Month: November 2008

New American presidents traditionally get what journalists and pundits call a honeymoon. There’s a period sometimes lasting up to 18 months when whatever goodwill remains from the pomp and circumstance of installing a president evokes deep patriotic feelings, creating an atmosphere in which even some members of the "opposition" party are inclined to cooperate with … Continue reading “A Short Honeymoon”

Updated at 6:55 p.m. EST, Nov. 11, 2008At least 7 Iraqis were killed and another 51 were wounded, mostly during bombing attacks in Baghdad and Mosul. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the fate of a U.S.-Iraqi agreement may rest on support from a political group that has much to lose regardless of the choice … Continue reading “Tuesday: 7 Iraqis Killed, 51 Wounded”

President-elect Barack Obama should make the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility a top priority when he takes office Jan. 20, U.S. and international human rights groups said Monday. They are also calling for the abolition of the military commissions that have begun trying suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo, and for them to be … Continue reading “First, Close Gitmo,
Say Rights Groups”

While much of the world and many of his U.S. supporters are expecting a sharp break with his predecessor’s foreign policy after President-elect Barack Obama takes office Jan. 20, they may be surprised by the degree of continuity between the two administrations. That continuity – which would be made more concrete if, as expected, Pentagon … Continue reading “Obama’s Foreign Policy:
No Sharp Break From Bush”

Every Veterans Day, I try to do something special to remember or honor a veteran. I don’t like the standard flag-waving event that this day has become for many people. In many Veterans Day speeches, the speakers talk about the hundreds of thousands of American veterans who gave their lives for our freedom. The problem … Continue reading “A Veterans Day Tribute”

Forget the Honeymoon Dear Justin, It’s too early to panic. Look what we just avoided: Krauthammer and the whole Giuliani gangs of neocons. The good news: 1. Obama has been elected largely by the antiwar people, therefore any war in Iran or Syria is, I believe, off the charts. 2. A good chance to get … Continue reading “Backtalk, November 11, 2008”

Updated at 6:52 p.m. EST, Nov. 10. 2008A complex bomb attack in Baghdad left scores dead or injured in the capital and almost overshadowed violence elsewhere. At least 45 Iraqis were killed and 101 more were wounded across the country. Another vicious attack occurred in Baquba where a 13-year-old girl undertook a suicide bombing against … Continue reading “Monday: 45 Iraqis Killed, 101 Wounded”

KIGALI – War is expensive. The costs include not only the millions of dollars spent on military equipment and maintaining an army, but also the financial and psychological toll it takes on the everyday lives of people caught in the crossfire. When fighting takes place where civilians live, as it is in the eastern region … Continue reading “Congo: The Costs of War”

The case of Binyam Mohamed just gets weirder and weirder. For the last six months, the British resident and Guantánamo prisoner, who was seized in Pakistan in April 2002, has been engaged in a transatlantic struggle to secure evidence relating to his "extraordinary rendition" and torture, by or on behalf of the CIA, which involved … Continue reading “Guilt by Torture”

The task ahead of President-elect Barack Obama is not to meet all of the expectations of his supporters or to solve every problem facing the United States right now, but to simply practice what he has preached. For many of his supporters, Obama represents a symbolic victory of reason and pragmatism over hubris and the … Continue reading “Business Over Bluster”