Month: January 2005

Gonzales Faces Stormy Hearing

Led by a dozen retired generals and admirals, including a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, human rights groups are urging the U.S. Senate to carefully scrutinize the role of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales in devising detention and interrogation policies for the Bush administration’s “war against terrorism” before confirming him as attorney … Continue reading “Gonzales Faces Stormy Hearing”

Bush’s Checks Returning NSF

A nation’s foreign policy is bankrupt, Walter Lippmann wrote, when its strategic assets, its arms and alliances, are insufficient to cover its liabilities – i.e., its commitments to defend critical territory and vital interests. Japan’s strike on Pearl Harbor and rapid seizure of Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippines, Lippmann wrote, revealed the bankruptcy of … Continue reading “Bush’s Checks Returning NSF”

Indonesian Govt on the Offensive in Tsunami-Stricken Aceh

BANGKOK – While volunteers, relief workers and families are busy collecting and searching for bodies in Indonesia‘s tsunami-stricken Aceh province, Indonesian soldiers are continuing their offensive against separatist rebels, critics say. This, say international human rights groups, is hindering the delivery of badly needed humanitarian aid to survivors of the world’s worst natural disaster in … Continue reading “Indonesian Govt on the Offensive in Tsunami-Stricken Aceh”

US Backs Away From Arab Political Reform

CAIRO – After a year of tough talk from U.S. policymakers about the inevitable “democratization” of the Middle East, Washington appears to be backtracking, along with its Arab friends in the region. With the reelection of U.S. President George W. Bush and his hardline administration, a shift appears to have taken place in U.S. strategic … Continue reading “US Backs Away From Arab Political Reform”

Today’s Conservatives
Are Fascists

The idea that today’s conservatives are in any way defenders of individual liberty, the free market, and what Russell Kirk called “the permanent things,” i.e., the sacred traditions that have accumulated over time to constitute the core of our Judeo-Christian culture, is no longer a defensible proposition. Instead, what used to be called the conservative … Continue reading “Today’s Conservatives
Are Fascists”

Overblown Threats

Now that President Bush has been reelected and Franks-Bremer-Tenet awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Washington Post has apparently decided to spill the beans about the true “weapons of mass destruction” threat. In particular, Dafna Linzer spilled the beans about the nuke threat and John Mintz about the chem-bio weapons threat. You ought to … Continue reading “Overblown Threats”

Humvees Aren’t the Problem

There has been a lot of talk about Humvees lately, ever since an American soldier asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld why soldiers were going to war in unarmored vehicles. “We’re digging pieces of rusted scrap metal and compromised ballistic glass that’s already been shot up, dropped, busted, picking the best out of this scrap to … Continue reading “Humvees Aren’t the Problem”

Backtalk, January 1, 2005

‘Staying the Course’ Won’t Do The article by Pat Buchanan is EXCELLENT. As a lifelong antiwar protester, it is heartening to read that even the Republican party behind the mess in Iraq has concrete doubts about the direction we are taking. My husband is enlisted in the U.S. Army, has served for 20 years, and … Continue reading “Backtalk, January 1, 2005”