Month: May 2004

On June 4, 2004, lawyers for Voices in the Wilderness (VitW) will argue, in federal court, that a judge should allow further “discovery” to help establish why VitW travelers believed they had a duty to challenge economic sanctions against Iraq. The U.S. government charges us with the “crime” of delivering donated medicines to Iraq, without … Continue reading “Social Security”

Glenn Reynolds – or rather, one of his farm team all-stars – was kind enough last week to “fisk” an article from this site. Michael Totten: “Pat Buchanan is being an ass again. … “Pitchfork Pat has a new piece up at antiwar.com called What Does America Offer the World?“ Nice to know Michael’s reading. … Continue reading “The Contradictions of Liberation”

SEA ISLE, NJ – There’s a simple ceremony in this ocean town on Memorial Day. People gather in the morning in the town square, taps are played, there’s a gun salute and then there’s a short walk to the beach, a block away. To honor the naval dead, flowers are placed in a row boat, … Continue reading “The Problem Is At the Top”

Retired three-star general William E. Odom, who once headed the National Security Agency during the Reagan administration, is no peacenik. Nor would anyone outside the David Horowitz wing of the War Party call him “anti-American,” but General Odom believes the time has come to call a spade a spade. “We have failed” in Iraq, he … Continue reading “Iraq, R.I.P.”

NEW DELHI, (IPS) – India’s ousted right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been looking kindly at moves by the new Congress party-led government to undo its policies, warning against plans to repeal anti-terrorist laws introduced after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. The Common Minimum Program of the ruling United Progressive … Continue reading “India Seeks to Repeal Its PATRIOT Act”

ABU SIFFA, IRAQ—“How could this happen?” nearly everyone asks these days.  But as the U.S. now releases hundreds of men from Abu Ghraib prison, another question, “Why were so many Iraqis locked up there in the first place?” is likely to become part of the debate. The story of this farming hamlet 30 miles north … Continue reading “On Their Way to Abu Ghraib”

When President Bush declared War on Terrorism, he pledged to prevent regimes – such as North Korea, Iran and Iraq – from providing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons to terrorists. Of course, Iran and Iraq had both developed chem-bio weapons and had used them against each other in the Iran-Iraq War. And, in the aftermath … Continue reading “C’est la Guerre”

America may be heading home from Iraq sooner than many of us realize. For the implied message of the president’s address at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., is that America wants out of Iraq. Rereading that speech, one finds in it little of Churchill’s “We-shall-fight-them-on-the-beaches” defiance. Rather, the president laid out a five-step … Continue reading “Has Bush Become a Realist?”

Sometimes I forget that burnout applies to me too. After nearly two months straight of chasing stories, it was obviously time for a break. Unlike home though, one can’t go take in a movie, take a jog or even a casual stroll. Walking around anywhere in Baghdad, being a Westerner, is never casual. So I’ve … Continue reading “A Long, Hot Summer Begins”

Suppose your doctor misdiagnoses your condition – he tells you that six months hence you’ll be stone-cold dead, pushing up the daisies. As it turns out, however, you did not have leukemia after all, but were only suffering from Lyme disease. Would you not consider switching practitioners? Say your stockbroker’s picks leave you with a … Continue reading “Pundits, Heal Thyselves!”