Month: July 2005

The Crock of Appeasement

The warmongers, imperialists, and just plain greedy who wish to use up U.S. troops to gain their ill-gotten goods love to use the word "appeasement." Anyone who stands against their expansionist ambitions will be tagged with this term. In the lexicology of the Rabid Right, it evokes British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s attempt to negotiate … Continue reading “The Crock of Appeasement”

George W. Strangelove and the Triumph of Nuclear Faith

The silver-spooned cowboy in the Oval Office just presented a fine new saddle to the nuclear horseman of the apocalypse. It was a gift worthy of hell. "President Bush agreed yesterday to share civilian nuclear technology with India, reversing decades of U.S. policies designed to discourage countries from developing nuclear weapons," the Washington Post reported … Continue reading “George W. Strangelove and the Triumph of Nuclear Faith”

UK Cleric: ‘Reclaim Islam From Terrorism’

LONDON – A leading Islamic scholar in Britain has asked for the Muslim community to come together to "reclaim Islam from terrorism." He made his call after the terrorist bomb blasts in London Underground trains and on a bus July 7 that killed 55 people and injured about 700. The suicide bombings were carried out … Continue reading “UK Cleric: ‘Reclaim Islam From Terrorism’”

‘PlameGate’ Hardly a Summer Squall

While to people living outside the Washington Beltway, the current affair over the disclosure by top White House officials of the identity of a covert intelligence officer may seem somewhat esoteric, the stakes could not be higher. It is not just that Karl Rove, President George W. Bush’s top political adviser, and Vice President Dick … Continue reading “‘PlameGate’ Hardly a Summer Squall”

Watching the Watchdogs

For the past few years, U.S. citizens have lived with an increasingly secretive government. More official documents are being classified than ever before – at least 16 million last year alone – while the declassification process, which made millions of historical documents available annually in the 1990s, has slowed to a relative crawl. And federal … Continue reading “Watching the Watchdogs”

Two Sides of the Same Coin

"British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Saturday the ‘evil ideology’ of al-Qaeda must be pulled up by the roots as the death toll from last week’s London subway and bus bombings rose to 55. ‘Within Britain, we must join up with our Muslim community to take on the extremists,’ Blair said in a speech … Continue reading “Two Sides of the Same Coin”

Why Plame Matters

The significance of the Plame affair is not about former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson; or his wife, Valerie Plame; or Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby; or even President George W. Bush’s alter ego, Karl Rove. White House v. Wilsons is about Iraq, where our sons and daughters – and … Continue reading “Why Plame Matters”

How Large a Crater Will We Leave?

Juan Cole, professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History at the University of Michigan, has lived in the Middle East and is fluent in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. His blog, Informed Comment, has earned its place at the top of the list for people interested in understanding events in the Islamic world outside … Continue reading “How Large a Crater Will We Leave?”

Condemning the Killers Is Not Enough

Direct responsibility for Thursday’s terrorist outrages in London lies, of course, with those who planted the bombs. Ultimate responsibility is another matter. In the aftermath of the carnage – only one British MP, the rebel antiwar activist George Galloway, has sought to hold the prime minister to account for turning our capital city into a … Continue reading “Condemning the Killers Is Not Enough”