is that before he could receive benefits for his wounds, he'd have to prove that those wounds came from war. Three and a half years later, the sergeant is still making his case. The Department of Veterans Affairs isn't convinced. And it won't give him his benefits until it is.

The VA requires all veterans to prove their wounds are "service-connected" before it writes them a check. Jimenez thought that hurdle was merely a formality. The Army sergeant had been struck by two roadside bombs. The first sliced into his arms; six months later, a second bomb sprayed scrap metal into his face, knocking him unconscious and leaving him brain damaged. He began having seizures and suffering from memory loss. The blast left a persistent ringing in his right ear. The stress sparked nightmares, flashbacks and acid-reflux disease.

"I'm a different person now," Jimenez says glumly. "I come home; I lock myself in my room. I don't really talk to anyone. I used to be fun." Now, he says, he can't even have a bowl of cereal. It gives him heartburn for days. "That second bomb, it killed me--it just left my body." Sick, suicidal, the sergeant sought help from the VA. … [Read more]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's army says it has killed 30 militants in fighting in the country's volatile northwest.

Army spokesman Major Nasir Ali said Saturday the men died when the military backed by fighter jets destroyed some of their hideouts in Swat Valley on Friday.

Swat has been the scene of intensified military action against al-Qaida- and Taliban-linked militants in recent weeks.

Scores have reportedly been killed in tribal regions along the Afghan border since Pervez Musharraf resigned as Pakistan's president on Aug. 18.

The Taliban have threatened to retaliate unless the operations ceased. They have claimed responsibility for at least three suicide bombings, the deadliest killing 67 near the capital Islamabad.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's presidential front-runner has moved into a tightly guarded government compound over security fears, officials said Friday as a militant campaign against the government led to more violence in the country's volatile northwest. … [Read more]

MOSCOW — Russia on Tuesday formally recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two enclaves in Georgia whose separatist aspirations stirred the fierce conflict this month.

The step, which goes beyond Russia’s military operation and is intended to consolidate its military success into permanent political gains, is viewed as highly provocative in the West, which has insisted on the preservation of Georgia’s territorial integrity. … [Read more]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday said Russia is jeopardizing its standing in the world by recognizing two separatist Georgian provinces as independent countries.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday that his country will grant diplomatic recognition to the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. By doing so, Medvedev swiftly and fully rebuffed Bush.

Speaking in Texas, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Russia is making a number of "irrational" decisions that puts its place in the world at risk.

Fratto said the U.S. will use its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to make sure any effort to change the provinces' international status is "dead on arrival."

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States said Russia is behaving "appallingly" by granting formal diplomatic recognition Tuesday to two breakaway Georgian provinces at the center of this month's conflict.

Meanwhile, the United States dispatched a military ship bearing aid to a Georgian port city still patrolled by Russian troops. … [Read more]

France called a summit of European Union leaders for next week to discuss the conflict in Georgia, reflecting growing frustration among Western leaders as Russia defies calls to withdraw all its troops from Georgian territory.

Russia said late Friday it completed the pullback of its troops from Georgian territory to separatist regions that Moscow supports. But the Kremlin left hundreds of what it called "peacekeeping forces" at dug-in posts deep in Georgia, including near a vital port and transit corridor, as well as a military base.

So far, the Kremlin has seemed largely impervious to political pressure from the West, but U.S. and European leaders are growing increasingly concerned that Moscow's ultimate aim is to cripple Georgia's economy and the pro-Western government of Mikheil Saakashvili.

In a statement Sunday night, the Élyseé Palace said the Sept. 1 summit is being held at the request of several European countries and will discuss the future relationship between Russia and the EU, as well as aid to Georgia. While the U.S. has been quick to criticize Russia's actions, Europe had been less categorical. The summit is among the strongest examples yet of Europe's anger. … [Read more]