Month: March 2013

Finally, the Backlash Against Drones Takes Flight

Rand Paul’s marathon 13-hour filibuster was not the end of the conversation on drones. Suddenly, drones are everywhere, and so is the backlash. Efforts to counter drones at home and abroad are growing in the courts, at places of worship, outside air force bases, inside the UN, at state legislatures, inside Congress–and having an effect … Continue reading “Finally, the Backlash Against Drones Takes Flight”

Boris Berezovsky, RIP

The death of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky will doubtless provide plenty of grist for numerous conspiracy mills – indeed, he was the fount of many such tall tales, claiming the Russian government was behind not only the death of Alexander Litvinenko, but also engineered the bombings in Russian cities attributed to Chechen terrorist groups. The … Continue reading “Boris Berezovsky, RIP”

Neo-Con War Addiction Threatens Our Future

William Kristol knows what is wrong with the United States. As he wrote recently in the flagship magazine of the neo-conservatives, the Weekly Standard, the problem with the US is that we seem to have lost our appetite for war. According to Kristol, the troubles that have befallen us in the 20th century have all … Continue reading “Neo-Con War Addiction Threatens Our Future”

Drone Warfare is Neither Cheap, Nor Surgical, Nor Decisive

Just who is doing the killing?  That was the question that came up when the U.S. and sometime ally Pakistan got into a war of words over who was responsible for air strikes that killed up to nine people — including two purported al-Qaeda senior commanders — in Pakistan’s restive tribal belt early last month.  … Continue reading “Drone Warfare is Neither Cheap, Nor Surgical, Nor Decisive”

Eric Holder: If the President Does It, It’s Legal

“I never thought I would see the day when a Justice Department would claim that only the most extreme infliction of pain and physical abuse constitutes torture and that acts that are merely cruel, inhuman and degrading are consistent with United States law and policy, that the Supreme Court would have to order the president … Continue reading “Eric Holder: If the President Does It, It’s Legal”

As Iraq Anniversary Fades, ‘Strategic Narcissism’ Stands out

After a week of retrospectives on the tenth anniversary of Washington’s ill-fated invasion of Iraq, the most compelling consisted of a retrospective of the retrospectives. It came from Marc Lynch, an expert on Arab public opinion at George Washington University and prominent blogger on the foreignpolicy.com website. The flood of retrospectives that materialised over the … Continue reading “As Iraq Anniversary Fades, ‘Strategic Narcissism’ Stands out”