Hurricane Katrina and its near-catastrophic aftermath, which bids fair to be compounded by Rita, might be reason enough, given the resources that will be used (whether they are really required on the federal level is another matter, but President Bush is approaching...
The Occasional Media Ritual of Lamenting the Habitual
Dan Rather caused some ripples the other day when he lamented the state of U.S. news media. The former CBS anchor said "there is a climate of fear running through newsrooms stronger than he has ever seen in his more than four-decade career," according to the...
Promise and Peril in North Korea Deal
This week's six-party agreement on the principles for denuclearizing the Korean peninsula is being greeted somewhat warily here, with most experts stressing that the accord marks only the beginning of what is likely to be a protracted negotiating process that could...
More Blood, Less Oil
It has long been an article of faith among America's senior policymakers – Democrats and Republicans alike – that military force is an effective tool for ensuring control over foreign sources of oil. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to embrace...
Theater of the Absurd
The Bizarre Balkans Stage It is arguably the Bard's most famous play; there is hardly a civilized soul on Earth who has not heard of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. It has been modernized, localized, deconstructed, filmed countless times, and even translated...
Uncertain Anniversary for Iraq War Champions
It was four years ago that a little-known group called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) published an open letter to President George W. Bush advising him on how precisely he should carry out his brand-new "war on terrorism." In addition to ousting...
Uzbekistan Killings Set Off Massive Crackdown
The government of Uzbekistan has been engaged in unprecedented efforts, including massive detentions, torture, and forced confessions, to persuade its people and the outside world that Islamist extremists were responsible for a bloody massacre in Andijan last May,...
‘The Most Expensive Military Effort in 60 Years’
The Institute for Policy Studies recently published an analysis of the cost of the Iraq War and occupation, "The Iraq Quagmire: The Mounting Costs of War and the Case for Bringing Home the Troops." The study was co-authored by two prominent researchers and...
Iraq: The Battle of Basra
As the Iraqi police checkpoint in Basra loomed up ahead, the two elite British special forces soldiers – dressed in plainclothes, i.e., traditional Arab dress – readied their weapons. For some reason, they weren't too eager to be questioned or examined too...
NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan, but Not the Antiwar Movement
They can't stop the antiwar movement, but that doesn't mean they aren't trying. On Monday Sept. 19, Cindy Sheehan spoke in New York City's Union Square to a group of supporters and onlookers when police rushed in to break up her speech as it was winding down. "I was...