Barack Obama is nothing if not an accomplished politician. Despite a background as a community activist, conventional liberal stance in the Illinois state senate, extraordinarily liberal voting record in the US Senate, and celebrated anti-Iraq war position, as...
Kafka and Uighurs at Guantánamo
"There is no right to due process for an alien who is not here," insisted the 44th Solicitor General of the United States, Gregory G. Garre, proudly representing the President of the United States, George W. Bush. Garre is a teacher of the law, you see, and...
Now I’ve Seen Everything
Of course there's nothing all that unusual about a spy going to work for a Washington thinktank. Ex-CIA employees do it all the time: so do all sorts of other spooks, who would otherwise be haunting the world's darkest corners. No big deal. But what I've never seen,...
Out of Africa
A fair amount of ink has been devoted to the likelihood that, even if it withdraws substantially from Iraq, an Obama administration will send a considerable number of troops (though probably not enough to make much of a difference anytime soon) to Afghanistan. Even...
Thursday: 8 Iraqis Killed; 43 Wounded
Updated at 6:55 p.m. EST, Nov. 27, 2008Parliament today approved a contentious U.S.-Iraqi security agreement that will allow U.S. troops to stay in the country for three more years. Meanwhile, at least eight Iraqis were killed and 43 more were wounded in the latest...
Neocon Lobby Group Loses Its Angel
HONG KONG - The right-wing US advocacy group Freedom's Watch is reportedly shutting down as its main funder, Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, becomes one of the high-profile casualties of the global economic downturn. Freedom's Watch, which according to the Las Vegas...
The End of Guantánamo
The repatriation from Guantánamo of Salim Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, to serve out the last month of his sentence for providing material support for terrorism in Yemen, will surely hasten the demise of the prison, as promised by President-elect Barack...
An Idea Whose Time Has Gone
Rumors in early November that Hillary Clinton would be Barack Obama's Secretary of State have by now been substantiated; the official announcement is thought to be only days away. Other Clinton-era officials, such as Bill Richardson, have been tapped for cabinet...
Seeking Integrity at the CIA
Editor's Note: An underlying factor in the national security crises confronting the United States has been the corruption of the US. intelligence process, with analyses tailored to fit the desires of the policymakers and with laws bent to permit torture and other...
Wednesday: 35 Iraqis Killed, 24 Wounded
Updated at 11:51 p.m. EST, Nov. 26, 2008At least 35 Iraqis were killed and 24 more were wounded in the latest attacks. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, Parliament delayed voting on a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security agreement until tomorrow, and Kurdish...