The U.S. government's decision to bring five high-profile terror suspects to the United States to face trials in a civilian court has drawn reactions ranging from praise to condemnation to confusion. While human rights advocates are generally applauding the decision...
Bad Apples
The Independent posted a Nov. 15 story regarding allegations of sexual and physical abuse of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers. The Ministry of Defense is investigating 33 new torture cases. Human rights groups caution that the British army may face hundreds of...
Gazans Brace for Cold, Bleak, and Miserable Winter
EZBT ABBED RABBO - Tens of thousands of Gazans living in tents and damaged homes face a wet, cold, and miserable winter as Israel's blockade of the coastal territory continues to prevent the importation of building and reconstruction material. During the last few...
Biggest State Party to Obama: Get Out of Afghanistan
This week begins with a significant new straw in the political wind for President Obama to consider. The California Democratic Party has just sent him a formal and clear message: Stop making war in Afghanistan. Overwhelmingly approved on Sunday by the California...
Monday: 1 US Soldier, 31 Iraqis Killed; 52 Iraqis Wounded
Shining a Light on the Roots of Terrorism
Media commentary on the upcoming 9/11 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has raised concerns that state secrets may be divulged, including details about how the Bush administration used torture to extract evidence about al-Qaeda. "I think that we're going to shine a...
The Trial of the Century and the Long Shadow of 9/11
A weird concatenation of events – the Ft. Hood shoot-up, the decision by the Obama administration to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other 9/11 plotters, and the seizure of a mosque and other properties said to be owned by a front for the Iranian government – has...
Reading the Af-Pak Tea Leaves
It's tough to tell what's going to happen with Af-Pak. We get so many conflicting reports. For a time, we heard that President Obama was leaning toward sending 30,000 additional troops there, and that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...
A Scoundrel With Permission
When the TV news starts with a murder, people are relieved. This means that no war has broken out, no suicide bomb has exploded, no Qassam rocket has been launched at Sderot. Ahmadinejad has not test-fired a new missile that can reach Tel Aviv. Just another murder....