Charles V. Peña

The Washington, D.C., metro is following in the footsteps of the New York subway and is now conducting random searches of passengers. The justification given for further eroding the Fourth Amendment (which guarantees "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not … Continue reading “More Security, Less Secure”

Less than a week after the U.S. presidential election, the Iranians claimed to have tested a new, more accurate missile with sufficient range to reach Israel and southeastern Europe. So it looks like the Obama administration will get tested early on two issues: Iran and missile defense. With regard to the latter, according to Obama’s … Continue reading “Missile Defense and
the American Empire”

By now, everyone is familiar with the advertising slogan "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" (although the actual Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Slogan is "What happens here, stays here"). The phrase is also the inspiration for a movie starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. Apparently, it’s also how the Maryland State Police have … Continue reading “What Happens in a Police State…”

According to the Britain’s highest military commander in Afghanistan, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, "We’re not going to win this war." This is in stark contrast to the political rhetoric of our two presidential candidates, who are both calling for more troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. According to Obama, "We’ve got to get the job done … Continue reading “Can Afghanistan Be Won?”

Fellow Antiwar.com columnists (and friends) Alan Bock and Ivan Eland have recently written about Pakistan, so I hope readers will forgive me for piling on. But it’s hard to ignore Pakistan at the moment. On Saturday, a truck bomb killed more than 50 people – including two U.S. Marines and the Czech ambassador – and … Continue reading “The Pakistan Dilemma”

In accepting the nomination as the Republican candidate for U.S. president, Sen. John McCain proclaimed that if elected, “We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much.” One can’t help but wonder what $700 billion the good senator is talking about. (He certainly couldn’t have been … Continue reading “What $700 Billion?”

For 16 days I had hoped the world would stand still so I could watch the spectacle and history of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, on my widescreen HDTV. Although there is certainly an element of national pride (both for the host country and all the athletes representing their countries), the Olympics is … Continue reading “Georgia On My Mind”

In addition to dueling over Afghanistan (the subject of my last column), Senators McCain and Obama are trying to one-up each other when it comes to energy. Most notably, the McCain campaign recently released an ad that essentially blames Obama for $4-a-gallon gasoline (although the price of gasoline has actually gone down since the ad … Continue reading “My Energy Plan Is
Better Than Yours”

Barack Obama and John McCain are currently engaged in a bidding war to see who can promise more troops in Afghanistan. In an op-ed published by the New York Times last week, Obama wrote that if he is elected president he will provide "at least two additional combat brigades [roughly 10,000 troops] to support our … Continue reading “Bidding War Over Afghanistan”

A question I’m often asked is whether military action against Iran is still an option for the Bush administration. The short answer is "yes." Last week, when a reporter raised the issue of "a spate of recent stories about possible military action against Iran before the end of the year" President Bush responded that "the … Continue reading “Is Iran Still an Option?”