The War on (Euphemism)

From the people who brought you the "war on terror" and the "axis of evil" comes a new verbal tonic for combating that amorphous emotion. Out with pejoratives like "Islamo-fascists," "jihadis," and "mujahedin," and in...

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Iraqi Athletes Praying, Not Playing

DAMASCUS - In the struggle now just to stay alive, everyone has forgotten that Iraq has lost, among other things, its tradition in sports. Some of its best sportsmen are now refugees. "No one seems to care about us," 20-year-old footballer Ali Rubai'i told...

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Tuesday: 23 Iraqis Killed, 38 Wounded

Updated at 8:00 p.m. EDT, May 20, 2008Iraqi troops peacefully entered Sadr City today to coordinate a security takeover with Sadrist representatives. At least 23 Iraqis were killed and 38 more were wounded in other incidents. No Coalition deaths were reported. Iraqi...

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Bush’s True Calling

The unseemly spectacle of an American chief executive denouncing a Democratic presidential candidate in a foreign venue, in front of the parliament of a nation whose interests are inextricably intertwined with the issue at hand, has no precedent in our history. It's...

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Optimistic About the Military

Pardon me if I have, at least for the moment, a certain amount of hope that the abiding institutions and attitudes in the United States just might be able to weather the sustained and systematic assault on our liberties and our better traditions that has characterized...

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Betrayals, Backsliding, and Boycotts

Anyone who has kept half an eye on the proceedings at the military commissions in Guantánamo – the unique system of trials for "terror suspects" that was conceived in the wake of the 9/11 attacks by Vice President Dick Cheney and his close...

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Monday: 29 Iraqis Killed, 39 Wounded

Updated at 6:45 p.m. EDT, May 19, 2008Light violence was reported throughout Iraq today. At least 29 Iraqis were killed and 39 more were wounded. Authorities in Mosul continue security operations there and may have netted an important al-Qaeda leader. No Coalition...

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Backtalk, May 19, 2008

Senator Rambo Dear Mr. Reese: Being taken as a POW does not make one a hero. Please note that is not a shameful thing and is frequently unavoidable. But your having been a POW usually means that you had some bad luck with a SAM or a torpedo or something. Period. A...

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