A recent op ed piece by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.), a former admiral, is typical of the Bushian "logic" which continues to dominate the making of American foreign policy in the age of Obama. The style is different – gone are the preening neocon Napoleons –...
US: Guantanamo Prisoners Not ‘Persons’
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal Monday to review a lower court's dismissal of a case brought by four British former Guantanamo prisoners against former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the detainees' lawyers charged Tuesday that the country's highest...
US Silent About Taliban Guarantee Offer on al-Qaeda
The Barack Obama administration is refusing to acknowledge an offer by the leadership of the Taliban in early December to give "legal guarantees" that it will not allow Afghanistan to be used for attacks on other countries. The administration's silence on...
Sanctioning Iran a Dangerous, Illegal Move
Before the United States House of Representatives, statement opposing the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act I rise in strongest opposition to this new round of sanctions on Iran, which is another significant step toward a U.S. war on that country. I find it...
Obama’s Peace Prize Continues Tradition of Dubious Choices
President Barack Obama has been primarily criticized for winning the Nobel Peace Prize so early in his term that he hasn't yet done anything to deserve it. Only a few commentators, including the president, seemed to sheepishly realize the irony of his receiving the...
Grinding Down the US Army
Last week, the U.S. Army released its suicide figures for November. Twelve soldiers on active duty were classified as "potential suicides" for the month, bringing the yearly suicide total to 147, 19 more than for all of 2008, and the fifth year in a row the...
Occupation Threatens Secularism in Israel
JERUSALEM - After Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank torched a mosque and desecrated copies of the Koran in the Palestinian village of Yasuf last Friday morning, they ran into a wall of condemnation. The attackers were consensually branded as extremists, even...
Tuesday: 15 Iraqis Killed, 63 Wounded
Hezbollah Fortifies Frontier Against Israel
NABATIYEH, Lebanon - In the mountains towering above this southern city, Hezbollah (Party of God) is building a new line of defense on lands where a fierce war was once fought between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. An asphalt road rising up...
Parting Thoughts, for Now
This will be the last "On War" column, at least for the foreseeable future. I will (unexpectedly) retire from the Free Congress Foundation, where I have worked for 22 years, at the end of this month. Once I am reestablished, either with a new institution or...