Month: February 2006

While Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes flies off on her second tour of the Middle East Friday, she must feel at least some relief that Europe – rather than the United States – has been the main target of the two-week outpouring of anger in the Islamic world that has come to … Continue reading “Cartoon Crisis Echoes ‘Why They Hate Us’ Debate”

The great but underappreciated American essayist Albert J. Nock, who died in 1945 after completing one of the great autobiographical accomplishments of the past century in Memoirs of a Superfluous Man, was fascinated by the question of whether it is possible to tell whether you are living in a Dark Age or the beginning of … Continue reading “Diagnosing Decline”

Last week, Representative Ron Paul (R, TX) pleaded with the House to not pass the House Concurrent Resolution entitled “Condemning the Government of Iran for violating its international nuclear nonproliferation obligations and expressing support for efforts to report Iran to the United Nations Security Council“: “Those reading this bill may find themselves feeling a sense … Continue reading “Not Another No-End-in-Sight War”

I‘m going to tell you what the real Bush administration policy is. I have no take-it-to-court proof. No one does, because the administration doesn’t tell the truth and is very secretive. But from conversations I’ve had with people from the Middle East and from extensive reading, I infer that the Bush administration’s policy encompasses three … Continue reading “What Bush Is Up To”

*with Isam RashidBAGHDAD – It is widely accepted that Iraq’s recent crime problems began with Saddam Hussein’s general amnesty declaration in October 2002. It is also widely believed the crime wave reached a high in April 2003 with the collapse of Saddam’s seat of power in Baghdad. Given the porous borders and the focus of … Continue reading “Crime Becomes Another Occupation”

On the eve of Hamas’ takeover of the Palestinian parliament, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush still appears uncertain about how hard a line to take with the movement it has long considered a terrorist organization. Pressed by its own strongly pro-Zionist Congress, the administration has effectively ruled out providing direct aid to … Continue reading “Bush Faces Big Choices as Hamas Takes Reins”

Is there a First Amendment right to steal and transmit vital U.S. secrets to a foreign power? Viet Dinh, the intellectual author of the PATRIOT Act – and a rising star among the neoconservative legal theorists who have commandeered the Justice Department in the service of presidential omnipotence – thinks so. In the latest development … Continue reading “Espionage and the
First Amendment”

(With Arkan Hamed) BASRA – New footage of British soldiers beating up young Iraqi men in Amarah in 2003 and the release of more photographs of atrocities by U.S. soldiers against Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib prison have spread outrage across Iraq. The timing of the new images is potent, in the wake of violence … Continue reading “Iraq: Outrage Spreads Over New Images”

Contract mismanagement and possible corruption in the Iraqi government are fueling a crisis over international gasoline delivery into Iraq. Citing a mountain of unpaid bills, the governments of Turkey and Saudi Arabia have shut off gasoline exports to Iraq. With its options dwindling and beleaguered Iraqis demanding fuel, Baghdad has begun to negotiate with its … Continue reading “Iraq’s Gas Pumps Buried Under Mountain of Debt”

Jonathan Schell, who lives in downtown New York City, began writing his “Letter from Ground Zero” column – still unnamed – almost before the white dust storm of 9/11 had settled. The first of what would become almost four-and-a-half years of such columns – piercing, questioning, thoughtful – appeared the next week in The Nation … Continue reading “Farewell to Ground Zero”