The news last month that the government has been goggling over the private phone records of millions of Americans for the last four years was not even half a day old when the boundaries of debate were marked off. Nobody issued any edict. Nobody made any announcement....
The Urbanity of Evil
I've been thinking about Tariq Aziz a lot since the New York Times printed a front-page story on the former Iraqi deputy prime minister in late May. A color photograph showed him decked out in what the article described as "an open-necked hospital gown, with a...
Iranian Nukes: US Denies Reality
The Bush administration is congratulating itself on finally agreeing to direct talks with Iran about Iran's nuclear program. This smugness shows just how out of touch with reality the administration has become. The United States and the Europeans joining together to...
Ramadi Becomes Another Fallujah
AMMAN - These days, Ramadi is nearly impossible to enter. Against the backdrop of the Haditha massacre, IPS has received reports of civilians killed by snipers, and homes occupied with American snipers on the roof while families were detained downstairs. One man, who...
The Iranian Crisis Resolved
Secretary of State Condi Rice issued an ultimatum to Iran, last week, to give up "the pursuit of nuclear weapons." Meanwhile, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the China-Arab Cooperation Forum all called for a "nuke-free" Middle...
Our Terrorism, and Theirs
We expected Bill Kristol and the usual neocon suspects to dismiss the atrocities committed by U.S. troops at Haditha as nothing to get too excited about. After all, these guys don't believe in any morality but that which comes out of the barrel of a gun. So what else...
The Dujail Principle
"Two things are infinite – the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - attributed to Albert Einstein Time moves at a less frenetic pace on C-SPAN than elsewhere on television. Last week, they showed four law professors testifying...
Reflections on Memorial Day, 2006
Various commentators on the network political shows on Sunday, May 28 reminded us to take some time to remember, on Memorial Day, those who had died in our current and past wars. Some even suggested that we do so at a particular time: editor Dan Henninger of the Wall...
Backtalk, June 5, 2006
The Meaning of Haditha This needs to be published on the front page of every newspaper in the U.S., read from the pulpit of every church and synagogue and in every school classroom in the land for the duration until it is as well known as the Gettysburg Address. This...
Dying for Peace and Freedom?
I'm getting tired of hearing politicians and generals talk about Americans dying for peace and freedom. The main breaker of the peace in recent years has been the United States. Since 1945, no nation on Earth has either declared war against us or attacked us. We...