Look at these photographs. See the eager faces among the children at the school — they could be anyone’s kids at any moment in America. And the baby, so precious and new, reflecting the light of his proud parents, the hope of everyone around him. Now imagine that the...
The Empire Strikes Back: Attack of the Drones
“The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.” – James Madison Drones — unmanned aerial vehicles — come in all shapes and sizes, from nano-sized drones as small as a grain of sand that can do everything from...
Iraq: Hashemi Trial Begins Thursday In Absentia
The Obama Contradiction
He has few constraints (except those he’s internalized). No one can stop him or countermand his orders. He has a bevy of lawyers at his beck and call to explain the “legality” of his actions. And if he cares to, he can send a robot assassin to kill you, whoever you...
China’s ‘Reformist’ Crooks
The US embassy in Beijing is a pretty happening place of late. First the police chief of a major city tries to defect and implicates the wife of a top Chinese leader in a murder plot. The police chief, one Wang Lijun, leaves the next day, is spirited away by the...
The UN May Have Silenced the Afghan Public
"Today, Afghanistan and the U.S. initialed and locked the text of the strategic partnership agreement," said President Hamid Karzai's spokesman, Aimal Faizi. "This means the text is closed….” Why "lock" or "close" the future of Afghanistan to 30 million ordinary...
Kurds Approve Heavy Weapons For Themselves, Baghdad Says No
Top Iraqi Leaders Demand Maliki Honor Agreement; 11 Killed in Attacks
Ziad Jilani: a Kill Shot in Wadi Joz
It was a stiflingly hot Friday afternoon in East Jerusalem's Wadi Joz neighborhood on June 11, 2010. That's where Ziad Jilani lived with his American-born wife, Moira, and his three young daughters. He had some errands to run and as he left the house, he told his...
US Escalating Drone War in Yemen
Even as President Barack Obama touts his progress in extracting the U.S. from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his administration appears to be deepening its covert and military involvement in strife-torn Yemen. Washington is worried about recent advances by Al Qaeda in...


