Bin Laden’s crime may have been a form of blowback. But why do Americans show little interest in bringing him, if still alive, to justice?
What Does Gary Brooks Farber’s Quixotic Mission Say About the Rest of Us?
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Middle East & North Africa
Leave Afghanistan and Declare bin Laden Dead in One Fell Swoop
What if we not only left Afghanistan but declared bin Laden dead? (The burden would be on jihadis to prove he’s alive.)
Are Foreign Lives of Equal Worth to Ours?
The mechanization of war has resulted in treating other nations’ citizens as less than equal to citizens of the United States. U.S. military actions kill innocent civilians in a repeated and almost routine manner. However, modern communications are informing people around the world that U.S. policies value other citizens less than its own.
An Iran-U.S. Grand Bargain
Iran’s nuclear program has become the centerpiece of global security discussions for the last 10 years. It is a main sticking point in the relationship between Iran — a key regional player — and western countries, and it has acquired oversized significance in the international war against extremism. Despite Obama’s promise for change, and greater emphasis on multilateralism and diplomacy, the specter of military confrontation between Iran on the one hand and either Israel or the United States on the other persistently looms over the horizon, even though the probability remains low.
Hostility to Plans for New Mosques
It has been said before that Al-Qaeda’s greatest victory was not September 11th but Abu Ghraib. Indeed, the images of Americans reveling in the humiliation of Arab prisoners enhanced the potency of al-Qaeda’s narrative and won it scores of new recruits. But to achieve this propaganda victory, the terrorist organization first had to accomplish something more basic: provoking a vigorous hatred of Arabs and of Islam among Americans.
Democratic Party Defends Israeli Attack
Countering the broad consensus of international legal scholars who recognize that the attack was in flagrant violation of international norms, prominent Democrats embraced the Orwellian notion that Israel’s raid, which killed at least nine activists and wounded scores of others, was somehow an act of self-defense.
Gaza Flotilla: Prelude to a Wider War?
Polls show two out of three Israelis disapprove of the attack on the flotilla, but are the two military men running the Tel Aviv government listening? Or are they about to take advantage of a crisis to launch a regional war that would make the Gaza boat attack look like a glass of spilled milk?
Part 1-The Futility of Trying to Debate Our Way to Disarmament
You’re passionate about the abolition of nuclear weapons. But isn’t owning up to an uncompromising position on disarmament just a way of marginalizing yourself? Perhaps not. In the long run, those in the margins — grassroots types sprouting by the side of the road — may have a better chance of implementing disarmament than those steering policy limos down the middle of the road.
Blaming Turkey
Last year, Lauren Rosenberg was walking across a four-lane highway in Utah when she was hit by a car. Now she’s suing Google for $100,000 in damages because Google Maps told her to take that route.
Will the Flotilla Attack Be Our “Kent State” Moment?
Gaza flotilla attacks may be a “Kent State moment” that wakes up the American public to Israel’s heavy-handed responses to anything resembling a provocation.