The latest message from Osama bin Laden – an audio recording posted on jihadist Web sites – is truly scary. Not because he threatens us with death and destruction, though he does. Not because he vows that the 9/11 attacks were just the beginning, though this is...
Israeli Peace Group Targets Settlements’ Charitable Status in US
Israeli peace activists are planning to ratchet up their campaign against groups in the United States that raise money for settlers by highlighting how tax exemptions are helping to fund the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Gush Shalom, a small peace...
New Bagram Rules More of the Same?
Human rights activists and legal experts reacted swiftly Monday to disclosures that the U.S. government is planning to introduce new measures it claims would give inmates at Afghanistan's notorious Bagram prison more opportunities to challenge their detention. Their...
Is Bagram Obama’s New Secret Prison?
On Monday, one day after the New York Times and the Washington Post reported that the Obama administration was planning to introduce tribunals for the prisoners held in the U.S. prison at Bagram airbase, Afghanistan, the reason for the specifically timed leaks that...
Torture: The Fault Is Not in Our Stars
Unlike many of my progressive friends, for me the current administration's behavior on torture is a glass half full. In my view, the real scandal is how very few have taken a sip. Sure, President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have adopted some of the...
Obama Confronts Democratic Skepticism About Afghanistan
Growing skepticism among key Democratic lawmakers about the U.S. commitment to the war in Afghanistan is certain to pose one of the most difficult political challenges faced by President Barack Obama in his first year in office. With the military apparently preparing...
Mourning the Passing of an Unsung Giant in Human History
In the wealthy American society, we have the luxury and freedom to value strange things. So be it. Few indicators of what the society values are more telling than whom we mourn when they die. Recently, the deaths of singer Michael Jackson, the actor Patrick Swayze,...
Will Obama Veto Pork, or Enable It?
On Aug. 17 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, President Barack Obama gave waste and pork in the defense budget a thorough tongue-lashing. It was well said, but also a little pathetic if you consider what the porkers in Congress are up to. The words flew high:...
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 13 Wounded
Death by Bananastan
I keep finding further proof that our ever increasing but directionless escalation of the Bananastan* conflict is the maddest military misadventure in human history. A former colleague recently sent me information regarding the newly formed Pakistan Afghanistan...