Month: March 2005

Civil libertarians and opposition political leaders are stepping up their efforts to pull back the "veil of secrecy" they claim has characterized the George W. Bush administration. In separate developments, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sought to obtain the records used by the government to deny U.S. entry to prominent foreign scholars, and four … Continue reading “Fresh Skirmishes in the Information Wars”

A commission appointed by President Bush to analyze intelligence failures will be releasing its report today. According to The New York Times, the report “includes a searing critique of how the CIA and other agencies never properly assessed Saddam Hussein’s political maneuverings or the possibility that he no longer had weapon stockpiles.” But despite its … Continue reading “Iraq Intel Report: Expect Another Whitewash”

A major advocacy group charges that a Yemeni businessman captured in Egypt was handed over to U.S. authorities and "disappeared" for more than a year and a half before being sent to the Pentagon’s Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Human Rights Watch has released details of the previously unreported "reverse rendition" case of Abdul … Continue reading “‘Ghost Prisoner’ Resurfaces in Guantanamo”

During her meetings with foreign leaders in Washington and the many world capitals she has visited recently, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sounded like a kindergarten teacher warning rowdy kids that if they won’t behave, they could end up standing in the “Axis of Evil” corner. Meanwhile, those who had learned by heart the … Continue reading “Condi Rice Talks Down to Europe, Asia”

The Ongoing Balkans Hell Compared to, say, Kyrgyzstan these days, news coming from the Balkans makes the region appear downright calm. As usual, appearances are misleading. Taken separately, reports from the region don’t mean much – but taken together, they paint a picture of a continuing descent into absurdity. Like a scratched CD, the Imperial … Continue reading “Carnival of the Absurd”

Earlier this month, having long been bothered by the claims of various neocons that we were in “World War IV” (also known as “the Global War on Terrorism”), I wrote a piece, "Which War Is This Again?," considering the idea. I pointed out among other things that whatever the Cold War might have been, it … Continue reading “Why World War IV Can’t Sell”

In the last three decades, there has been little doubt in my mind that democratic institutions would soon replace or subsume the world’s last remaining monarchies, including those in the Middle East. Monarchs could rule effectively when the world moved at a snail’s pace, but with the accelerated pace of change in the global political … Continue reading “Gunboat Democracy”

On March 26, 2005, the streets of Taipei were choked with people from all over the island, citizens of a nation still known legally as the Republic of China (ROC), citizens who’d gathered in force to protest a new anti-secession law that had just been passed by the much larger People’s Republic of China (PRC) … Continue reading “Taiwan Speaks Up, Damn the Torpedoes”

BEIRUT – The political upheaval that has engulfed Lebanon following the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri has given rise to fears of renewed sectarian bloodshed – and hopes that it can be avoided. The upheaval has resulted in an ongoing standoff between government loyalists and the opposition movement, a surge in street demonstrations, and … Continue reading “In Lebanon, Fear and Hope”

Robert Novak told us last year that the U.S. was headed for a “quick exit” from Iraq – and in a recent column he’s holding to this prediction, crowing that he was right about Condoleezza Rice ascending to the State Department, and her deputy Stephen Hadley taking her place as national security adviser. Okay, so … Continue reading “Iraq: An Exit Strategy”