US Arms Sale Sends Mixed Messages to Israel

by Mitchell Plitnick US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel may have insisted that the latest sale of US arms to Israel sent a strong message to Iran, but the actual message was a bit more restrained. Hagel made a point… Continue Reading

More Diplomacy, Less Pressure for Iran Settlement: Report

by Jim Lobe via IPS News  The administration of President Barack Obama should put more emphasis on diplomacy in its quest for a satisfactory resolution of Iran’s nuclear programme, according to a major new report released by The Iran Project.… Continue Reading

The F-Word: Plane Speaking and the Sequester

by Marsha B. Cohen The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is a black hole in the federal budget into which hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars have been sucked and billions more seem destined to vanish. The most… Continue Reading

The Emergency Committee For Israel Speaks For Itself And Not Much Else

by Eli Clifton & Jim Lobe The Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI) is having a rough six months. Last year, ECI and its chairman, Republican operative Bill Kristol, did all it could to portray Barack Obama as insufficiently supportive of Israel. The group’s efforts and… Continue Reading

Ten Years After Iraq War, Neo-Cons Struggle to Hold Republicans

by Jim Lobe via IPS News Ten years after reaching the height of their influence with the invasion of Iraq, the neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks are fighting hard to retain their control of the Republican Party. That fight was… Continue Reading