Month: December 2004

If 2003 was the year of the liars, as I opined last year, then 2004 was the year of the war criminals, starting with Time magazine’s designated Man of the Year, criminal-in-chief George W. Bush. It was Bush who presided over the torture and abuse not only at Abu Ghraib but in U.S.-run dungeons from … Continue reading “The Great Crime Spree of 2004”

Gary Samore – who served on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff – told an audience last week at the United Arab Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research: "I think if negotiations between Iran and the Europeans fail – and Iran resumes its enrichment program – I think there is a real risk of … Continue reading “Bay of Pigs Redux?”

“The curious incident is the barking of the dog,” Sherlock Holmes remarked. “But the dog did not bark!” exclaimed Dr. Watson. “That is the curious incident!” This week’s curious incident concerns the wreath of Tony Blair. The wreath that he did not lay on the grave of Yasser Arafat. Elementary, dear Watson. Blair did go … Continue reading “The Wreath Blair Didn’t Lay”

We move into a new year of imperial ambitions. Perhaps it is time to take stock of some of the assumptions that lie behind the imperial enterprise in order to understand why, at least on the basis of its own stated goals, the empire is unlikely to be successful. It wouldn’t be a bad idea … Continue reading “Confused About Democracy”

It is as if I am in a nightmare that never ends. The nightmare is about Vietnam, but it is also about Iraq and Afghanistan. I seem to be in a time warp, and over and over every day and night I see not Iraq, but Vietnam. I see the same kids dying the same … Continue reading “A Vietnam Grunt Looks at Iraq”

ESCONDIDO, Calif. – Fernando Suarez del Solar is a busy man. He is busy opening boxes, counting pills, counting bandages; he is busy checking everything in the boxes that come addressed to him from all over the United States. Suarez stops for a moment. “There are other boxes,” he says, “many of them in San … Continue reading “Dead Soldier’s Dad Finds No Enemy in Iraq”

The Bush administration’s foreign policy may be costing U.S. corporations business overseas, according to a new survey of 8,000 international consumers released this week by the Seattle-based Global Market Insite (GMI) Inc. Brands closely identified with the U.S., such as Marlboro cigarettes, America Online (AOL), McDonald’s, American Airlines, and Exxon-Mobil, are particularly at risk. GMI, … Continue reading “Poll: War Bad for Business”

What defines conduct unbecoming an officer? Major General Thomas Fiscus, judge advocate general of the Air Force, opposed the harsh interrogation techniques approved and later rescinded by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for use on Guantanamo prisoners. Subsequently, General Fiscus has been reprimanded for a dozen sexual affairs during the last decade and may face disbarment … Continue reading “Conduct Unbecoming”

Nebojsa is on vacation. He will return next week. There can be no doubt that 2004 has been a bad year for peace in the Balkans. An increase in violence and the escalation of Clinton-era policies that appeared defeated earlier have both contributed to a general deterioration in the region, to the point of threatening … Continue reading “Train of Abuses”

During the 1970s, the apartheid government of South Africa sought to bolster its claims to legitimacy by allowing elections in the bantustans – the equivalent to today’s walled-in Palestinian communities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The thought was that if people elected local officials, even to hold largely ceremonial offices, then the … Continue reading “Palestine: Elections Without Democracy”