And you thought Colin Powell’s claims of Iraqi WMD before the UN was the low point of U.S. foreign policy.
Unlikeliest of Bedfellows: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and a Mexican Drug Cartel
read more
North America
Resolution against the Machine
Communities all over the United States are reeling from budget cuts. Military contractors, meanwhile, have remained fat and well-fed on the one part of federal spending that so far hasn’t been touched by budget-cutting fever: the Pentagon. One community recently decided to call attention to this disparity. In Montgomery County, a relatively wealthy Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, Peace Action Montgomery got together with a group of City Council members to craft a simple, straightforward resolution.
The Price of the Libya Intervention: Surface to Air Missiles for All
Enough surface-to-air missiles have disappeared in Libya to turn all of North Africa into a no-fly zone.
UN Origins Project Series, Part 6: The Things We Fight For
It was the economic deprivation of the 30s that allowed totalitarianism to flourish and shatter the fragile peace that followed World War I.
Pakistan’s Little-Known Payback to the U.S. for Drone Attacks on Its Soil
Most Americans aren’t aware that the Pakistani military actually mounts attacks on Afghan soil.
Iran Alleged Assassination Plot: Emboldened by Nuke Program?
Uber think-tanker suggests Iran doesn’t fear American retaliation for its alleged assassination plot because it thinks its nuclear program will deter us.
Is Iran’s Alleged Cash-for-Assassinations Plot Too Implausible to Be True?
Will Operation Red Coalition eclipse or compound problems created by Operations Fast and Furious?
Wall Street (Unlike)
Tyrants are ruthless. They throw people in jail, execute them without trial, suppress the press. They can rule for decades. They can attempt to set up dynasties. But in the modern age, tyrants have a shelf life. We live in an age of activism, and tyrants are always looking over the shoulder to make sure the military is behind them, the human rights community isn’t breathing down their neck, or their “adoring masses” aren’t camped out in the public square demanding their exit from history.
Our leaders in the United States aren’t tyrants. Instead, we face the tyranny of “business as usual.”
Ten Years and One Month Later
When I look back on the news cycle over the last two months, I think of 9/11 and floods. On the morning of August 28, I turned on the television and watched as the local newscaster showed the Hudson River lapping against the top of the concrete bulkhead, threatening to rush into the streets of Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. This spot was just a few blocks away from Ground Zero, where, as the scene shifted, we could see the site being prepared for the upcoming memorial event. As the storm waters receded, news outlets fixed their attention on this scene, and we found ourselves awash in a sea of commentary on the anniversary and the impact of 9/11 over the last decade.
Hawks Used Test Ban Treaty as Justification for Expanding Nukes
In the original Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty negotiations, the nuclear weapons complex made the case that, absent testing, extravagant virtual testing facilities would be needed to maintain the nuclear weapons arsenal without testing.