Month: March 2005

An institutional climate of "Islamophobia" and wariness among many U.S. Arabs and Muslims of the federal government are proving to be substantial barriers to recruiting Arabic speakers into the United States’ counterterrorism agencies, observers say. Applications are being received in record numbers, but submissions from those who might be choice picks in the fight against … Continue reading “Distrust Festers Between US Muslims, Intel Agencies”

Throughout much of the Cold War, people feared above all else a global hot war, the third great one in a century of devastating world wars; and we crept up to it more than once – most desperately, there can be no doubt, at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. For … Continue reading “Which War Is This Again?”

The Syrian government must put an immediate end to human rights abuses against Syrian Kurds, Amnesty International said in a report published Thursday on the eve of the anniversary of the Qamishli clashes. More than 30 Kurds were killed in clashes that spread from a football match between Kurdish and Arab teams in Qamishli in … Continue reading “Torture and Oppression of Kurds in Syria”

CANBERRA, Mar 10 (IPS) – The father of the only Australian prisoner held in the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba has renewed his plea that his son be brought home to face any charges following the return by the U.S. government of three French men to Paris this week. Attending the screening of a film, … Continue reading “‘Bring My Son Home,’ Pleads Guantanamo Bay Detainee’s Father”

Many years ago, I read a book called The Quiet American by Graham Greene. Its central character is a high-minded, naive young American operative in Vietnam. He has no idea about the complexities of that country but is determined to right its wrongs and create order. The results are disastrous. I have the feeling that … Continue reading “Lebanon and the Avaricious Superpower”

Kosovo “Prime Minister” Indicted Three months after he was appointed “prime minister” in the “provisional government” of the occupied Serbian province of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj has stepped down and surrendered to the Hague Inquisition. He did so after receiving a sealed indictment, whose contents had not been made public as of Tuesday night. Haradinaj’s surrender … Continue reading “The Haradinaj Affair”

A specter is haunting post-9/11 America – the specter of fascism. Lew Rockwell calls it “red-state fascism,” former Treasury official and conservative economist Paul Craig Roberts refers to “the brownshirting of the conservative movement,” and Scott McConnell, editor of The American Conservative, while demurring that the rise of a homegrown authoritarian regime is somewhat problematic, … Continue reading “The Specter of Fascism”

One of the classic signs of ideology at work is the redefinition of words to empty them of their meaning. An article by Greg Jaffe in the Feb. 16 Wall Street Journal, “New Factor in Iraq: Irregular Brigades Fill Security Void,” describes the rapid spread of militias in that unhappy place, which is probably now … Continue reading “When Is a Militia Not a Militia?”

Who hasn’t heard soldier after American soldier burble on about how freeing Iraqis inspires him? Or, if injured, this archetypal GI will often say how eager he is to get back to his “buddies,” those he considers his real family. (Come now, Objectivists: How do you finesse such lack of enlightened self-interest – such sacrificial … Continue reading “The International Highway to Hell”

“I will be voting to give the president of the United States the authority to use force – if necessary – to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.” – Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), … Continue reading “The War Path of Unity”