On Oct. 31, 2003, in a piece called "The Time of Withdrawal," I wrote: "I think one thing is predictable in a world where predicting anything accurately is a low-percentage bet: Sooner or later, the time of withdrawal will be upon us. Some of us would like...
Govt Targets Arab, Muslim Americans Again
Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are again contacting Arab and Muslim Americans for what they describe as "voluntary interviews," as the Bush administration launches a new anti-terrorism campaign designed to thwart efforts to disrupt the...
Indonesians Fear Increased Military Role in Politics
JAKARTA - While the Indonesian military,or TNI, for the first time will not hold any seats in the new House of Representatives, Indonesian legislators, however, with only hours remaining in their mandate approved a controversial new law cementing the TNI's political...
Expect No Second Term Conversion
If President Bush wins a second term, can the world expect a radically different foreign policy in the Middle East and elsewhere? Optimists suggest that the answer is yes. As evidence, they argue that the White House has rejected the counsel of neoconservatives and is...
North Korea Almost Sparks Real Debate Between Candidates
While Thursday night's joint television appearance featuring two presidential contenders mainly revolved around their familiar quarrel over Iraq policy, the candidates skirmished over a lesser known issue: United States policy toward North Korea. President George W....
Bush’s Backward Nuclear Policy
Hallelujah! In response to a specific question, John Kerry declared that if elected president his number one priority would be preventing nuke proliferation. How do we know Kerry really means it? After all, President Bush told you that the reason he had to invade Iraq...
Imperial Hubris
In his scathing indictment of the Bush administration's policies in the "war on terrorism," Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry twice made a telling point during the debate on national security matters, one that drove home the Bushies' incompetence...
The Election Isn’t about Vietnam
What a topsy-turvy election! One candidate chose to fight in Vietnam. One candidate avoided it. So which candidate is supported by opponents of the Vietnam war? As I said, topsy-turvy. We hear lots of people say that the election should be about terrorism, Iraq,...
“If You Harbor Terrorists, You Are a Terrorist”
While delegates to the GOP convention were congratulating themselves for their candidate’s tough stand against terrorism, the Bush administration was creating an international incident—little publicized in the United States—by harboring a notorious...
The Nationalization of the American People
With military manpower shortages arising out of the war in Iraq, there is talk in the air that the federal government might reinstitute the draft, most likely sometime after the November election. Such a prospect should cause every American to reflect not only on the...