Month: August 2008

Updated at 11:42 p.m. EDT, Aug. 9, 2008At least 28 Iraqis were killed and 22 more were wounded in the latest violence. A captured al-Qaeda suspect may have killed another 16 people. Two U.S. servicemembers were killed in separate incidents as well. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities say that the departure of Georgian troops will have little … Continue reading “Saturday: 2 U.S. Soldiers, 28 Iraqis Killed; 22 Iraq Wounded”

Assuming the federal government has, after almost seven years, finally identified the perpetrator of the anthrax attacks in 2001 – admittedly a generous assumption given that for most of those years, it pursued, hounded, embarrassed, and ruined the career of the wrong man – larger dangers remain. As is normally the case with issues surrounding … Continue reading “The US Government Is the Real Bioterror Threat”

A military attack on Iran’s major nuclear facilities by the United States or Israel would likely result only in a delay – and not a particularly significant one at that – in Tehran’s ability to produce the fuel necessary to build a nuclear weapon, according to a report [.pdf] released Friday by an influential think … Continue reading “Success of Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Program Doubtful”

Hannah Arendt’s analysis of totalitarianism had several flaws, but one of her observations has lodged itself permanently in the national psyche as a handy cliché whenever some human monster is found to have a taste for the art of Walter Keane or, like Kim Jong Il, for pornographic movies: The Banality of Evil. It should … Continue reading “Torture, TV, and
the Banality of Scalia”

Richard Cohen, a columnist for the Washington Post, revealed earlier this year that, "soon after" al-Qaeda successfully brought down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, a "high government official" suggested he get a supply of Cipro, "the antidote to anthrax." Sure enough, quoth Cohen: "In the following days, as the horror started to … Continue reading “Anthrax Hysteria”

News coming out of Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent months has unsettled many assumptions about the U.S. war on terror. To most casual observers of the war on terror, Afghanistan served until recently as a reassuring contrast to the grim and bewildering conflict in Iraq – the "good war" as opposed to the "bad war." … Continue reading “Descent Into Chaos“

Despite a sentence that effectively means convicted war criminal Salim Hamdan could be a free man before the end of this year, the future of Osama bin Laden’s driver is far from clear. Hamdan was found guilty Wednesday of providing "material support" for the al-Qaeda terrorist organization – but acquitted on the more serious charge … Continue reading “Hamdan’s Future Remains Unclear”

Journalist Ron Suskind’s revelation that Saddam Hussein’s intelligence chief was a prewar intelligence source reporting to the British that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction (WMD) adds yet another dimension to the systematic effort by then Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director George Tenet to quash any evidence – no matter how credible – that … Continue reading “How Tenet Betrayed the CIA on WMD in Iraq”

The International Herald Tribune recently published an article about a new Army medical book on trauma wounds. The reporter said that "the gruesome photographs illustrate the grim nature of today’s wars, in which more are hurt by explosions than by bullets, and body armor leaves many alive but maimed." That’s a naive statement. Probably since … Continue reading “Discovering Sin”

Updated at 6:05 p.m. EDT, Aug. 8, 2008A large car bomb killed and wounded scores of people in northern Iraq today. Overall, at least 27 Iraqis were killed and another 81 were wounded across the country. Two Marines were killed as well. Meanwhile, Georgia and El Salvador recalled troops, Moqtada al-Sadr disarmed most of his … Continue reading “Friday: 2 Marines, 27 Iraqis Killed; 81 Wounded”