Month: February 2009

RAMALLAH – Israel is toughening its negotiating stance with Hamas as the two try to hammer out a permanent cease-fire agreement. According to reports in the Arab media a permanent cease-fire between the Jewish state and the Islamic resistance organization would have gone into effect as early as Sunday had the Israeli government not suddenly … Continue reading “Hamas Pushed to the Wall Over Cease-Fire”

With growing public support for a public investigation of crimes that may have been committed by the administration of former president George W. Bush in waging its "global war on terror," policymakers and legal experts are deeply divided on how to proceed – and President Barack Obama seems ambivalent about whether to proceed at all. … Continue reading “Democrats Divided Over ‘Reckoning’ for Bush”

Much has been made by the new administration of the idea of national service and volunteerism. While service to one’s community is certainly admirable, it is not the federal government’s place to "encourage" or promote volunteerism. Moreover, there are troubling signs that national service could transition from voluntary to mandatory, or de facto mandatory, such … Continue reading “The Draft: Just Say No”

Rendition is an established legal procedure whereby a country returns an individual to his country of origin or where he has previously resided. It has been used in immigration cases, to remove felons who are not native born, and in the extradition process whereby a suspect is returned to face trial. But one of the … Continue reading “Renounce Extraordinary Rendition”

If there were a Nobel Prize for Hypocrisy, Abraham Foxman would have been a great candidate. The director of the Anti-Defamation League, who once interpreted even International Holocaust Remembrance Day as an expression of the Gentiles’ latent desire to see Jews dead, has published a new survey on anti-Semitism in Europe [.pdf]. One of the … Continue reading “Abe Foxman’s ‘Anti-Semitic Pandemic’”

Updated at 7:01 p.m. EST, Feb. 16, 2009Overall, at least 14 Iraqis were killed, and 41 more were wounded across the country. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said that Iraq’s diplomatic footing with its neighbors is on the mend as its image as an American puppet fades. Also, the Iraqi Monitor of Constitutional Freedom and … Continue reading “Monday: 14 Iraqis Killed, 41 Wounded”

Three human rights groups have released documents that they say reveal close cooperation between the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in rendering terrorism suspects to secret prisons, creating "ghost prisoners" by concealing their identities from the Red Cross, and delaying their release to counter negative publicity about their treatment … Continue reading “Lawsuit Sheds More Light on Terror War Abuses”

According to the New York Times, suicides in the U.S. Army this January alone could total as many as 24. (For January 2008, the number was five.) If so, that would not only be the highest monthly total since the Army started keeping such figures in 1980, but more deaths than occurred in Iraq and … Continue reading “Whose Military Is It Anyway?”

Tantalus is punished by the gods for reasons that are not entirely clear. He is hungry and thirsty, but the water in which he stands recedes when he bends down to drink from it, and the fruit above his head continually evades his hand. Tzipi Livni is now undergoing a similar torture. After winning an … Continue reading “Ms. Tantalus’ Choice”

I don’t, as a rule, endorse legislation: being a libertarian and all, my faith in the ability of government action to have any beneficial effect is exactly nil. However, in the case of the Executive Accountability Act of 2009 [.pdf], I’m making an exception. This is because, unlike most if not all legislation that seeks … Continue reading “Hold Them Accountable”