UNITED NATIONS - When world powers adopted a treaty to stop the spread of nuclear weapons some 35 years ago, many hoped it would pave the way for total disarmament. Instead, nations, including some that created the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), have...
Iraq: ‘Mission Accomplished’?
Two years ago Sunday, in a splashy display of his role as commander-in-chief, George W. Bush landed on board the USS Lincoln in the co-pilot's seat of a Navy S-3B Viking. Standing amid a sea of his Praetorians against the backdrop of a huge banner proclaiming...
Truth, History, and Honor Killing
In recent years, two best-selling titles have appeared on the subject of honor killing in the Arab world. Norma Khouri's Forbidden Love (also published under the title Honor Lost) and "Souad's" Burned Alive were both published in 2003. In that fateful year, while the...
The Dubious Legality of the Iraq War
Evidently, Prime Minister Tony Blair failed to "properly inform" the House of Commons about the legality of the Bush-Blair use of force against Iraq. Indeed, Blair may have deliberately misinformed them. Commons passed on March 19, 2003, the British Government's...
What Does ‘Democracy’ Mean Over There?
"Life has changed for the worse," said Bushra Mahmoud, a mother of three, sitting in the waiting room of the Princess Salon in Baghdad. "There is a creeping zealousness among men and women that is really frightening. You sit on the bus and have abuse heaped on you by...
The Palestinian Gandhi
"Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?" is a quite popular question, especially abroad. You won't often hear it asked (with the inevitable self-righteous shrug) here in Israel: after all, the Israeli culture itself worships violence, with the semantic field of "war" being...
The Palestinian Gandhi
"Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?" is a quite popular question, especially abroad. You won't often hear it asked (with the inevitable self-righteous shrug) here in Israel: after all, the Israeli culture itself worships violence, with the semantic field of "war" being...
Oh, What a Lovely War
The "legality" of the Bush-Blair invasion and occupation of Iraq hasn't presented – so far – much of a problem for President Bush. However, it seems to be presenting quite a problem for Prime Minister Tony Blair. In making the case for the...
The Zero
Robert E. Lee advised his children to avoid fiction and read biography and history so that they might know the world "as it really is." Only recently I came upon a new paperback edition of a book originally published in 1956. If you haven't already read it,...
UN Afghanistan Envoy’s Sacking Highlights Abuses, Secrecy
Cherif Bassiouni, the top U.N. human rights investigator in Afghanistan until his job was eliminated at Washington's behest, has caused a stir by accusing the United States of obstructing, then ousting him in a bid to cover up abuses by its personnel. Even so, he...


