After five months of confusion, bickering, dickering, dithering, and strong-arm tactics from Zalmay Khalilzad, our ambassador to Iraq, and various high American officials arriving on the fly, Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki has reportedly chosen his cabinet,...
Bombs Away! Or Bomb Any Way
December 2001: the U.S. Air Force dropped the 15,000-pound "Daisy Cutter" on the cave complex in Afghanistan known as Toro Bora. At the time, this was the largest bomb in the U.S. arsenal. The same month, the Pentagon sent 10 of the more lethal 2,000-pound thermobaric...
A Foreign Policy of Fools
A shining city on a hill. A light unto the world. That's what early Americans hoped their land would become. A beacon of liberty, beckoning others to follow. A place of refuge and hope for those fleeing tyranny or seeking opportunity. An oasis in the midst of conflict...
Will Canada Remain a ‘Refuge From Militarism’?
"Our children did not enlist to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity," said Cindy Sheehan, the prominent American antiwar activist who lost her son. During a visit to Ottawa last week, she called on Canada to welcome war resisters as refugees. The call comes...
Muslim Nations Want Nuclear Energy, Are Wary of Iran
BALI, Indonesia - As the West debates the perceived Iranian nuclear threat, leaders of the world's eight largest Muslim countries, collectively known as the D8, met on this resort island over the weekend where they asserted the right of Islamic countries to peaceful...
Bowing to the Police State
Is Congress aiding and abetting the creation of a police state? Recently, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., helped to give the CIA and NSA unprecedented police powers. By inserting a provision in the FY07 Intelligence...
Redefining the Middle East
It may be convenient to perceive the Middle East as a politically charged, fractious region, rife with conflicts and disputes, void of many prospects, save those leading to even further uncertainty and turmoil. While history is indeed rich with instances that would...
Taliban Wooed as Violence Spreads
KABUL - Almost daily armed attacks on government officials by the Taliban may have prompted President Hamid Karzai to renew his amnesty offer to supporters of the ousted Afghan regime. Karzai recently urged the Taliban to give up the violence and join in the efforts...
Reflecting Hubris
Recently, a number one billion in the New York Times stopped me in my tracks. According to a report commissioned by the foundation charged with building Reflecting Absence, the memorial to the dead in the attack on the World Trade Center, its projected...
Rise Up, Fellow
Enemies of the State
Let's take George W. Bush at his word. Last week, Bush said of the National Security Agency's telephone data mining program: "Our efforts are focused on links to al-Qaeda and their known affiliates." But USA Today and other news sources had just revealed that the NSA...


