Former NSA Director: War Weariness Growing

I asked retired Gen. William E. Odom if he agreed with me that the Bush administration would be well-advised to release all the Abu Ghraib photos immediately, even the most disgusting ones. PR gurus routinely advise corporation and other organizations facing a brewing...

read more

Evidence Grows of More Widespread Abuse

The Bush administration's contention that the sexual humiliation and physical abuse of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison as depicted in photographs first disclosed two weeks ago were the work of just a "few bad apples" from a poorly trained military police unit is...

read more

Abu Ghraib and the Pornography of Power

When lawmakers emerged from their private viewing of the Abu Ghraib photos – a screening arranged under conditions of high security on Capitol Hill – they were at great pains to come up with synonyms for "Ewwwwwwwww!" "Appalling," said Senate majority leader...

read more

Rumsfeld, Sanchez ‘Pow-Wow’ in Iraq

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld quietly left Washington yesterday, flying first to Kuwait, and then on to Baghdad. Rumsfeld was accompanied by only a few reporters, Pentagon lawyers, and Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After arriving in...

read more

Polls: Abuse Photos Spell Trouble for War Party

The photographs of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers have had a major impact on public opinion in the United States, according to back-to-back national polls that also show continued erosion in support for President George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. A...

read more

Prisongate: The Down and Dirty

What struck me most about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's testimony last week was how he reserved his greatest indignation for those who leaked classified information exposing rampant military abuse of Iraqi prisoners. They did so "against the law," he twice noted...

read more

Failure and Success in Cyprus

The proponents of the Annan Plan for Cyprus have expressed great regret at the rejection of the plan by Cyprus's Greek southern section in a general referendum. But really, the plan's main supporters got exactly what they wanted- and even if they hadn't, they would...

read more

The S&M War Beneficial righteous rage followed by action is the only thing that may save this tottering old republic and Justin Raimondo has it in spades. His recent comparison of the US tactics in Iraq to those used by the conquering Nazis, swings the harsh light...

read more

The Coming Backlash Against Outrage

Looking at visual images from U.S.-run prisons in Iraq, news watchers now find themselves in the midst of a jolting experience that roughly resembles a process described by Donald Rumsfeld: "It is the photographs that gives one the vivid realization of what actually...

read more

Parallels, Contrasts and Questions

As revolting images of torture and degradation of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib flooded the media, it was only a matter of time before someone would invoke the comparison with atrocities (allegedly) committed in the Balkans. But unlike the lurid Balkans stories...

read more