Month: February 2011

Do We Need a Foreign Policy?

Amid all the brouhaha about how the downfall of Hosni Mubarak would provide the oh-so-scary Muslim Brotherhood with an opening to create an Islamic theocracy along Iranian lines, take a look at what’s happening in US-occupied Iraq: “The Iraqi Ministry of Education has banned theatre and music classes in Baghdad’s Fine Arts Institute, and ordered … Continue reading “Do We Need a Foreign Policy?”

Pollard Espionage Ring Still Unfolding

Almost one year ago Victor Gilinsky and Roger J. Mattson penned the stunning article “Revisiting the NUMEC Affair” in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. It describes how in the 1960s Israeli agents and their U.S. collaborators stole highly enriched uranium from the Pennsylvania NUMEC plant for Israel’s first atomic weapons. The two former Nuclear Regulatory … Continue reading “Pollard Espionage Ring Still Unfolding”

Poll: Public Supports $100 Billion Annual Cut to Pentagon

A recent poll on deficit reduction takes an interesting approach to querying the public about policy options: First it informs participants about actual spending levels in discretionary accounts and then asks them to apply reductions, account by account. The result: a mean reduction to annual discretionary spending of $146 billion. Of this, the participants take … Continue reading “Poll: Public Supports $100 Billion Annual Cut to Pentagon”

Evidence of 2002 Taliban Offer Damages Myth of al-Qaeda Ties

The central justification of the U.S.-NATO war against the Afghan Taliban – that the Taliban would allow al-Qaeda to return to Afghanistan – has been challenged by new historical evidence of offers by the Taliban leadership to reconcile with the Hamid Karzai government after the fall of the Taliban government in late 2001. The evidence … Continue reading “Evidence of 2002 Taliban Offer Damages Myth of al-Qaeda Ties”

Washington Fumbles Egypt Messaging

Only four days ago, the administration of President Barack Obama appeared to be siding with the hundreds of thousands of Egyptian demonstrators calling for a quick end to Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year reign, even if it didn’t call explicitly for the Egyptian president to resign. But with the protests in Cairo and other major Egyptian cities … Continue reading “Washington Fumbles Egypt Messaging”

How Foreign Aid Creates Instability and Isolates America

Listen to Rep. Ron Paul deliver this address here. The events in Egypt of late have captured the attention of the world, as many thousands of Egyptians take to the streets both in opposition to and in favor of the current regime. We watch from a distance hoping that events do not spiral further into … Continue reading “How Foreign Aid Creates Instability and Isolates America”

Mubarak’s Last Act

As a native Egyptian who left seeking opportunities for a better, more humane life unavailable under Mubarak’s rule, I see the events currently unfolding in Egypt as both surreal and inevitable.  It all began in 1975, when Anwar El Sadat chose an inconspicuous military hero to be his vice president. The choice was surprising because … Continue reading “Mubarak’s Last Act”