Month: June 2008

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recently returned from the Republic of Korea, where he reaffirmed America’s commitment to South Korea’s defense. Days later the ROK’s capital of Seoul erupted as tens of thousands of demonstrators protested their government’s decision to allow the sale of American beef. Far from bringing harmony to the U.S.-South Korean relationship, … Continue reading “Strengthening the US-South Korea Alliance: For What?”

Updated at 11:00 p.m. EDT, June 19, 2008Few casualties were reported today in Iraq, but violations by security forces during an operation in a southern city threaten to unravel a tenuous cease-fire and may bring heavy violence back to the country. At least 14 Iraqis were killed and five more suffered injuries across Iraq. No … Continue reading “Thursday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 5 Wounded; Security Crackdown Begins”

This is clearly no time for being mealy-mouthed. After nearly seven years of ruinous warmongering, economic meltdown, and the shredding of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Geneva Conventions, and the UN Convention Against Torture, Sen. John McCain, who recently shelved his lifelong opposition to torture by voting against a bill banning the … Continue reading “John McCain, Torture Puppet”

BAQUBA – Just about everyone in Iraq is a loser as a result of the occupation, but none more than women. One of the more obvious signs of that is the very large number of widows. The Asharq al-Awsat Arab media channel estimated in late 2007 there were 2.3 million widows in Iraq. These include … Continue reading “Iraq’s Widows Victims of Occupation, Social Codes”

Imagine that you’re a non-U.S. citizen living outside the United States. A U.S. government official decides that you’re an enemy of the United States, captures you and takes you to a prison outside the United States. You’re not wearing the military uniform of a country on which the United States has declared war. In fact, … Continue reading “The Supreme Court Gets One Right”

Military alliances are always sold as things that produce security. In practice they tend to do the opposite. Thus, Germany formed the Triple Alliance with Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to counter the enmity of France following the Franco-Prussian War. In response, France, England, and Russia formed the Triple Entente. The outcome was World War … Continue reading “A New Cold War?”

When reflecting on the American struggle for independence from Great Britain (1775-1783), one of the things that stands out was how the colonists had lost faith in the system they previously lived under. Arguing that the British crown had violated their innate rights of life, liberty, and property, they enumerated their grievances on paper, noting … Continue reading “The Chains That Bind”

Contrary to some expectations, the visit of the two controversial American professors was a great success. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, whose book The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy has caused an uproar in the United States and was boycotted there by the Jewish establishment, were cordially received in Israel and aroused a lively … Continue reading “Mearsheimer and Walt in Israel”

What is the importance of the war in Iraq relative to other current issues? This is a question I am often asked, especially as Americans continue to become increasingly aware that something is very wrong with the economy. The difficulty with the way the question is often asked relates to the perception that we are … Continue reading “War, Economy Can’t Be Decoupled”

Updated at 7:25 p.m. EDT, June 18, 2008Relative peace returned to Iraq a day after a major bombing in Baghdad caused well over a hundred casualties. Still, more bodies were found in the rubble or died in hospital from yesterday’s explosion. Overall, at least 15 Iraqis were killed and 42 more were wounded in light … Continue reading “Wednesday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 52 Wounded”