POLITICS-US: Jewish Community Worried About Iran Backlash

Amid growing tensions between the United States and Iran, leaders of the U.S. Jewish community are expressing concern over Pres. George W. Bush's recent statements that his main concern in any possible military action would be protecting Israel.

POLITICS-US: Cui Bono? Negroponte or Rumsfeld

Monday's nomination by U.S. President George W. Bush of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden to take over the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the hapless Porter Goss has predictably intensified speculation over what is really going on behind the scenes.

POLITICS-US: Hawks Looking for New and Bigger Enemies?

As if rallying fading public support for keeping more than 100,000 U.S. troops in a disintegrating Iraq and preparing the ground for a possible military attack on Iran were not enough, some influential hawks are now promoting a more confrontational stance against Russia and China, as well.

CORRUPTION: Wolfowitz’s Latest War

When Paul Wolfowitz's name was first floated for the World Bank presidency in early 2005, his nomination was met with scepticism from wary Bank staff and incredulity from development campaigners, a start that threatened to put him on a rocky path during his tenure.

POLITICS-US: Iran Crisis, Deja Vu All Over Again?

The drumbeat in some Washington foreign policy circles for "regime change" in Iran has striking similarities to the run-up to the Iraq invasion, and is being led by some of the usual suspects - like the American Enterprise Institute's Michael Ledeen.

POLITICS-US: Rumsfeld’s Fall Drags Hawks in its Wake

Despite White House efforts to put an end to the controversy, the battle over the fate of Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld shows little sign of abating.

POLITICS-US: To Battle Stations! To Battle Stations!

Led by a familiar clutch of neo-conservative hawks, major right-wing publications are calling on the administration of Pres. George W. Bush to urgently plan for military strikes - and possibly a wider war - against Iran in the wake of its announcement this week that it has successfully enriched uranium to a purity necessary to fuel nuclear reactors.

POLITICS-US: New Military Offensive Against Rumsfeld

Three years after the fall of Baghdad and the city's disastrous plunge into chaos, U.S. military brass appears engaged in a new campaign: getting rid of Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld.

POLITICS-US: Iran Showdown Tests Power of “Israel Lobby”

One month after the publication by two of the most influential international relations scholars in the United States of a highly controversial essay on the so-called "Israel Lobby", their thesis that the lobby exercises "unmatched power" in Washington is being tested by rapidly rising tensions with Iran.

POLITICS-US: Psy-War or Serious? Washington Mulls Iran Attack

Three years after the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces, Washington is abuzz about new reports that the administration of Pres. George W. Bush is preparing to attack Iran, possibly with nuclear weapons.

POLITICS-US: Bush’s War Hawks Edged Out of the Nest

Although still united in pushing for confrontation with Iran, the coalition of hawks that propelled U.S. troops toward Baghdad three years ago appears to have finally run out of steam.

POLITICS-US: Bush’s War Hawks Edged Out of the Nest

Although still united in pushing for confrontation with Iran, the coalition of hawks that propelled U.S. troops toward Baghdad three years ago appears to have finally run out of steam.

POLITICS-US: “Cabal” Blocked 2003 Nuclear Talks with Iran

The George W. Bush administration failed to enter into negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme in May 2003 because neoconservative zealots who advocated destabilisation and regime change were able to block any serious diplomatic engagement with Tehran, according to former administration officials.

IRAQ: Are U.S. Intentions More “Base” Than Honourable?

Pres. George W. Bush has long assured the world that his intentions in Iraq are strictly honourable - to set the country on a clear and stable path toward democracy and withdraw U.S. troops as soon as Iraqi forces can take control, "and not one day more".

POLITICS-US: Forum Over Substance

If the medium is the message, then U.S. Pres. George W. Bush's choice of forum to launch a new public campaign to defend his beleaguered Iraq policy should be troubling to those, particularly in Europe, who had hoped that his administration was moving toward a more even-handed stance in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

POLITICS-US: Old Divides Resurface as Bush Sinks

As U.S. President George W. Bush's standing in public opinion polls plumbs new depths, his fellow Republicans are finding it ever more difficult to maintain their unity on key hot-button issues, such as foreign policy, immigration and civil liberties.

POLITICS-US: Neo-Con Superhawk Earns His Wings on Port Flap

Love him or hate him, Frank Gaffney is effective.

POLITICS-US: How Neo-Cons Sabotaged Iran’s Help on al Qaeda

The United States and Iran were on a course to work closely together on the war against al Qaeda and its Taliban sponsors in Afghanistan in late 2001 and early 2002 - until Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped in to scuttle that cooperation, according to officials who were involved at the time.

POLITICS-US: “Leninists!” Cries Neo-Con Nabob, Suing for Divorce

The Washington foreign policy elite finds itself on pins and needles this week awaiting a response from the neo-conservative heavyweights at the Weekly Standard magazine to a scorching denunciation by one of their most venerable fellow-travelers, Francis Fukuyama, in Sunday's New York Times Magazine.

POLITICS-US: Cartoon Crisis Echoes “Why They Hate Us” Debate

While Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes flies off on her second tour of the Middle East Friday, she must feel at least some relief that Europe - rather than the United States - has been the main target of the two-week outpouring of anger in the Islamic world that has come to be called the "cartoon crisis".

POLITICS-U.S.: Cheney’s Law – Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

Saturday's shooting by Vice President Dick Cheney of a quail-hunting companion on a ranch in Texas is certain to provide talk-show hosts and stand-up comedians with a veritable bonanza of jokes that could last weeks.