Blake Hounshell

AL-QAEDA WANTS THE U.S. IN IRAQ. Marc Lynch asks why so few in the media seem to have mentioned this. In a letter purportedly from a top al-Qaeda leader to the organization’s Iraqi branch, the author writes: Indeed, prolonging the war is in our interest, with God’s permission. Think about that. The full text of […]

CONDI VISITS THE “NEW MIDDLE EAST.” The State Department announced last week that Secretary Rice would be visiting Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel, with the aim of engaging what she characterized as “moderate” Arabs. And here she is, in the region for the first time after the pointless war in Lebanon, which saw U.S. standing […]

GAMAL GOES NUCLEAR. Last month’s annual conference of Egypt’s ruling National “Democratic” Party was filled with the usual empty talk about political reform. There was one big surprise, however: Gamal Mubarak, the son of President Hosni Mubarak, called for Egypt to develop peaceful nuclear energy. As this MEMRI “special dispatch” makes clear, Egyptian elites have […]

BANDARGATE. I strongly doubt that many Tapped readers follow Bahrani politics closely. But they may be forced to do so soon, if this story blows up. The island kingdom of Bahrain is tiny, with less than 700,000 people (including non-nationals) living in an area only 665 square kilometers in size. That’s about four times the […]