Mr. President, we must not allow a mineshaft gap! – Gen. “Buck” Turgidson, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb China is a vast country — “When it is dark in the east, it is light in the west; when things are dark in the south, there is still …
Continue reading “President Obama, We Must Not Allow a Tunnel Gap!”
Pressured by the need to shrink the federal budget deficit, Congress is insisting that Pentagon spending can’t continue to grow at the galloping rate of the last decade. In response, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress in October that he’s planning to cut $450 billion in planned military spending increases. We shouldn’t stop at $450 …
Continue reading “Cut the Pentagon’s Budget, Make the US Safer”
Next week, as the country’s Christmastime frenzy is in full swing, a 24-year-old American Army private will be on trial for his very life. His supporters say “we are all Bradley Manning,” and perhaps they are right. His first hearing since he was arrested in May 2010 and put in military custody takes place on …
Continue reading “Bradley Manning Finally Gets a Hearing”
An expected surge in violence accompanying a major Shi’ite religious observance this week began early this morning. Hilla and Baghdad were the hardest hit cities. Across the country, at least 36 people were killed and 121 more were wounded in all reported attacks. Also, the Iraqi government said that a former top diplomat under Saddam Hussein will be executed next year. Meanwhile, security for American diplomats has been tightened.
Ambiguous but alarming new wording tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and just passed by the Senate is reminiscent of the “extraordinary measures” introduced by the Nazis after they took power in 1933. And the relative lack of reaction so far calls to mind the oddly calm indifference with which most Germans watched …
Continue reading “Are Americans in Line for Gitmo?”
I’m still in the process of moving – an epic effort which may interrupt my writing schedule periodically for the next week or so, but I just wanted to make this brief point. When I first became aware of the FBI’ s interest in this site, and their decision to launch an investigation, I found …
Continue reading “You’ve Got My Back”
The U.S. “reposture” continues, with officials paying southern tribes to maintain security along routes used for the withdrawal. Also, 10 Iraqis were killed and 16 more were wounded in new attacks.
President Barack Obama has sided with U.S. military and Defense Department officials in rejecting a proposal by the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan for a U.S. apology for last weekend’s attack on two Pakistani border posts, and approving an investigation into the attack that won’t be completed until Dec. 23 at the earliest. The White House …
Continue reading “Rejecting Apology, U.S. May Hasten End of Pakistan as Client”
Riots broke out after a provocative sermon in Iraqi Kurdistan, leaving about 30 people were wounded in them. At least 12 Iraqis were killed and 23 more were wounded across Iraq in other violence.
With the U.S. military withdrawal looming, Iraqi officials are wasting no time marking the anticipated departure, even if U.S. officials are being somewhat restrained. Meanwhile at least 16 Iraqis were killed and 19 more were wounded in the latest violence.
