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When I was a kid, I liked the musical band Devo, whose name was derived from their concept that man was devolving. It was funny at the time, but 30 years later I feel compelled to write why torture is wrong, so maybe Devo was right. I wrote about apparent torture at the U.S. naval … Continue reading “Abu Ghraib and the American Devolution”

Three U.S. senators have called on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to account for $8.8 billion entrusted to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq earlier this year but now gone missing. In a letter Thursday, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Byron L. Dorgan of North Dakota and Tom Harkin of Iowa, all opposition Democrats, demanded … Continue reading “‘Staggering Amount’ of Cash Missing in Iraq”

Belgrade (Beograd) means “White City” in old Slavic as well as modern Serbian. The city stands on the confluence of two major rivers, the Sava and the Danube, and presently has almost two million residents. With many of them away on vacation in the dog days of early August, the city is as close to … Continue reading “A Letter from Belgrade”

UNITED NATIONS – With battle-scarred Iraq in shambles, the United States is now trying to showcase war-ravaged Afghanistan as a potentially vibrant multi-party democracy on the road to political success, say UN diplomats and Afghan experts. "[U.S. President George W.] Bush desperately needs an international success story for his reelection in November," a South Asian … Continue reading “Credibility of Afghan Vote Threatened by Violence, Fraud”

MONTREAL – Sarah Bardwell did not get the names of the four FBI agents and two police officers who questioned her and her roommates late on the afternoon of July 22 on the front porch of their house in Denver. "We asked them for their names and they said they wouldn’t give us their names … Continue reading “FBI Launches ‘Preemptive’ Investigations”

BAGHDAD – Seventeen months after the fall of Saddam Hussein, many Iraqi traders say the economy is stagnating. Last year in August the streets of Baghdad were bustling with commercial activity. At almost every corner sat a man exchanging money or selling something, usually an imported commodity. Shops were stacked ceiling high. Many were so … Continue reading “Violence Slows Iraqi Economy”

What’s going on at the State Department? Can’t Colin Powell keep Undersecretary John Bolton in his cage? Apparently, not, because last week Bonkers Bolton made a mind-boggling presentation at the Hudson Institute – which was carried live on CSPAN – entitled "Preventing Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons." Virtually every paragraph in the inflammatory 2,800-word address … Continue reading “Bonkers Bolton Threatens Iran”

Abu Ghraib I was shocked to see those sick photographs. When I enlisted in the U.S. Army I heard stories about atrocities committed by US soldiers in World War II and the Korean War, but we never saw any photos. Had I seen such pictures I would not have enlisted, underage, in 1959. I cannot … Continue reading “Backtalk, August 20, 2004”

A recently unearthed government memorandum prepared for the U.S. Congress addresses the power of the administration to postpone elections. But more notably, it reviews actions the executive branch might take that could preclude large numbers of Americans from casting a ballot in the coming presidential vote. The memorandum highlights that should such disenfranchisement occur, the … Continue reading “Memo: ‘Terror’ Election Barring Voters Could Stand”

COLOMBO – Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Asia’s longest running autocratic leader, is under international pressure to stop the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in the Indian Ocean archipelago. Colombo-based diplomats, who declined to be named, said a high-powered European Union delegation from EU-member missions based in Colombo was expected to fly to the capital Male … Continue reading “Maldives Unrest Worries International Community”