With great fanfare, George W. Bush announced to a group of carefully selected 9/11 families yesterday that he had finally decided to send Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and 13 other alleged terrorists to Guantánamo Bay, where they will be tried in military commissions. After nearly 5 years of interrogating these men, why did Bush choose this… Read more »
On television broadcasts, the word “Hezbollah” is seldom mentioned in a sentence unaccompanied by the word “terrorist.” Commentators speculate about whether al Qaida or Hezbollah is a worse threat to the United States. Richard L. Armitage, deputy secretary of state during Bush’s first term, has said Hezbollah might be “the A-team of terrorists,” and that… Read more »
In another Woody Allen moment reminiscent of George W. Bush pinning the Medal of Freedom on disgraced ex-CIA Director George Tenet, a third George – General Casey – has taken a page from the Democrats’ troop withdrawal playbook. After being prepped with the Pentagon’s 74-page cheat sheet about “staying the course” rather than “cutting-and-running” from… Read more »
They are smart, they are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us.Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., commander of Guantánamo prison camp Three men being held in the United… Read more »
In his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, General Michael Hayden promised to promote autonomy and objectivity in the CIA if confirmed as its new director. Hayden assured the senators he would provide “hard-edged assessments” and be tolerant of dissenting views on intelligence matters. “When it comes to speaking truth to power,” Hayden… Read more »
For the second time this year, a United Nations body has chastised the United States for its torture of prisoners and told it to close its prison camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In February, the UN Human Rights Commission criticized the US government for force-feeding hunger strikers there – calling it torture – and urged… Read more »
Recent revelations indicate that the President of the United States continues to flout the law. In December, we learned that Bush signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by wiretapping without a warrant. Two weeks ago, the Boston Globe revealed that Bush has claimed… Read more »
The terror’s in the room. – CBS Journalist Edward R. Murrow, 1954 (Good Night and Good Luck) The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. – Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1933 During the 1950’s, our government succumbed to the fear of Communism hyped by Senator Joseph McCarthy. People… Read more »
The International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration convened last weekend in New York City’s Riverside Church. Martin Luther King Jr.’s portrait hangs in the foyer. Dr. King delivered his historic 1967 speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Place to Break the Silence,” opposing the war and calling for the removal… Read more »
Once again, at the 11th hour, the Bush administration has pulled its punches in the case of Jose Padilla. Using an approach that more closely resembles a game of chess than a system of justice, Team Bush has altered its strategy, while seeking to keep all options open. Its fancy footwork, however, may ultimately backfire…. Read more »