Month: April 2005

Cooler Heads Review PATRIOT Act in Congress

Disclosure of a 75 percent increase in secret wiretaps and "sneak and peek" searches since 2000 is likely to provide ammunition for civil liberties groups determined to modify the USA PATRIOT Act when Congress begins two months of debate on the law Tuesday. The USA PATRIOT Act was hurriedly enacted shortly after the Sept. 11, … Continue reading “Cooler Heads Review PATRIOT Act in Congress”

About a Boy

The (unrequited) love of my life did his basic training in an elite Israeli commando. Once, after he had been characteristically belligerent, his "merciful" commanders made him stand in the rain throughout the night, bed on back. At 19, he was a powerfully built six-foot-three. Although temperamentally not suited to obedience, no one doubted his … Continue reading “About a Boy”

Drugs, Bases, and Jails: The Afghan Spring

If Iraq has been the disaster zone of Bush foreign policy, Afghanistan is still generally thought of as its success story – to the extent that anyone in our part of the world thinks about that country at all any more. Before the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan experienced a relative flood of American attention. It … Continue reading “Drugs, Bases, and Jails: The Afghan Spring”

‘Progressives’ for Slavery

The inside-the-Beltway debate over the size of the military is about how to increase the number of troops by 100,000, not whether to do so. At a recent debate on the draft sponsored by the Center for American Progress (CAP), the views ranged from reinstating the draft to enhancing economic incentives for enlistment. Rather than … Continue reading “‘Progressives’ for Slavery”

The Teetering Empire

Listen to Scott’s interview with Chalmers Johnson stream download mp3   Chalmers Johnson, author of Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire and Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic, and the guest on my March 26 radio show [stream] [download mp3], spent decades as what he now calls a … Continue reading “The Teetering Empire”

That Wartime Feel Returns to Lebanon

BEIRUT – Lebanon‘s recent string of bomb attacks directed against Christian areas around Beirut has resulted in a war-weary population returning to old behavioral patterns. Set against the backdrop of an ongoing political crisis spurred by the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14, the late-night bombings have taken place at a regular … Continue reading “That Wartime Feel Returns to Lebanon”

More Empty Rhetoric for Veterans

Many military veterans were shocked to see that the federal budget for 2006 makes several cuts in veterans benefits and services. Under the proposed budget, the Veterans Administration will increase once again the co-pay cost of prescription drugs, while adding a new annual fee for medical benefits. The budget also calls for the reduction of … Continue reading “More Empty Rhetoric for Veterans”

Student Protest Stops CIA at NYU

A planned CIA recruiting event at New York University (NYU) was canceled after the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) called a protest demanding the CIA abandon its recruiting program at NYU. Twenty hours before the recruiting event was scheduled to begin, its organizers sent an e-mail to all those who had registered, headlined, "The CIA Speaker … Continue reading “Student Protest Stops CIA at NYU”

In Defense of John Paul II, Peacemaker

Unfazed by the antiwar demonstrations that thronged the streets of London on the eve of war with Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair was more concerned with the Pope’s disapproval as he prepared to meet with the Holy Father. After all, this was the man who had brought down the Soviet empire through the sheer … Continue reading “In Defense of John Paul II, Peacemaker”