Fred Thompson and the Burning ‘Necklace’

To look at Fred Thompson, the actor-cum-senator who now appears to be moving to the front of the GOP presidential pack, one would think that what you see is what you get – but, no. Peel back the pretty ordinary red-state Republican opinions – the war is a...

read more

Backtalk, June 25, 2007

Goodbye and Good Luck Mr. Reese states: "Since we stupidly decided to have an all-volunteer Army, we can't afford too much cannon fodder." Is it Mr. Reese's position that the United States should have a drafted army, rather than an all-volunteer military? I would like...

read more

Palestine: Freedom Is What They Want

You might recall how President George W. Bush was wont to wax eloquent on the virtues of democracy and how often he spoke of spreading democracy to the Middle East. You might not recall that there was a free and fair election in the occupied territories last year....

read more

US Vote Could Close ‘School of the Americas’

The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to take what advocates are calling a historic vote this week to close the largest U.S. military training ground for soldiers from Central and South America. The vote comes on the initiative of Congressman Jim McGovern...

read more

A Curious Offensive

The major offensive begun earlier this week in Iraq is curious in a number of ways – so curious that it’s tempting to view it as a desperate move calculated to gain some semblance of progress or apparent progress in the face of the disappointing performance...

read more

Visit by Vietnamese President Signals Normalization

Friday's unprecedented – albeit relatively low-profile – visit to the White House by a Vietnamese head of state marks the culmination of a lengthy normalization process between two countries that ended their war 32 years ago. But while President Nguyen Minh...

read more

Goodbye and Good Luck

If I were an American soldier in Iraq, I'd be tempted mightily to say, "Good luck and goodbye," and then start for home. I can't see losing even one more soldier in a war over a country in which 99.9 percent of the American people have no interest. Iraq had...

read more