Posted in Iraq, Mark T. Kimmitt on Apr 24th, 2009 1 Comment »
From Mark T. Kimmitt
For those who follow Iraq closely, one of the more anticipated government documents is the quarterly “9010″ report. This report, colloquially named after the requirement established in section 9010 of the 2006-2008 DOD appropriations acts, has been produced quarterly since July 2005 and serves as a historical record for operations conducted over [...]
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Posted in Egypt, Harvey Sicherman, Iraq, Israel on Mar 26th, 2009 Comments Off
From Harvey Sicherman
Churchill once observed that “jaw-jaw” was better than “war-war.” This advice has not been taken very often in the Middle East. Indeed, so rare is it that the very act of “jaw-jaw” has been celebrated as a breakthrough even if not very much—except a process—results from it.
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MESH invites selected authors to offer original first-person statements on their new books—why and how they wrote them, and what impact they hope and expect to achieve. Ami Pedahzur is associate professor of government at the University of Texas, Austin. His new book is The Israeli Secret Services and the Struggle against Terrorism.
From Ami Pedahzur
One [...]
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Posted in Books, Iraq on Mar 20th, 2009 Comments Off
MESH invites selected authors to offer original first-person statements on their new books—why and how they wrote them, and what impact they hope and expect to achieve. Adeed Dawisha is professor of political science at Miami University in Ohio. His new book is Iraq: A Political History from Independence to Occupation.
From Adeed Dawisha
The idea for [...]
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From Mark T. Kimmitt
Following on Scott Carpenter’s excellent post on the state of the Iraqi elections, it is also worthwhile to consider the security situation in Iraq. A year ago, I asked if 2008 would be
the year when the gains in security are met by gains in stability, or will the tremendous tactical gains [...]
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Posted in Democracy, Iraq, J. Scott Carpenter on Feb 1st, 2009 Comments Off
From J. Scott Carpenter
Iraq’s provincial elections took place yesterday without much fanfare and, thankfully, not much violence either. According to news reports, the complexity of the system, the size of the ballot and voter apathy drove voter turnout down. Still, these historic elections, in which 7.5 million Iraqis participated, will set the tone for Iraq’s [...]
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Posted in Daniel Byman, Iraq on Dec 30th, 2008 Comments Off
From Daniel Byman
As the Iraq war moved from crisis to calamity in 2003 and 2004, it became clear to all observers that the occupation was deeply flawed. But what, exactly, was the problem? For many people, particularly in the academic world, the occupation was doomed because the invasion itself was illegitimate and ill-considered and the [...]
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