white house

Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war.... Obama, one senior military official said, has allowed "things that the previous administration did not.".... Special Operations commanders have also become a far more regular presence at the White House than they were under George W. Bush [2]'s administration, when most briefings on potential future operations were run through the Pentagon chain of command.... ››read more

Gareth PorterUS can't decide to recognize common interests in a stable Iraq, or weaken Iran as a regional power: The Real News Network's Paul Jay talks to Gareth Porter about the dichotomy of Washington's two strategies for Iran. On the one hand recognizing that they share common interests like stabilizing Iraq. On the other hand Iran is seen as a threat as a regional power to the Bush administration's Middle East aims and therefore must be dealt with militarily. ››read more

Dana PerinoThe White House on Tuesday denied a published report in Israel that said President Bush intends to attack Iran before the end of his term in January.
A story in the Jerusalem Post quoted a "senior official" there as saying that Bush plans to attack Iran in the coming months. The story says the unidentified official claimed that a "senior member" of Bush's traveling entourage made the statement about attacking Iran in a closed meeting. Bush was in Israel last week. ››read more

A word of caution on US "evidence" that Iran is providing armor-piercing weapons to Iraqis. If reporters could all stop the heavy breathing for a moment, they might ask the folks at the White House and in the Pentagon to explain why those bombs that they displayed as "evidence" of Iranian perfidy had English words and numbers on them, instead of Persian. ››read more

The White House said Sunday it is not planning military action against Iran, but refused to rule out the possibility, bucking pressure from several senators who said the administration is not authorized to do so. ››read more