In Rush to Strike Syria, U.S. Tried to Derail U.N. Probe
After initially insisting that Syria give United Nations investigators unimpeded access to the site of an alleged nerve gas attack, the administration of President Barack Obama reversed its position on Sunday and tried unsuccessfully to get the UN to call off its...
Decentralization of Governance May Help Some Middle Eastern Countries in Turmoil
Although the world is focused on the military coup in Egypt, the accompanying repression of the supporters of the duly elected democratic government, and the real possibility of massive societal strife, another authoritarian government is busily taking its country...
War With Syria and Its Repercussions
A U.S. invasion of Syria could be the first war based on a YouTube video. After a video was released showing victims of an alleged chemical weapons attack, England immediately declared the Syrian government responsible, while Obama began drawing up military plans,...
Why the Rush to War?
The UN inspection team in Syria has been "delayed" due to a dispute among the rebels, who could not or would not guarantee the team’s safety. While the Assad government has granted them access, the suburb of Damascus where the alleged chemical attacks...
Neocon Hawks Take Flight Over Syria
In an echo of the tactics they used to promote U.S. intervention in the Balkans, Iraq and Libya, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives published a letter Tuesday urging President Barack Obama to go far beyond limited military strikes against Syria in retaliation for...
25 Iraqis Killed in Raids, Gunfire and Blasts
ACLU Reveals FBI Hacking Contractors
James Bimen Associates of Virginia and Harris Corporation of Florida have contracts with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to hack into computers and phones of surveillance targets, according to Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil...
Sending Broken Men Back Into Afghanistan
Most of us cannot understand the pain associated with post-traumatic stress in any visceral way, as described by this recent veteran from the Iraq War: "My mind is a wasteland, filled with visions of incredible horror, unceasing depression, and crippling anxiety." Now...
Congress Should Veto Obama’s War
"Congress doesn't have a whole lot of core responsibilities," said Barack Obama last week in an astonishing remark. For in the Constitution, Congress appears as the first branch of government. And among its enumerated powers are the power to tax, coin money, create...