Insist on yourself; never imitate.
Desert Faux: The Sahara’s Mirage of Terrorism
read more
Human Rights
Reclaiming the City on the Hill
The nation’s—and the world’s—final farewells to Coretta Scott King were celebrated in Atlanta on February 7. Three former presidents attended Mrs. King’s funeral, as did President Bush.
Too Little Too Late: The Supreme Court as a Check on Executive Power
Under the Bush administration, foreign policy issues such as warrantless wiretaps, the rights of enemy combatants, and interrogation methods have become the latest topics in the longstanding debate over the limits of executive branch power and the role of the judiciary in enforcing those limits. The issue recently took center stage when Senate Democrats expressed concern at the confirmation hearings of Samuel Alito, President Bush’s most recent pick for the Supreme Court, that Alito would support greater judicial deference to executive authority.
Tao, Bush, and the Nature of Things
It is customary early in the New Year to recommend good books to read. And the Tao Te Ching should be at the top of President Bush’s list. Careening from crisis to crisis with approval ratings drooping, the president should consider the opening lines of chapter 80. “If a country is governed wisely, its inhabitants will be content.”
The Hamas Victory: Another Side to the Story
Lost amidst the predictably negative reaction to the victory by Hamas in the Palestinian parliamentary elections is the crucial role that the U.S. government had in bringing the radical Islamist group to power.
How the World Can Help Americans Halt Bush Administration War Crimes
On May 17 a legal summons was delivered to U.S. and UK embassies in capitals around the world—including Istanbul, Tokyo, Lisbon, and Brussels—on behalf of the World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI). The summons requested the attendance of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair to defend charges that they are in “violation of common values of humanity, international treaties, and international law” for waging war in Iraq.
A Mis-statement of the Union Address
This essay evaluates some of the key claims made by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union address of January 31, 2006.
Lessons in Post Conflict Reconstruction from the New Afghanistan Compact
Living on a Life Support Machine: The Challenge of Rebuilding Afghanistan
The forthcoming “London Conference” on Afghanistan (January 31-February 1, 2006), to be attended by President Hamid Karzai, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and Paul Wolfowitz, head of the World Bank, brings together high ranking dignitaries from the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the international development community to endorse a new multilateral agreement to be known as the “Afghanistan Compact,” the successor of the Bonn Agreement.
Spying and Lying in 21st Century America
This law, as has become more and more clear over the last three months, was but the initial move by the Bush administration in what has become an extended and coordinated attack on the civil liberties of U.S. persons in the name of national security and—ironically—in the name of bringing democracy and civil liberties to Iraq.