Human rights and disarmament activists reacted bitterly Wednesday to the decision by the administration of President Barack Obama, who will receive the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize next month, not to sign the 10-year-old treaty banning anti-personnel landmines. The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL), a coalition of scores of activist groups, called the administration’s decision …
Continue reading “Groups Denounce Obama Rejection of Landmine Treaty”
What exactly is the ‘job’ in Afghanistan? asks Jeff Huber
Updated at 10:20 p.m. EDT, Nov. 25, 2009
Just days before the start of the Eid al-Adha observances, at least 20 Iraqis were killed and 52 more were wounded. The most significant attack occurred in the holy city of Karbala.
As the holiday travel season rolls around again, the government’s terrorism watch list and no-fly list get ever more bizarre. Of course, for starters, the list has always been unconstitutional, because the government does not have probable cause to believe the vast majority of those on the list have committed a crime (otherwise they could …
Continue reading “Government Terrorism Lists Are a Holiday Turkey”
Michael O’Hanlon, a war hawk tank-thinker with the Brookings Institution who encouraged us to invade Iraq, says we should "remain hopeful" about Afghanistan. Even though the news about Afghanistan has been "dispiriting," O’Hanlon tells us, "Most foreign and Afghan officials and officers who I encountered on a recent week-long visit sponsored by the U.S. military …
Continue reading “Dumb and Dumber Wars”
Here we are on the verge of a momentous announcement – President Obama’s unveiling of his "comprehensive plan" for escalating the war in Afghanistan – and where is the so-called antiwar movement? Missing in action, as this news report reveals: “‘There’s this trust that he’s going to fix it all,’ said Shara Esbenshade, 19, a …
Continue reading “Who Will Protest Obama’s War?”
The pressure that has been on Barack Obama with respect to reinforcement of the war in Afghanistan resembles that placed on John F. Kennedy to send American combat troops to Vietnam during the 18 months before his assassination. Kennedy made an early decision that displeased most of his own staff as well as much of …
Continue reading “As Obama Decides on Afghanistan, JFK’s Vietnam Deliberations Worth Recalling”
One in every four combat soldiers quit the Afghan National Army (ANA) during the year ending in September, published data by the U.S. Defense Department and the Inspector General for Reconstruction in Afghanistan reveals. That high rate of turnover in the ANA, driven by extremely high rates of desertion, spells trouble for the strategy that …
Continue reading “Afghan Army Turnover Rate Threatens US War Plans”
Updated at 8:55 p.m. EST, Nov. 24, 2009
The Independent High Electoral Commission warned that it would not set a new election date until the debate over the elections law is over. At least six Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in light violence.
South Africa deported an Israeli airline official last week following allegations that Israel’s secret police, the Shin Bet, had infiltrated Johannesburg international airport in an effort to gather information on South African citizens, particularly black and Muslim travelers. The move by the South African government followed an investigation by local TV showing an undercover reporter …
Continue reading “South Africa Deports Israeli Airline Official After Investigation” 
