Month: October 2004

John Kerry has essentially accused President Bush of making the use of a nuclear weapon against us more likely by failing to fully support the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Bush, in rebuttal, pointed with pride to his Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), which he has made "central" to his "dealing with weapons of mass … Continue reading “So Much for Non-Proliferation”

To: Ed Gillespie Chairman, Republican National Committee Dear Mr. Gillespie: Your letter informed me that I have been chosen to take part in the census of the Republican Party as a representative of all Republicans living in my area. It is doubtful that my view of the party’s presidential candidate represents that of most party … Continue reading “Bush’s Choices May Be ‘Tough,’ but My Choice Is Not”

Quotes of the day: “In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn’t like about Bush’s former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House’s displeasure, and then he told me something that at the … Continue reading “Bin Laden’s Illusions – and Ours”

A review of Agent Orange: "Collateral Damage" in Vietnam by Philip Jones Griffiths Trolley Ltd. (Great Britain) Hardback, 160 pages, with 100 b/w photographs In this welcome and timely follow-up to his well-known 1971 classic Vietnam, Inc., photojournalist Phillip Jones Griffiths takes readers on a moving journey into the heart of darkness, shining a light … Continue reading “Agent Orange: An Ongoing Atrocity”

UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is at loggerheads with the U.S.-installed interim government in Iraq over national elections scheduled to take place in that strife-torn country in January 2005. The Iraqi government, backed by the United States, wants Annan to dispatch a huge contingent of UN monitors to Iraq’s capital Baghdad – primarily … Continue reading “US Wants UN Fig Leaf for Elections”

For any number of reasons, John Kerry is, to put it mildly, no prize, even, or perhaps especially on foreign policy issues. The recent endorsements by the New York Times and The New Republic can’t even conjure up much in the way of credible enthusiasm. He really has been all over the map on Iraq, … Continue reading “Making Book on the Bushes”

RIO DE JANEIRO – The publicity stirred up around the inspection of a Brazilian uranium enrichment plant is a "fabricated controversy" that could be aimed at hindering the national development of the nuclear power industry. This allegation, put forward by physicist Aquilino Senra Martínez, is based on his contention that the United Nations’ International Atomic … Continue reading “Brazil Fights for Right to Produce Nuclear Fuel”

JAKARTA – Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was sworn as the sixth president of Indonesia Wednesday, but the celebratory mood ended later that night when he disclosed his cabinet, defined by some analysts as a classic example of political horse-trading. Present at the ceremony, held in the same building occupied by students that led to the end … Continue reading “Indonesian President’s Honeymoon Is Over”

Three out of four self-described supporters of President George W. Bush still believe pre-war Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or active programs to produce them, and that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein gave “substantial support” to al-Qaeda terrorists, according to a survey released Thursday. Moreover, as many or more Bush supporters hold those beliefs … Continue reading “Bush Backers Steadfast on Saddam, WMD”

A Failed "Transition" is the most comprehensive accounting of the mounting costs of the Iraq war on the United States, Iraq, and the world. Among its major findings are stark figures about the escalation of costs in these most recent three months of "transition" to Iraqi rule, a period that the Bush administration claimed would … Continue reading “A Failed ‘Transition’: The Mounting Costs of the Iraq War”