U.S. support for Yemen Saleh regime will inevitably draw it into conflicts in the country’s north and the south, with disastrous results for all concerned.
The U.S. and Yemen’s President: A Lethal Cocktail
read more
Focal Points Blog
GOP on START: Side Dish of Lard With That Pork, Please
In delaying START ratification, Republicans are sacrificing national security in order to lard their larders with more pork.
If They’d Listened to the Scientists We Might Not Need to Observe Hiroshima Day
Opinions about using the bomb were solicited from Manhattan Project scientists — but not heeded.
Shales’ Disgraceful Dis of Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour just too darned foreign for Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales.
“WikiLeaks is a criminal enterprise”
Hawks are not above calling for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be apprehended on the territory of close U.S. allies, even without their consent.
“Countdown to Zero” Eclipses Those on the Frontlines of Disarmament
Who or what mounts the frontlines of disarmament? Countdown to Zero, disarmament groups, the Obama administration?
Recent Colombian Mass Grave Discovery May Be “False-Positives”
“False positive” is the Colombian armed forces operation that murdered civilians and dressed them up in insurgent uniforms to fake the success of the army’s counterinsurgency strategy.
Israel Playing With a Fire It Expects the U.S. to Put Out
American neocons openly express the hope that any Iranian response to the Israeli attack would trigger full-scale U.S. war against Iran.
A Solution to Congolese Violence — or Empty Gesture?
As part of the sweeping financial reform bill signed into law this past week by President Barack Obama, a surprising legislative rider took effect seeking an end to the internal conflict plaguing Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The provision, which resulted largely from intensive lobbying efforts by the Enough Project to stop genocide, is designed to prevent destabilizing elements within the DRC from feeding off the country’s lucrative trade in precious metals. The DRC boasts rich deposits of tungsten, tantalum, and tin—metals commonly found in cell phones, laptops, video game consoles and other electronic devices—profits from which have long been seen to fuel the activities of non-state combatants there.
NorK “Coup-Proofed” From Both Within and Without
Regime change in North Korea not likely due to Kim Jong-il’s ingenuity as well as a lack of international consensus on how to proceed.