All Backchannels
A gold rush in Indonesia you've never heard ofBuru Island, once used by Soeharto's New Order regime to house political prisoners, has been swept with gold fever.
Diplomatic fail whale? US embassy, Muslim Brotherhood clash over @TheDailyShowA less-than-diplomatic tweet from the US embassy in Cairo did not go over well in Egypt. Worse, perhaps, was its effort to make amends.
Sacred eels and peace in an occasionally troubled corner of IndonesiaIndonesia's Ambon City was racked by communal conflict a decade ago. My聽drive along the coast today聽reveals that much has changed.- Did members of the Indonesian military storm a prison, murder inmates?Indonesia's tradition of stonewalling civilian investigation of military misbehavior could stand in the way of confirming or dispelling the allegations.
In Indonesia, and Southeast Asia, the return of optimism 鈥� and the bankers.Building booms, easy credit, and predictions that it can only get better from here. Shades of 1996.
A man with one name is playing with shadow puppets on an Indonesian volcanoAfter a decade-long absence, Monitor reporter Dan Murphy returns to Indonesia determined to avoid the usual journalistic cliches about the nation.- US-ally Bahrain blocks medical ethics conferenceBahrain successfully crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011, and now it has told Doctors Without Borders that their long-planned conference on medical ethics is unwelcome.
Kerry wants Iraq to stop arms shipments to Syria. Why would Iraq agree?A sharp divergence in Iraqi and US interests was on display in Secretary of State John Kerry's surprise visit to Baghdad.
Politics over principle? Democrats seem more likely to support Obama's Iraq war than Bush'sRepublican support for the war has been in steady decline since 2003, but Democratic backing has actually risen significantly since Obama took office.
What the US is doing to help some Syrian rebels, undermine jihadisUS Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford laid out to Congress the Obama administration's efforts to help some Syrian rebels, and undermine jihadi rebels like Jahbat al-Nusra.
The real warning in Syrian chemical weapons claimsThe speed with which some US politicians and reporters are buying in to claims of chemical weapons attacks in Syria is a reminder to take a hard look at intelligence claims before rushing into another war.- Penn & Teller in Cairo, 2003A different time.
Bad reason to invade Iraq No. 3: 'We can trust Ahmed Chalabi'Ahmed Chalabi poured sweet words into the ears of powerful Washington insiders for years. For some reason, they thought it was a good idea to believe him.
Thomas Friedman, Iraq war boosterThe New York Times columnist broke down what the Iraq was really about for Charlie Rose on May 29, 2003.- Bad reason to invade Iraq No. 2: weapons of mass destructionEven if Saddam Hussein had retained WMDs, so what?
- Bad reason to invade Iraq No. 1: Saddam was 'evil'Those claims that Saddam Hussein was a special 'evil' weren't arguments for war, but were good reason to be skeptical about the quality of thought behind the case being made for war.
Lessons from Iraq... in 1958.Still with some relevance today.
The UN document on women that has terrified Egypt's Muslim BrotherhoodThe Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt has teamed up with Iran, Russia, and the Vatican to oppose a UN draft proposal on reducing violence against women on moral grounds.
From every direction, arms for SyriaFrance is pushing hard, it seems, for Western powers to arm Syria's rebellion. If they get their way, they'll be joining an already crowded playing field.
Iraq attack shows coordination, planning, and numbersWhat the latest terrorist attack in Baghdad tells us about the health of Sunni militant groups (hint: pretty healthy).聽
