Month: February 2008

KING HENRY V [disguised as a fellow soldier] I dare say you love him not so ill, to wish him here alone, howsoever you speak this to feel other men’s minds: methinks I could not die any where so contented as in the king’s company; his cause being just and his quarrel honourable. WILLIAMS That’s … Continue reading “Support Our Troops – or Judge Them?”

This has been another terrible week for Guantánamo’s Military Commissions, established by Dick Cheney and his close advisors in November 2001 to try, convict and execute those responsible for 9/11 through a novel process so far removed from the US court system and the military’s own judicial procedures that the tainted fruit of torture would … Continue reading “Guantánamo’s Shambolic Trials”

Updated at 6:05 p.m., EST, Feb. 27, 2008Although Baghdad newspapers halted publication in observance of the Arbaeen holiday, a few violent incidents did get reported. Overall, at least 18 Iraqis were killed and 16 were wounded across the country. The situation at the Turkish border remains tense as well. No Coalition deaths were announced. U.S. … Continue reading “Wednesday: 18 Iraqis Killed, 16 Wounded”

American advocates of imperialism have been few and far between, and we have to go all the way back to the latter years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th to unearth the most explicit. Theodore Roosevelt is perhaps the best known, but there were others: notably, Capt. Alfred T. Mahan, … Continue reading “McCain, Militarism, and the Legacy of Teddy Roosevelt”

On Feb. 13, Imad Moughniyeh, a senior commander of Hezbollah, was assassinated in Damascus. “The world is a better place without this man in it,” State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack said: “one way or the other he was brought to justice.” Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell added that Moughniyeh has been “responsible for more … Continue reading “The World’s Most Wanted”

While McCain, Obama, and Clinton attend services of their choice on Sunday, all worship at the shrine of intervention-that-spurs jihad the rest of the week. Just in the past month, all three have pushed an interventionist agenda in Pakistan and Kosovo, and, notwithstanding claims by Obama and Clinton, to a great extent in Iraq. At … Continue reading “Clueless Candidates Make Osama’s Day”

This month, Amtrak officials announced that they were stepping up security, including random searches of passenger carry-on bags, more officers patrolling platforms and trains, and bomb-sniffing dogs. That Amtrak would want to increase security should come as no surprise given that the railway system was the target of terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004, London … Continue reading “More Amtrak Security,
More Safety?”

Updated at 12:25 a.m. EST, Feb. 27, 2008At least 33 Iraqis were killed and 20 more were wounded in the latest violence, which included a deadly attack on a minibus in Mosul. Clashes at the Turkish border continued as well. Also, the DOD reported that an American soldier died yesterday at Bethesda from wounds received … Continue reading “Tuesday: 1 US Soldier, 33 Iraqis Killed; 20 Iraqis Wounded”

The George W. Bush administration has ballyhooed recent legislation passed by the Iraqi parliament as a sign that its troop escalation strategy has indeed created space for political reconciliation. But observers say a closer look at the legislation in the context of the grander Iraqi quagmire suggests that the chances of passage of the laws … Continue reading “Strategic Alliances Remain Elusive in Iraq”

As the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency acknowledged it had erroneously denied using British territory to transport victims of "extraordinary rendition," a federal court bowed to pressure from the George W. Bush administration to dismiss a case against a Boeing subsidiary being sued for providing the aircraft that carried the suspected terrorists. The U.S. and British … Continue reading “Renditions Clothed in State Secrets Mantle”