George Bush

By Gabriel Elizondo in Americas on October 11th, 2011
The Massachusetts statesman's presidential ambitions include a plan for his Latin neighbours.

If Mitt Romney becomes president of the United States, he apparently has big plans for Latin America. 

“Neither the Bush administration or the Obama administration really focused on Latin America,” a Romney aide apparently told a conference call of reporters late last week, according to this article in Politico. 

The article quoted an aide who said President Mitt Romney would envision “larger campaigns for economic opportunity in Latin America” and that Latin America would be one of the main regions in the world Romney foreign policy would differ from George Bush or Barack Obama. 

Fair enough.

With that in mind I took great interest when on Friday Romney released his 44-page foreign policy white paper titled: “An American Century - A Strategy to Secure

By Kristen Saloomey in Americas on February 12th, 2011
Photo from GALLO/GETTY

Egyptians were dancing in the streets on Friday, and not just in Cairo.

Hundreds of them flowed into the immigrant neighbourhood of Astoria, in Queens, New York, waving red, white and black Egyptian flags, cheering not only for a free Egypt - but also for Al Jazeera and its role in broadcasting the revolution.

While Egypt dominates the headlines from the Middle East, the story in the United States continues to be this rising news channel.

As a correspondent for Al Jazeera English in New York, the questions follow me wherever I go: Where can I see Al Jazeera? How can I watch it?

Suddenly my inbox is full of college students looking for internships. Several reporters have approached me (me?

By Mike Hanna in Middle East on September 1st, 2010
Photo by AFP

From the viewpoint of those living in Iraq, there's a special irony to the fact that the young senator who opposed the US occupation of Iraq is now the president who says he's committed to ending it - fulfilling a campaign promise that was rooted, he said, in its honest conviction that the war was wrong.

When Barack Obama became commander-in-chief, he assumed responsibility for a military force that was involved in two major wars - Iraq and Afghanistan.

The two wars have played a major role in defining his presidency to date, particularly as their execution came at a time of severe economic downturn.

The unilateral deadline to reduce the number of US forces in Iraq to 50,000 by the end of this month has been met - and the occasion used by the president to make a rare speech to the American people from the Oval Office.

He made the point that it was from the same chair that George Bush declared the beginning of the war in Iraq seven and a half years ear

By Nick Spicer in Americas on August 22nd, 2010
Photo by Reuters

As he campaigns for members of his beleaguered Democratic party, the US president can no longer fill a stadium with enraptured Americans young and old.

The magic of Barack Obama’s mythopoeic come-from-behind campaign in 2008 has given way to the grim reality of governing a conflicted country, one whose entire economic model has been found wanting by the greatest recession since the 1930s.

And, as Obama stays the course with some of George Bush’s symbolic overseas policies – continuing drone strikes in Pakistan, and largely maintaining status quo on the human rights of “war on terror” detainees - the disenchantment of many American progressives has veered into bitterness.

But as the president loses touch with much of his base, the very man once derided by his presidential rivals as a phony-Jesus, peace-and-love political cream puff is forging a new public persona: Barack Obama, the angry president.

And it's not without good political reason.<

By Sherine Tadros in Middle East on April 28th, 2010

File 2371

I recently jumped at the chance to take an all expenses paid helicopter ride over Israel and part of the West Bank.

The trip was courtesy of The Israel Project (TIP) which describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan group working to impact world opinion for the sake of Israel's security.

The helicopter ride is meant as an "educational tour" for journalists and was inspired by George Bush, the former US president, who took a similar ride and reportedly said it opened his eyes to just how vulnerable Israel is.

The tour operates twice a month and has taken up over 1,400 journalists.

We (AJE cameraman Brad McLennan and I) met our guide and fellow journalists early in the morning, were bussed to an airport near Tel Aviv, treated to breakfast, and (after a security check that happened only to involve Brad and I and not the other two Israeli journalists) were taken up on a civilian helicopter for 45 minutes.

By Marwan Bishara in Imperium on April 8th, 2010
Photo by EPA

The leak is now credible. The New York Times has confirmed what the Washington Post published a day earlier: the Obama administration is considering proposing its own framework for a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
 
Frustrated by its failure to freeze Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, and subsequent failure to get the negotiations back on track, the US government is putting the two parties on notice: Define the contours of a solution by autumn and negotiate its details, or we shall do it for you.
 

By Marwan Bishara in Imperium on March 8th, 2010

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The Iraq elections underline the tenacity of its people and their determination to take back their country.

Iraqis have succeeded in pulling away from the brink despite, not because, of US policies over the last seven years.

Crediting George Bush's policies for hard earned Iraqi accomplishments adds insult to injury.

It was not only the timing of declaring "Mission Accomplished" from a battle ship that was proved unfortunate, but the whole notion of 'US victory' in Iraq is utterly nonsensical considering the horrific human, societal and other costs.

Accomplished - or not bloody accomplished - the US mission has turned Iraq into a complete mess.

By Rob Reynolds in Americas on November 30th, 2009
Photo by EPA

On Tuesday, Barack Obama, the US president will go before cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point - and a national and worldwide television audience - to announce his plan and strategy for Afghanistan.

He’s expected to say he will send something in the order of 30,000 extra troops, perhaps as many as 35,000. He is also going to outline a plan and a time frame for turning responsibility for the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda over to the shaky and corrupt Afghan government, so that American forces can be brought home eventually.

I think the actual number of troops is not the important thing. 30,000 or 40,000 or even 100,000 or 300,000 troops would still be too few, if the goal is to entirely wipe out the Taliban. What is important is how Obama conveys to the American people the mission in Afghanistan.

By Nour Odeh in Middle East on November 17th, 2009

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Palestinians are getting ready for the biggest diplomatic battle of their recent history. This is becoming apparent, in light of the high-tone of political statements exchanged by Palestinian, Israeli, and other officials.

Senior Palestinian officials have announced that they intend to go to the United Nations Security Council and secure a resolution recognizing a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Such a resolution would by no means change the rules of the game or the already accepted terms of a resolution to the conflict, Palestinians argue.

By Hamish Macdonald in Europe on October 27th, 2009
Photo by Getty Images

It was a shock to switch on British domestic television today to find the former Australian Prime Minister (now happily retired) turning up on a political chat show. Since his loss at the last election to Kevin Rudd's Labour party, John Howard has hardly said a word in public, much less on British television.

Despite a couple of years of near silence, it seems John Howard is still standing by his old mates. Remember the "coalition of the willing"?

So, on the topic of the day: should Tony Blair be given the new post of European President? Howard's reply:

"Its none of my business, but I'll express my view anyway ... I think the concept of a President of Europe is not one that appeals to me ... as an individual I had a great respect for Blair. I found him intelligent, I got on very well with him and the whole time he was Prime Minister of Great Britain I was Prime Minister of Australia."

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