Pentagon Fireworks

One of the least noticed success stories of George Bush's years in power has been his administration's ability to focus the world's attention so singularly first on Saddam Hussein 's "nuclear program" – remember that yellowcake brick road? – which had...

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‘Unlawful Combatants’ Do Have Rights, Court Rules

In a major defeat for President George W. Bush with potentially far-reaching implications for his conduct of the "war on terror," the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday ruled that military tribunals established by the Pentagon to try suspected terrorists held at...

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The Misuse of American History

I recently wrote about Karl Rove's gamble that Americans would prefer a Green-Zone version of our world to grim political reality and that, in the process of telling "Green-Zone stories" to the public, it was useful if you could also "Green Zone" history –...

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The High Price of American Gullibility

What explains the gullibility of Americans, a gullibility that has mired the U.S. in disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that promises war with Iran, North Korea, and a variety of other targets if neoconservatives continue to have their way? Part of the...

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Indo-US Nuclear Deal Clears First Hurdle

With the House International Relations Committee (HIRC) of the United States House of Representatives gaining overwhelming bipartisan support for a draft bill to allow resumption of civilian nuclear commerce between India and the U.S., the path is clearer for the...

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End of Delusions

Soccer Disaster Causes Political Epiphany It may seem incongruous that the disaster that befell the Serbia-Montenegro soccer squad at the 2006 FIFA World Cup has caused more irritation than an ongoing string of political humiliations Serbia has suffered, but one has...

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The Cabal, Outed

The looming conflict between Iran and the United States has a nightmarish quality about it: it is like one of those dreams in which a horrific series of events is endlessly reenacted, while the dreamer is powerless to stop it. You scream and nothing comes out. It is a...

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Paris Accord, the Sequel

According to numerous reports, President Bush – while at a meeting with leaders of the European Union last week – gave the mullahs an ultimatum: last week. "If Iran's leaders want peace and prosperity and a more hopeful future for their people, they...

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Saddam’s Execution Likely, Fair Trial Less So

With Omar Abdullah BAGHDAD - The trial of Iraq's former president Saddam Hussein has been wracked with controversy and spectacle. Now entering its final phase, the question for all Iraqis and the world is whether he will be executed for the deaths of 148 Shi'ites,...

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Pentagon Resists Ban on ‘Degrading Treatment’

As new reports detail further abuse by the U.S. military of its prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, a behind-the-scenes battle is being fought between the U.S. Departments of State and Defense about whether a key section of the Geneva Conventions should be included in...

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