Evidently, Prime Minister Tony Blair failed to "properly inform" the House of Commons about the legality of the Bush-Blair use of force against Iraq. Indeed, Blair may have deliberately misinformed them. Commons passed on March 19, 2003, the British Government's...
What Does ‘Democracy’ Mean Over There?
"Life has changed for the worse," said Bushra Mahmoud, a mother of three, sitting in the waiting room of the Princess Salon in Baghdad. "There is a creeping zealousness among men and women that is really frightening. You sit on the bus and have abuse heaped on you by...
Oh, What a Lovely War
The "legality" of the Bush-Blair invasion and occupation of Iraq hasn't presented – so far – much of a problem for President Bush. However, it seems to be presenting quite a problem for Prime Minister Tony Blair. In making the case for the...
The Zero
Robert E. Lee advised his children to avoid fiction and read biography and history so that they might know the world "as it really is." Only recently I came upon a new paperback edition of a book originally published in 1956. If you haven't already read it,...
UN Afghanistan Envoy’s Sacking Highlights Abuses, Secrecy
Cherif Bassiouni, the top U.N. human rights investigator in Afghanistan until his job was eliminated at Washington's behest, has caused a stir by accusing the United States of obstructing, then ousting him in a bid to cover up abuses by its personnel. Even so, he...
One Year Later, Abu Ghraib Scandal Seen as ‘Tip of Iceberg’
Rights watchdogs have seized on this week's anniversary of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal to protest what they termed a lack of accountability for the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody, and to warn that problems which came to light at the prison in Iraq...
Put the Marx Brothers in Charge
The new Robb-Silberman report on U.S. intelligence capabilities should, but won't, enrage Americans. Too long at 600-plus pages for most to read, the report completes the destruction of the intelligence community especially the CIA begun by Congress'...
More on Gangs and Guerrillas vs. the State
A story in the April 26 Washington Times, "Drug Smugglers, Rebels Join Hands," by Carmen Gentile, offered an interesting illustration of the argument I made in my last column, that Fourth Generation entities may do everything they want to do within the framework of...
The Thirty Years War
This Saturday is the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war, and in marking it one cannot help but note the parallels with the present intervention. Naturally, there are many differences: the nature of the enemy, the terrain, and the origins of the current...
Muslim Scholar Urges Halt to Extreme Punishments
NEW YORK - A Muslim scholar who was issued and then denied a visa to teach in the United States because of alleged ties to terrorists has called for an immediate moratorium on corporal and capital punishment and dialogue aimed at creating less repressive Muslim...


