On hearing of the death of former President Gerald Ford, syndicated columnist Robert Novak – who infamously "outed" a CIA covert agent in what appears to have been a White House conspiracy, involving Vice President Dick Cheney, to discredit the CIA...
I happened to hear an old country classic today that somehow got me thinking about the New Year: Charlie Daniels’ "The Devil went down to Georgia." Here are the lyrics: The devil went down to Georgia He was looking for a soul to steal And he was in a...
Updated at 6:05 p.m. EST, Dec. 30, 2006 Saddam Hussein was hanged at dawn. He joins the 110 other Iraqis who were killed or found dead today; another 172 Iraqis were wounded in violent attacks throughout the country. Also, the death of another American soldier brought...
In her historical mystery, The Daughter of Time, Josephine Tey (a pen name of Elizabeth MacKintosh), has Scotland Yard Inspector Alan Grant, while confined to his hospital bed, solve the 15th century murder of the two York princes in the Tower of London. The princes...
Updated at 12:25 a.m. EST, Dec. 30, 2006 Arab media is reporting that Saddam Hussein has been executed. At least five American servicemembers were killed, and the death of a sixth soldier was reported. In Baghdad, a soldier was killed and another two were wounded when...
Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson Cambridge University Press, 2006 416 pp. Why are some countries democracies? Why are others dictatorships? The answers obviously are complex. History, culture, tradition, and accident...
The Trap of Recognizing Israel Jonathan: Interesting and well put together. But I would like to suggest that it does not withstand analysis. It's fundamental flaw, as in so many arguments of the type, is in the premise: If you accept the premise that recognizing...
This year saw the emergence of a sectarian civil war in Iraq and much more open Sunni-Shi'ite conflict in the Middle East. Sunni regimes in the region expressed acute anxiety both about the possibility of the Sunni-Shi'ite civil war in Iraq spreading to their own...
with Ali Al-FadhilyBAGHDAD - More US troops are expected to be deployed in Iraq in the New Year. Despite obvious rethinking, there is no decision on withdrawal of occupation forces. The presence of troops may be raised just for their own protection. According to a...
Author's note: I had originally planned on writing a New Year's column, but some computer problems cropped up and weren't resolved in time for our deadline. Heck, I could use a break anyway. So, to all my readers, Happy New Year, and have a safe one. I'll be back on...
