The former Marine officer Matthew Hoh, who resigned his Foreign Service post in Afghanistan because he feels the war is pointless and not worth dying for, deserves all the attention he’s gotten and more. The Obama administration faces hard decisions there, and the man made a good case against deeper American involvement. He says that …
Continue reading “When the Tough Should Get Going”
The recent frenzy over "balloon boy" Falcon Heene that dominated cable news was odd, considering the scant coverage of the carnage wreaked by another kind of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The balloon incident involved a 6-year-old boy who was thought to be inside a homemade contraption that came unmoored and flew unguided for 70 miles …
Continue reading “A Tale of Two UAVs”
Although President Barack Obama has more empathy for the opinions of the Islamic world than his predecessor and seems to vaguely understand that they do affect U.S. security, he doesn’t seem to understand specifically that U.S. meddling in and occupation of Muslim countries inflames Islamic radicals and is the main cause of blowback anti-U.S. Islamist …
Continue reading “Obama Still Doesn’t Grasp Blowback”
EAST JERUSALEM – Israeli authorities are increasingly targeting and intimidating nonviolent Palestinian grassroots activists involved in anti-occupation activities who are drawing increased support from the international community. Several weeks ago masked Israeli soldiers stormed the home of Ehab Jallad from the Jerusalem Popular Committee for the Celebration of Jerusalem as the Capital of Arab Culture …
Continue reading “Israelis Targeting Grassroots Activists”
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander in Afghanistan and Monty Python fan, has put on quite a show of insubordination in the past month or so in an attempt to cram his escalation plan down the world’s throat. He has waged open information warfare in the media, right-wing and otherwise, against President Barack Obama. I wonder how …
Continue reading “Stan McChrystal’s Flying Circus”
US Foreign Service Officer Matthew P. Hoh, Senior Civilian Representative, Afghanistan September 10, 2009 Ambassador Nancy J. Powell Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street NW Washington, D.C. 20520 Dear Ambassador Powell, It is with great regret and disappointment I submit my resignation from …
Continue reading “Resignation Letter from US Foreign Service Officer Matthew P. Hoh”
Updated at 7:19 p.m. EDT, Oct. 27, 2009
Iraq remains mostly quiet in the aftermath of the deadliest bombings in two years. At least seven Iraqis were killed and two more were wounded in the latest violence. Most of the attention remains on Baghdad where politicians are being blamed for the attack. The compromise that was expected to break the elections law impasse as early as today fell apart overnight, fueling concerns that Sunni-led violence could soon increase. Separately, the U.S. drawdown has revealed how little attention to accountability was paid during the occupation.
Think of us as just having passed through the failed era of “must” in Washington. For almost eight years, George W. Bush made speeches and appearances in which he hectored this or that country, or enemy, or people about what they “must” do. Never, I suspect, has an American president lectured more people out …
Continue reading “The Great Superpower Meltdown”
Ubi jus ibi remedium. Probably nothing turns readers off more than starting a column with some incomprehensible Latin phrase. But this one’s relevant. It means: Where there is a right, there is a remedy. When a legal wrong has been done, the courts should be able to order some kind of relief, otherwise what good …
Continue reading “Uighurs Deserve Legal Remedy”
The fifteenth anniversary of the U.S. ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Torture passed last week with little fanfare and virtually no press attention from the mainstream media. But according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), "U.S. policy continues to fall short of ensuring full compliance with the treaty." For example, the organization …
Continue reading “Obama Urged to Fully Comply With Anti-Torture Treaty” 
