Category Archives: Iraq
Baghdadi at the Movies
This is really exciting, like being at a movie I’m directing. I’d rather be on site close to the action, exchanging gunfire, but my generals insist I’ve got to watch from here as our several helicopters fly in low and fast before landing at a secret location in northwest Syria. About sixty elite soldiers jump […]
Also posted in Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Donald Trump, ISIS, Kurds, Russia, Syria, Turkey
Why Saudi Oil was Attacked
You want to know who is responsible for the drone strikes that blasted the world’s largest oil distribution facility and temporarily knocked out half of Saudi Arabia’s production. Let’s follow the trail. China, Russia, the United States, and Europeans allies bargained arduously with Iran and in 2015 the nations signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of […]
Also posted in Donald Trump, Iran, Israel, Nuclear Weapons, Oil, Yemen
On the Brink
From a secret war room, national security advisor John Bolton places his pointer tipped black with an arrow on the wall map, and says, “The Strait of Hormuz is by far the most dangerous place on earth. The Iranians aren’t content to spread terror throughout the Middle East and dream about building nuclear weapons. Now […]
Also posted in Donald Trump, Iran, John Bolton, Nuclear Weapons, Saddam Hussein
Trump Heights
“Congratulations, President Trump,” says Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, speaking into a hotline. “We’ve just erected a large sign celebrating Trump Heights where the bloodthirsty Syrians claimed ownership of the Golan Heights until you said it belongs to my country. Thank you so much.” “You’re quite welcome, Bibi. Thank God for you as well […]
Also posted in Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Iran, Israel, Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Donald Mellows
Lighten up. I’m not really planning to go to war with Iran. I hope I don’t have to. I just want them to think I’m ready. The Iranians know John Bolton and Mike Pompeo want war but are also aware I’ve got people around me who’re doves compared to those two. Nobody’s going to push […]
Also posted in Donald Trump, Iran, Kim Jong-Un, Korea, Nancy Pelosi, Nuclear Weapons
Badass John Bolton
I must tell you that we are in great danger because the Iranians are planning to attack American personnel in the Middle East. This I know because I’m very shrewd analyzing intelligence, and that’s how I knew Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and was preparing to start World War III. Every day I […]
Also posted in Dick Cheney, Donald Trump, George Thomas Clark, Iran, Israel, John Bolton, Nuremberg, Saddam Hussein, Vienna, Yemen
Inside the Hanoi Summit
We’re sitting at a long polished wooden table decorated down the middle by small bouquets of flowers dividing Chairman Kim Jong Un and his staff from me and mine. I sense my brilliance and boldness will soon be needed. Eleven presidents who preceded me had sixty-five years to bring real peace to the Korean Peninsula […]
Also posted in Donald Trump, Hanoi, Iran, Kim Jong-Un, Korea, Mike Pompeo, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Vietnam, Vladimir Putin
State of the Trump
Look at those Democratic ladies dressed in white flags of surrender during my State of the Union address. They know I’ve given Americans their best wages in decades and an economy growing almost twice as fast as when I took office. Some say I inherited a good economy. Not as good as the one we’ve […]
Also posted in Afghanistan, China, Donald Trump, Employment, Iran, Kim Jong-Un, Korea, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, Russia
Dick Cheney Reviews Vice
I expected cheap shots and lies from liberals and they unloaded bundles in Vice, their movie about me. Right away they gleefully recalled I had a couple of drunk driving arrests as a young man and dropped out of Yale to repair power lines and almost got dumped by my fiancée, Lynne. At least they […]
Ayatollah Khomeini Debates the Shah of Iran
I’m writing this commentary in French, the most sublime language, from my Parisian penthouse where I’ve been ruminating for almost forty years. I assure you I remain a most formidable leader and lover, and am primed to educate you about what is happening to Iran. Don’t you wish I, instead of radical and incompetent theocrats, […]
Also posted in Ayatollah Khomeini, Donald Trump, George Thomas Clark, Iran, Israel, Jose Abeto Zaide, King Donald, Mike Pompeo, Nuclear Weapons, Syria
James Mattis Moderates John Bolton
Dr. Harrison didn’t get drunk on fine wines at the party for powerbrokers in Washington, D.C. that recent night but did consume enough to hand the keys to his wife, after only brief debate, and rode shotgun, singing his alma mater’s fight song. At home he again acceded in gentlemanly fashion and, still clothed except […]
Also posted in Bashar al-Assad, Chemical Weapons, Donald Trump, Iran, James Mattis, John Bolton, Kim Jong-Un, Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Syria
General Kelly Takes Command
I’ve been sworn into many positions of command, led marines all over the world, including in combat in Iraq, and am currently head of the of Department of Homeland Security in a capacity that compels me to warn that terrorism “is everywhere. It’s constant. It’s nonstop.” And it will continue, probably for generations. “If some […]
Also posted in Anthony Scaramucci, Donald Trump, John Kelly, Marines, Reince Preibus, Steve Bannon, Terrorism
Trump Aces Lady Golfers
Can you believe my fake news enemies wanted to steal the women’s U.S. Open championship from me and my Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey? They said the president shouldn’t benefit by having a major tournament played on his golf course and it would be inappropriate since they claim I’m not always a gentleman […]
Also posted in Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Golf, Health, Kim Jong-Un, Korea, Nuclear Weapons, Russia
One State or Two
I knew I was going to be a hell of a president but, frankly, I underestimated myself. I’ve got a great feel for diplomacy and international relations. Did you see me at the news conference last week with Prime Minister Abe after the North Koreans had test fired another ballistic missile? I coolly let the […]
Also posted in Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Syria
Deadly Numbers
I was an Iraqi professor of statistics until the United States and later ISIS destroyed my classroom and much of the university. I suppose I should thank each group for attacking when school wasn’t in session, but I believe that may have been coincidental. At any rate, like civilized people everywhere, I commiserate with the […]
Also posted in Afghanistan, ISIS, Middle East, Paris
Trump Crashes Democratic Debate
This story is from the rousing campaign book “King Donald”
Also posted in Bernie Sanders, Campaign 2016, Donald Trump, Guns, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Martin O'Malley, Middle East, Syria, Terrorism
Saudis Defend Refugee Policies
We in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are most chagrined by quite ignorant insults about our unwillingness to accept refugees from imploding Syria. It’s unconscionable, say arrogant Westerners, that the Saudis can’t welcome some of their Arab brothers and sisters who’ve been displaced by an enduring civil war; these refugees share the same language and […]
Also posted in Germany, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Big Crowds for Bernie
This story is from the rousing campaign book “King Donald”
Also posted in Bernie Sanders, Campaign 2016, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Vermont
Alluring Emails
This story is from the rousing campaign book “King Donald”
Also posted in Campaign 2016, Echoes from Saddam Hussein, Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Michelle Kwan
Chris Kyle Reloads
I’d like to thank Clint Eastwood for making a movie about me and being so nice to my wife and kids, but I want to correct the impression he gives in his column, as well as in American Sniper, that I was a weak man tortured because I killed so many people. That ain’t so. […]
Also posted in American Sniper, Chris Kyle, Clint Eastwood, George W. Bush, Movies, PTSD, Saddam Hussein
Eastwood Battles American Snipers
I usually don’t spend much time arguing with critics of my movies and I’m not going to today. I’ll just refute those who accuse me of glorifying war or, at minimum, celebrating a man they scream online was a “psychopathic killer.” Listen, I’m not trying to transform Chris Kyle, the American Sniper who killed more […]
Also posted in American Sniper, Chris Kyle, Clint Eastwood, George W. Bush, Movies, PTSD, Saddam Hussein
Counterattack
This story is now in the collection “Tales of Romance”
Also posted in Afghanistan, CIA, David Petraeus, Marriage, Middle East, Sex, Short Pieces - GTC, Taliban, West Point
Death Sentences in Iraq
This story is from the collection “Obama on Edge”
Also posted in Crime, Lawyers, Middle East, Murder
Nuclear Engineers
This story is from the collection “Obama on Edge”
Also posted in Iran, Middle East, Nuclear Weapons, Poetry - GTC, Terrorism
Sign Holder
This story appears in the collection “In Other Hands”
Also posted in Economics, Homeless, Mental Health, Poetry - GTC, Poverty, War
Saddam Comforts Americans
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Bashar al-Assad, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Middle East, Nouri al-Maliki, Saddam Hussein, Syria
Sam Retired in Florida
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Algeria, Cuba, Egypt, Fidel Castro, Middle East, Poetry - GTC, Saddam Hussein, Syria
Iraqi Women
This story is from the collection “Obama on Edge”
Also posted in Prostitution, Sex, Women's Rights
George W. Bush on Men and Women
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush, King Abdullah, Middle East, Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabia, Sex
Historian Presents the Statistics of War
I bumbled by that smoking, manure-laden vehicle that didn’t explode in New York City last week and felt foolish I wasn’t the one who detected it and that I should have since I’ve spent my career analyzing wars but concede I’m only a historian, hiding in academia, who would’ve cringed at the sound of real […]
Also posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, Alexander the Great, Taliban, War, World War I, World War II
Flying Shoes
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush
Bush Embraces Missiles
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Europe, George W. Bush, Missile Shield, Nuclear Weapons, Weapons
President Bush Strives to Ensure Iraq’s Future
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush, Middle East
Delighted after Five Years in Iraq
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Al Qaeda, George W. Bush, Terrorism
Saddam Hussein Vows to Rescue Bush
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein
Grand Speeches
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Al Qaeda, George W. Bush, Middle East
Boehner Rebukes Republicans
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Drugs, John Boehner, Lobbyists, Republicans, Tobacco
Consequences of Defeat in Iraq
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush, Middle East, Terrorism
Saddam Gloats over Iraqi Chaos
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Saddam Hussein
White House Statement on Proper Deaths
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in President W. Bush, War
President Bush Explains the Surge
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush
Saddam Hussein’s Final Interview
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Saddam Hussein
Discouraged
I’m not going to tell whether as security officer I serve old Baathists, new Sunnis, Sadr Shiites, Iranian Shiites, autonomous Kurds, Christians, or CIA operatives. I can’t tell you because I often don’t know. Look what happened November fourteenth – year doesn’t matter – at Ministry of Education research center: several dozen men driving pickup […]
Also posted in Short Pieces - GTC
Supreme Power
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein
President Bush’s New Language about War
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush
President Bush Celebrates Three Years in Iraq
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush
Fortress America and “The Long War”
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, George W. Bush, Iran, Terrorism
Congressman John Murtha Tells Truth about Iraq, GOP Bleats, Demos Bolt
Tough and forthright Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha recently told the truth about United States involvement in Iraq and for that good service was bombarded by vitriol from Republicans and the stampeding feet of retreating fellow Democrats. Evidently, most leading Democrats in congress either agree with the current fight-fight-damn-the-consequences policy of President George W. Bush or […]
Also posted in Democrats, John Murtha, Republicans
Saddam Hussein Meets Eminent Leader
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Saddam Hussein
President Bush Warns of More Destruction
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Al Qaeda, George W. Bush, Terrorism
Dashing Saddam Deluged by Proposals
This is story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Saddam Hussein
Letter to President Bush: Try to Stabilize Iraq, then Leave
Dear President Bush, Let’s relax a few minutes and acknowledge that you are the most powerful man in the world, and the United States is fighting another war in Iraq, and the war is already more than two years old and the insurgency more deadly than ever and that your strategic reasoning for putting troops […]
Also posted in George W. Bush
Courageous Iraqis Prepare to Vote
It is most ironic that a historic political event in Iraq – the first free election – is, or should be, a fundamentally apolitical occurrence in the United States and other democratic countries. Today – January 30, 2005 – everyone who believes in liberty is in the same cheering section. For at least a day […]
Surgically Enhanced Saddam Backs Democracy
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Saddam Hussein
What President Bush Could Be Thinking About Iraq
This story is an excerpt from “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush
Bush’s Popularity Rises in Concert with Death Toll
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in Campaign 2004, George W. Bush, John Kerry
Saddam Back on Stage as Insurgency Grows
The man’s a bona fide survivor, isn’t he? Hundreds of thousands of his victims inside and outside Iraq are dead. His sons are dead. Thousands of people mired in the mess he left have recently died. But Saddam Hussein lives on. He’s harder to kill than a cockroach in the deepest crevice, more difficult to […]
Also posted in George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein
Gaddafi’s Daughter Joins Saddam’s Exciting Legal Team
Google and Yahoo are search engines of astonishing reach and daily utility but I’m a little disappointed in them tonight: they were only able to provide one picture of Aisha Gaddafi, daughter of Muammar and newest member of the rapidly growing Saddam legal team that now numbers twenty-one professional and hundreds of volunteer lawyers. If […]
Also posted in Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein
What Are the Iraqis and Saudis Going to Do?
We can long debate what the United States should do about the recent beheading of two of its citizens in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Most will agree the murderers should be captured and punished. But how can that be done? Will a police-style manhunt, orchestrated by the military, be enough? Or, as many in the […]
Also posted in Saudi Arabia
Surgery on Iraq
Let’s cut the bullshit – the stuff that so often comes from the mouths of leaders everywhere – and deal with some facts: The Bush administration repeatedly lied about the capabilities and intentions of Iraq to do harm to the United States. The Bush administration was internationally condemned for even contemplating an attack on a […]
Also posted in George W. Bush, War
The Right Starts to Collapse on Bush
I don’t listen long to conservative radio talk shows. That would be like lingering at peep shows. But I can’t tell you about something said during these sermons unless I concede I listen a little. I usually don’t do so on purpose, of course. While searching for rationality, I accidentally press a button leading to […]
Also posted in Campaign 2004, George W. Bush
Saddam Wears a Beard
This story is from the collection “Echoes from Saddam Hussein”
Also posted in George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, War
