Masciotra: Support the Troops Unless They are Raped by Troops7 Jan 2008On no American highway have I seen the bumper sticker, “Support the troops unless they get raped by other troops.” Judging from the level of attention and care given to female soldiers who are sexually assaulted, it may be time to plaster those stickers all over American automobiles.
Hayden: Why Barack Should De-Escalate on Pakistan7 Jan 2008As predicted, Barack Obama’s advocacy of unilateral military intervention in Pakistan if there is “actionable intelligence” against al-Qaeda is giving legitimacy to the Bush administration’s gathering plan for an escalation. Obama’s position is a revival of John Kerry’s 2004 argument that the U.
Johnson: Imperialist Propaganda5 Jan 2008I have some personal knowledge of Congressmen like Charlie Wilson (D-2nd District, Texas, 1973-1996) because, for close to twenty years, my representative in the 50th Congressional District of California was Republican Randy “Duke” Cunningham, now serving an eight-and-a-half year prison sentence for soliciting and receiving bribes from defense contractors. Wilson and Cunningham held exactly the same plummy committee assignments in the House of Representatives—the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee plus the Intelligence Oversight Committee—from which they could dole out large sums of public money with little or no input from their colleagues or constituents.
Al-Qattan: Palestinian Cinema—An Example for the Region?5 Jan 2008In trying to reconcile their imagination and their desires with the world around them, artists often find themselves trapped between the devil and the deep blue sea. Yet a work of art can momentarily lift us out of that trap, briefly allowing us to understand our past and present and also glimpse what could potentially happen in the future.
Schwartz: The Top Eleven Myths about Iraq, 20075 Jan 2008The best “Top Ten” list for the year 2007 is from Juan Cole: The Top Ten Myths About Iraq. This has been a myth-making year in Iraq, starting with the major media climbing aboard the Bush Administration effort to spin the “surge” as a big success in reducing violence—which is Myth #1.
Hayes: Return of the Swift Boaters5 Jan 2008More than three years after John Kerry’s bitter defeat, at the dawn of what looks like a far more promising campaign cycle for the Democrats, the party is still haunted by the specter of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Once upon a time, “Swift boat” denoted an obscure military vessel, but thanks to the activities of this group it has come to represent movement conservatism’s penchant for ruthlessly (and effectively) smearing any and all political opponents, from a sitting senator and war hero to an 11-year-old boy with a cranial fracture.
Biondi: Dropping Out of Electoral College5 Jan 2008A Stanford University computer scientist named John Koza has formulated a compelling and pragmatic alternative to the Electoral College. It’s called National Popular Vote (NPV), and has been hailed as “ingenious” by two New York Times editorials.
Rothschild: Obama’s Day in Iowa5 Jan 2008Obama owned all the excitement, even before the tallies. I was in Dubuque, Iowa, with my 18-year-old daughter, Katherine, an Obama supporter.
Jamail: A Slap in the Face for Iraq’s Parliament5 Jan 2008The end of 2007 produced a telltale indication of what the New Year seems likely to bring to Iraq. “We the Iraqi members of Parliament signing below demand a timetable for withdrawal of the occupation forces [MNF] from our beloved Iraq,” 144 members of the 275-member Parliament, a clear majority, wrote in a declaration April 2007.
Baroud: The Iraq Charade5 Jan 2008In recent months, we have been inundated by media reports bringing good news from Iraq, with countless testimonials to the great improvement in security enjoyed by the country in general and the Baghdad area in particular.This progress is attributed solely to the judicious ‘surge’ of US military presence, and the astute tactics enacted by occupation forces in a place that once personified despair and violence.
Podur: Defend the Border4 Jan 2008The phrase “defend the border” wasn’t always a metaphor. And it isn’t just a metaphor in many parts of the world, even today: some states do have to worry about overland military invasions.
Hayden: An Appeal to Barack Obama4 Jan 2008“The Democrats have been stuck in the arguments of Vietnam, which means that either you’re a Scoop Jackson Democrat or you’re a Tom Hayden Democrat and you’re suspicious of any military action. And that’s just not my framework.
Solomon: Edwards Reconsidered4 Jan 2008There have been good reasons not to support John Edwards for president. For years, his foreign-policy outlook has been a hodgepodge of insights and dangerous conventional wisdom; his health-care prescriptions have not taken the leap to single payer; and all told, from a progressive standpoint, his positions have been inferior to those of Dennis Kucinich.
Smith: Progress in Iraq?4 Jan 2008THE WHITE House, leading Democrats, and the media are all trumpeting the recent decrease in violent attacks in Iraq as a sign that Bush’s surge has worked. This Chicago Tribune report is typical of the new line: “Baghdad has undergone a remarkable transformation.
Cook: Evidence of Israeli ‘cowardly blending’ comes to light3 Jan 2008(Nazareth) It apparently never occurred to anyone in our leading human rights organisations or the Western media that the same moral and legal standards ought be applied to the behaviour of Israel and Hizbullah during the war on Lebanon 18 months ago. Belatedly, an important effort has been made to set that right.
Mian: Pakistan’s Khaki President3 Jan 2008In November 2007, eight years after he first seized power, and six years after declaring himself president, General Pervez Musharraf staged his second coup against the rule of law in Pakistan. He declared martial law, suspended the Constitution and basic rights, and dismissed the Supreme Court.
Ngugi: Kenya’s democracy on trial3 Jan 2008On Thursday December 27th 2007, shortly after polling stations were closed, Kenya was hailed as having fulfilled an African dream – to have a free and fair closely contested democratic election. But less than 48 hours later it was clear that the dream of democracy could become a nightmare of ethnic violence.
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