Month: December 2004

Like the drug gangs you’ve always worried about, charming military recruiters have weaseled their way into American public schools and are luring your child to what could be his death with the very things that other gangs offer: immediate cash for fast cars, a macho image to scare off bullies and impress the girls, and … Continue reading “Enlist Today!”

Many of the signs and portents hovering around the beginning of a second Bush term look less than promising for partisans of peace. As cabinet members have resigned, they have for the most part been replaced by people whose salient qualities are less competence or expertise than personal loyalty to the president, several of them … Continue reading “Reality Catching Up to Empire?”

Just when it appeared that Syria was complying in earnest with U.S. demands to secure its border with Iraq and even making unprecedented peace overtures to Israel, key neoconservative opinion-shapers are calling on President George W. Bush to take stronger measures against Damascus, possibly including military action. The media campaign was launched last week, when … Continue reading “Are They Serious About Syria?”

Another Iraq Exit StrategySapienza has it about right. And for the record I am 81 years old and have been in one of their damned wars, and watched a half-dozen others. All bad. “In ‘Spring and Autumn’ there are no righteous wars.” And “democracy” is a fraud; when you register to vote you are signing … Continue reading “Backtalk, December 17”

Question: How many people does it take to fill a mass grave? No, this is not a joke, because although I don’t know the "official" answer, the one thing I do know about mass extermination is that it’s typically not a subject that lends itself well to humor. The question stems not from some ghoulish … Continue reading “Mass Graves: Are We There Yet?”

UNITED NATIONS – After long refusing to risk the lives of its workers in Iraq, the United Nations has reversed its stance and is planning to expand its international staff in the violence-ridden country in time for upcoming elections in late January. "The current ceiling of 59 [international staffers] is not adequate for what we … Continue reading “UN Reversal: More Staff Bound for Iraq”

Abuses and even torture of Iraqi detainees by U.S. Marines have been widespread, according to U.S. Navy documents released Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Among the worst was a June 2003 case in which four Iraqi juveniles were forced to kneel while a pistol was “discharged to conduct a mock execution,” according … Continue reading “New Revelations Indicate Abuse Was Systemic”

NEW YORK – Since 9/11, millions of words have been written about the "terrorists in our midst." Most congratulated U.S. law enforcement for finding and jailing them. Fewer questioned whether the principles of American human rights and civil liberties were being compromised by an overzealous government gripped by fear. But according to the American Civil … Continue reading “Families the ‘Other Victims’ of 9/11 Round-Up”

Despite being asked by President George W. Bush to stay in his post, Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld appears to be in growing political trouble, and not just because of his cavalier reply last week to a question posed by a member of the Tennessee National Guard in Kuwait about the lack of armored vehicles to … Continue reading “Rummy Back on the Rocks?”

"When the prisoners first arrived at the camp, widely-published photographs showed them blindfolded, chained, and manacled…." – BBC News "From the time they are driven onto the base, recruits are told to keep their heads down and eyes closed. The less they know about the base’s layout, the less likely they are to try to … Continue reading “From Moral Individuals to Obedient Recruits … if They Survive”