Syria's Khadddam creates tsunami in Damascus

An interview given by former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam Friday to al-Arabiya TV insinuating that Syria played a role in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and that President Bashar Assad should have known about it is causing a political storm in Damascus.

The Middle East, another year and still no democracy

Another year has been kept out of the Middle East, though not entirely. Turkey has made great strides as it gets ready to join the European Union - some time in the next decade or so, despite its Islamist-leaning government Ankara is implementing reforms. And Cyprus while still divided, is now part of the European Union. Well, at least the Greek half of the island.

Past and future predictions for the Middle East

Political analysts tend to go out on a limb and predict how U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East will fare over the next 12 months. This year I thought it would be interesting to compare past predictions, before making future prediction.

How Christmas has become un-PC

It's around this time of year when the American chapter of the Taliban awakens and becomes most active. Yes, little boys and girls, they do exist, even in the land of the free and the home of the brave! (And of the Braves, too.)

I am talking about the ultra-orthodox, the extremists, the politically correct polizei -- or in plain English -- the PC police.

Is Eurasianism an alternative to the EU?

For 50 years Turkey has been hoping to enter the European Community and for 50 years Brussels has been playing hard ball. for almost 50 years now. Finally,now the Turks are told they might be allowed into the EU, but only after an intense negotiation period of 10-15 years, during which time the Turks will be analyzed and scrutinized to make sure they finally comply with all the demands set forth by Brussels.

Meanwhile, Russian President Putin is pushing Eurasianism," said Zeyno Baran, director of the International Security and Energy Programs at the Nixon Center, a conservative think tank in Washington.

President Bush's strategy for victory in Iraq

The Bush administration claim that since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqis have had three elections, each one unfolding under better circumstances and with greater Sunni participation. Yet the reality is far from rosy. If Iraqis voted in larger numbers than ever, they voted according to ethnic divisions. Early returns indicate that divisions among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds is greater than ever.

Syriana blurred lines

"Syriana," the new political thriller starring George Clooney, doesn't quite succeed in explaining the phenomenon behind the rise of Islamist terrorism -- and its weapon of choice, the suicide bomber.

US and the use of torture

Recent reprots that the United States used torture to obtain information and confessions from suspected terrorists tells us much on changing morals this country has undergone in the last 50 years. Compare what is happening today to the story of Italian POWs held in a U.S. military prison outside Cairo during WWII.

Fatah's double trouble

Moderate Palestinians -- and Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- suffered a severe double setback this week. First, Hamas defeated Abbas' mainstream Fatah organization in the latest round of municipal elections in their own West Bank stronghold.

Egypt's offer to train Iraq troops refuted

The United States is overwhelmed in Iraq as it struggles to train Iraqi forces, hoping they will eventually replace American combat troops, in turn allowing for a gradual reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Ahmadinejad's Tomfoolery

- Should the world take Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seriously? No, I mean seriously!

Consider his recent antics: First, Ahmadinejad declared to a group of students in Tehran in October that "Israel should be wiped off the map." Israel certainly takes him seriously.

Mideast clan mindset

Officials throughout the Middle East will confide in private that the United States has no friends when it comes to foreign politics; it has only interests. Of course the same can be said about Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq's fractured sectarian communities.

Today they killed my friend

Gibran Tueni, a prominent Lebanese writer and newly elected Member of Parliament, was killed Monday by a powerful car bomb just outside Beirut. Tueni was one of Lebanon's most outspoken opponents of Syria's Machiavellian interference in Lebanese politics. And as George Bernard Shaw was quoted as saying, "Assassination is the extreme form of censorship." Indeed, Tueni was censored.

Ahmadinejad's mistakes

Iran's new hard line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did it again.. What President Ahmadinejad has done again is open his mouth and insert his foot.

Who really owns the Middle East

At the end of World War I, France and Britain divided up remains of the Ottoman Empire by drawing straight lines in the sand. Mr. Sykes and Monsieur Picot folded up their maps and beleving their governments now "owned" the Middle East. They ever mistaken!

Saudi King Abdullah offers solutions

At 85 years, Saudi King Abdullah is full of ambitions. Having recently succeeded his brother, Fahd, as king, Abdullah now is running for the job of leader of the Arab and Islamic world.

Saudi King Abdullah seeks leading role

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia,Saudi Arabia's new King Abdullah is looking for a leading role in the Arab world.

War of words

A side effect of the war on terror has been a spun-off war of words, being fought via opposing mediums with pro- and anti-war publications firing editorials and cleverly worded stories at one another.

Bush on Iraq strategy

Are we seeing a changing trend in the war in Iraq? Since the start of hostilities President Bush and his administration have referred to the insurgency as though it was a single, unified force fighting the U.S.-led coalition. In the past the president always spoke of the enemy, without getting too specific.

Saad Hariri fears his life is threatened

Fearing that he too could be killed, Saad Hariri, the son of slain Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, has been living in self-imposed exile, moving around a number of Arab Gulf states for the last six months.

Change in Arab world

Arab movers and shakers -- along with quite a few Westerners too -- gathered in Dubai for a two-day conference focusing on the "Arab world and the Media, with emphasis on 'Getting it Right.'" But did they?

Bush on Iraq strategy

Are we seeing a changing trend in the war in Iraq? Since the start of hostilities President Bush referred to the insurgency as though it was a single, unified force fighting the U.S.-led coalition. In the past the president always spoke of the enemy, without getting too specific.

Regarding new dangers in Africa

The Polisario Front, the last remaining liberation movement fighting for independence in Africa, contested an earlier UPI report that it could be turning to Islamist organizations and organized crime.

Iran in the spotlight

The United States and the international community remain highly concerned by Iran's intentions to attain nuclear capability, come what may. As Tehran pursues its aim to join the nuclear club, it is slowly but surely isolating itself from the rest of the world.