POLITICS: Arabs Less Worried About Iran, Poll Finds

U.S. and Israeli hopes of forging of a Sunni Arab alliance to contain Iran and its regional allies may be misplaced, at least at the popular level, according to a major survey of six Arab countries released here Thursday.

POLITICS-US: Reprieve for Officer Who Denounced “Immoral War”

The court-martial of the first commissioned U.S. military officer to refuse to serve in Iraq ended abruptly Wednesday when the military judge overseeing the proceedings declared a mistrial over a technicality.

U.S.: Proposed ’08 Pentagon Earns Superlatives All Around

How big is President George W. Bush's proposed 2008 Pentagon budget?

POLITICS-US: How Neocon Shiite Strategy Led to Sectarian War

The supreme irony of President George W. Bush's campaign to blame Iran for the sectarian civil war in Iraq, as well as attacks on U.S. forces, is that the Shiite militias who started to drive the Sunnis out of the Baghdad area in 2004 and thus precipitated the present sectarian crisis did so with the support of both Iran and the neoconservative U.S. war planners.

MEDIA: Iraq Leads Another Bloody Year for the Press

It was another dangerous year for the press around the world as the number of killed and imprisoned journalists rose in 2006, according to an annual report by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.

POLITICS-US: One CEO’s Dissent from War on Terror

Meet Richard Wade Vague. Tall, friendly, dressed in a dark, finely tailored suit, with a firm, confident handshake and a ready, if surprisingly modest, smile, he looks like the quintessential successful 51-year-old self-described "conservative" corporate executive that he is.

POLITICS-US: Officer Who Wouldn’t Serve Goes on Trial

Supporters of the first commissioned U.S. officer to refuse to serve in Iraq plan to pack the courtroom at Fort Lewis, Washington where First Lieutenant Ehren Watada will face a court martial Monday.

POLITICS-US/IRAQ: No Light at Tunnel’s End

A long-awaited study by the U.S. intelligence community released here Friday concludes there is little, if any, light at the end of tunnel in Iraq.

POLITICS-US: Lawmakers Move to Restrain Bush on Iran

Increasingly concerned about the escalating rhetoric against Iran by senior U.S. officials, including President George W. Bush, members of Congress are trying to put limits on his ability to attack the Islamic Republic.

POLITICS-US: Iraq War Opponents Follow the Money

Senior Congressional Democrats are brushing off questions about cutting off funding for the Iraq war, and indicate they will do little to forcefully stop President George W. Bush from sending 21,500 additional U.S. troops to Iraq.

POLITICS: Africa to Get Its Own U.S. Military Command

For the first time in its history, Africa is poised to get its very own U.S. military command.

CORRUPTION: More U.S. Money Wasted in Iraq, Audit Finds

Dozens of millions of dollars originally slated for the reconstruction and security of Iraq have been squandered on luxury items like an Olympic-sized swimming pool, VIP trailers, and buildings that were never or rarely used, a U.S. government watchdog says.

POLITICS-US/IRAQ: Who Is the Enemy?

Two incidents involving U.S. forces in predominantly Shi'a southern Iraq over the past week appear to demonstrate the growing complexities and dangers of the country's civil conflict.

POLITICS-US: Anti-War Marches Draw Hundreds of Thousands

Peace activists from across the United States gathered in Washington Sarturday for what they said was the largest demonstration to date against the Iraq war.

AFGHANISTAN/US: Washington Ups the Ante

Despite growing domestic opposition to his plans for escalating U.S. military intervention in Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush is calling for a sharp increase in Washington's economic and military commitment to Afghanistan.

IRAQ: Students, Professors Flee to the Kurdish North

Academic life in Iraq's volatile southern and central regions has become increasingly paralysed, with hundreds of students and professors targeted and many more abandoning their educational institutions in search of a refuge.

POLITICS: What if Iran Suspends? A Western Dilemma

As the Feb. 21 deadline for Iran to halt its uranium enrichment programme fast approaches, both Iran and the West are scrambling to prepare themselves for all possible moves by the other side.

POLITICS-US: Mideast Strategy Increasingly Targets Iran

Six months after last summer's war between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, Iran has become the George W. Bush administration's "Public Enemy Number One", against which its Middle East strategy is increasingly focused, according to one of the U.S.'s leading experts on the Gulf.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: How Far Is Too Far in Terror Fight?

The movers and shakers of global politics and security searched for a "comprehensive response to terrorism" at the World Economic Forum's 37th session here Thursday, but not surprisingly, differences cropped up over the strategies to wage a fight that many critics say is increasingly breaching fundamental human rights.

POLITICS-US/IRAQ: Bush’s Three-Front War Blunder

George W. Bush's State of the Union address appears to confirm other indications in recent weeks that the president is not merely sending more troops to Iraq to do more of the same, but has adopted a new strategy of fighting all three major Iraqi Arab political-military forces simultaneously.

POLITICS-US: Revolt Builds Against Bush&#39s Iraq Policy

In the first step toward what some believe could eventually lead to a constitutional crisis, a key Congressional committee approved a non-binding resolution here Wednesday formally dissenting from President George W. Bush's plan to send some 21,000 more troops to Iraq.