The ineptness of successive American presidents, from Bush the Younger to Joe Biden the Old, combined with the cluelessness that Americans demonstrate in foreign lands, contrasts with the Chinese leadership's seemingly singular focus on the accumulation of wealth and power, asserts T N Ninan.
As the American troops gear up to fly out of Iraq by this month-end, we take you through the streets of Baghdad to show how the war-torn country has turned over a new chapter in history.
The Pentagon is deploying 20,000 National Guards with lethal weapons in Washington DC, a week ahead of the inauguration, to prevent any violence as experienced on January 6, with intelligence agencies receiving information about move to create violence and chaos across the country.
The United States military on Friday began its air strikes on areas in Iraq controlled by Islamist militants as it dropped laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery in a bid to halt the advance of terrorists on the city of Erbil where American diplomats are stationed.
As long as oil continues to be a factor, as long as Iraqi Shias and Sunnis continue to butcher each other, as long as the expenses of war can be sustained by the American economy, there is no hope of an American withdrawal from Iraq.
The pro-Iran militia did not say who was responsible but Iraqi state television reported it was a US air strike.
President Barack Obama continues to believe that going to Iraq was not a wise decision, although he agrees Iraq is a better place today as a result of sacrifice made by the US military, 10 years after it invaded the nation in search of chemical and biological weapons.
It was yet another psychological blow to US forces in Iraq, as four more soldiers fell prey to extremist fury in southern Iraq on Sunday -- the number of American casualties touching the 4,000 mark.
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack was aimed at "specific targets".
Oil -- and not human rights or concern for democracy -- is the driving force for the war in Libya as it was in Iraq, says senior analyst B Raman.
The United States has ordered the aircraft carrier USS George H W Bush to move into the Arabian Gulf to provide President Barack Obama with options for possible military action against militants in Iraq.
The United States on Friday ruled out a full-scale reinvasion of Iraq by American military in view of the Islamic State gaining ground in the country.
US President Barack Obama has decided to send 300 additional American Special Operations troops to assist in Iraq's fight against the advancing Sunni, Al Qaeda-inspired extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which has captured several cities and has its sights set on Baghdad.
If executed, the plan could have considerable political significance. The first reductions would take place before this fall's Congressional elections, while even bigger cuts might come before the 2008 presidential election.
India on Sunday said it is seriously concerned over escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran, and called for immediate de-escalation of the situation.
Probably acknowledging setbacks in Iraq for the first time, Bush predicted violence will not end with parliamentary polls on Thursday and that a lot of work remained to be done.
But the US president rejected demands that Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld be sacked for his failure to prevent atrocities against Iraqi prisoners.
The debate, which allowed Cheney and Edwards to cross-question, led to some heated arguments.
The latest flashpoint in West Asia has derailed India's preliminary plans to resume crude oil imports from Iran, officials said. In January, officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had told Business Standard that the government had been studying proposals for the same, given that India was trying to expand sources of imports. "We are always monitoring the situation when it comes to crude flows.
It is believed that the process was brought forward to prevent militants from disrupting the process.
Rediff.com takes a look at some defining moments of the nine-year war in Iraq.
The US is prepared to carry out "targeted and precise military action" in Iraq if required, President Barack Obama said on Thursday.
United States President George W Bush on Thursday ordered an indefinite suspension in troops withdrawal from Iraq after July, to enable military commanders evaluate future troop reductions, in the war-torn country. Making it clear that the bulk of the American fighting force in Iraq is going to stay put right through the end of his tenure next year, Bush reduced the combat tours of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan to 12 months from 15 months.
Teams of American and Iraqi negotiators spent months haggling over the deal which will be presented to the Bush administration and the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for formal approval or rejection, the Journal said.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll on Wednesday, indicated that the American public considers McCain better than Obama on terrorism and Iraq. The poll also suggests that McCain is a stronger leader who would have better judgment in an international crisis.
India's crude oil imports from Russia fell for a second straight month in January to its lowest in 12 months but the nation's insatiable appetite for Russian crude remains for the long term, according to data from energy cargo tracker and industry officials. Russia supplied 1.2 million barrels per day of crude oil to India in January, down from 1.32 million barrels in December and 1.62 million barrels in November 2023, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa. Russia however continues to remain India's top oil supplier, accounting for a little less than a quarter of 4.91 million barrels a day of oil that the world's third largest energy consumer imported in January.
A classified assessment in the National Intelligence Estimate attributed a more direct role to the Iraq war in fueling radicalism than that presented either in recent White House documents.
The United States on Thursday formally ended their nine-year mission in Iraq, which began with the invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, with a low-key ceremony in Baghdad.
The Democrats in the House and the Senate finally bowed down to the wishes and pressure of the White House, but vowed to carry on the struggle.
American-made computer circuits sold to a trading company in the United Arab Emirates have turned up as detonators in the roadside bombs aimed at US troops in Iraq, a media report said on Wednesday. The finding, according to NYT, set off a clash with Washington last year when the Bush administration cited the diversion of the computer circuits to Iran, and eventually Iraq, as proof that the UAE was failing to prevent US technology from slipping into wrong hands.
But Bush administration officials said the war would continue.
Mentioning the recent attacks on US forces in Syria and Iraq, he added, "The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield."
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