Iraqi Prison Horrors Pervasive, Says Attorney

While the latest reports investigating the widely condemned events at Abu Ghraib prison attempt to close the book on the Pentagon’s culpability with a somber critique, new evidence gathered for a class action lawsuit filed against two U.S.-based private contractors could prove that the scandal at Abu Ghraib was far from an isolated series of … Continue reading “Iraqi Prison Horrors Pervasive, Says Attorney”

Attorneys, Rights Groups Slam Gitmo Tribunals

The first of the criminal military hearings for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ended this week amidst complaints from defense lawyers about lack of resources and harsh criticism from human rights groups. Even before the hearings began on Tuesday, they were mired in controversy with organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Human … Continue reading “Attorneys, Rights Groups Slam Gitmo Tribunals”

Oops, We’ll Do It Again?

Soon after the Warsaw Pact collapsed in 1989, Bush the Elder began retrieving the thousands of "tactical" nukes we had forward deployed in NATO countries for use against invading Warsaw Pact armies. Did the Soviet Union follow suit? Well, no. It turns out that, although the Soviet Union had more than 15,000 tactical nukes for … Continue reading “Oops, We’ll Do It Again?”

AIPAC’s Overt and Covert Ops

CBS is reporting that a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst detailed to Undersecretary of Defense for Planning Douglas Feith’s Office of Special Plans is under FBI investigation for spying for Israel. The person passed to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) confidential documents, including those detailing Bush administration policy toward Iran, and AIPAC then passed … Continue reading “AIPAC’s Overt and Covert Ops”

‘That Real Old Stuff’

The hoo-ha about John Kerry’s Vietnam War record reminds me of a conversation I had with a teenage baby-sitter back in the 1960s when the war was actually going on in Vietnam. The girl had brought her high-school history book with her, so I asked her if she liked history. "It’s OK," she said, "except … Continue reading “‘That Real Old Stuff’”

Rebuilding America: Foreign Policy

Ever since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet empire, it has been an article of faith among many Americans that an extensive overseas military empire and a massive domestic military-industrial complex are vitally important and greatly beneficial to our country. Being the world’s “sole remaining superpower,” it has been … Continue reading “Rebuilding America: Foreign Policy”

Thank Government for the Mess We’re in

The first presidential election in the post–9/11 era has people thinking hitherto unthinkable thoughts: Should the election be postponed if a terrorist attack occurs before election day? What if there is an attack on election day? What happens if an attack takes the lives of the winner of the election and his running mate before … Continue reading “Thank Government for the Mess We’re in”