When a Pakistani-U.S. national pleaded guilty last week to a failed attempt to detonate explosives packed in a vehicle in the heart of New York City, he admitted that one of the reasons he targeted the busy Times Square neighborhood was to "injure and kill" as many...
‘Americans Don’t Flinch’ – They Duck!
Yesterday, accepting General McChrystal's resignation, President Obama said that McChrystal's departure represented a change in personnel, not a change in policy. "Americans don't flinch in the face of difficult truths or difficult tasks." he stated,...
America Detached from War
CIA Drone Operators Oppose Strikes as Helping al-Qaeda
Some CIA officers involved in the agency's drone strikes program in Pakistan and elsewhere are privately expressing their opposition to the program within the agency, because it is helping al-Qaeda and its allies recruit, according to a retired military officer in...
UN Expert Calls On US To Halt CIA Targeted Killings
Targeted killings, including those using drones, are increasingly being applied in ways that violate international law, according to a report issued Wednesday by a United Nations expert on extrajudicial killings. The report by special rapporteur Philip Alston will be...
US Drone Strikes Draw International Scrutiny
On the heels of reports that the Barack Obama administration altered a new manual on military commission rules to accommodate an illegal drone program, a senior United Nations official is expected to call on the U.S. this week to stop Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)...
Of Drone Wars and Buffalo Urine
Drones and Democracy
ISLAMABAD - On May 12, the day after a U.S. drone strike killed 24 people in Pakistan's North Waziristan, two men from the area agreed to tell us their perspective as eyewitnesses of previous drone strikes. One is a journalist, Safdar Dawar, general secretary of the...
Gods and Monsters
The Greeks had it right. When you live on Mount Olympus, your view of humanity is qualitatively different. The Greek gods, after all, lied to, stole from, lusted for, and punished humanity without mercy, while taking the planet for a spin in a manner that we mortals...
Legality of Drone Strikes Still in Question
While welcoming an initial effort by the administration of President Barack Obama to offer a legal justification for drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists overseas, human rights groups say critical questions remain unanswered. In an address to an international...