I had originally come across this news story back in November, 2003. I copied the link and put it aside, waiting to see what the final outcome would be. Well, I haven't heard anything more about Kirk von Ackermann, 37, a Californian working in Iraq as a contractor who...
Did Bush misspeak on this also?
In his famed 2002 State of the Union 'Axis of Evil' speech, President Bush stated: "Our discoveries in Afghanistan confirmed our worst fears, and show us the true scope of the task ahead...we have found diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water...
Afghanistan’s newest misery
President Karzai certainly has pressing political reasons to control the exponentially increasing harvests of opium poppies which are supplying his opposition with the wealth necessary to maintain militias, purchase weaponry and threaten the stability of the country....
Now They Tell Us
One of the best critiques I have read of the media and how they helped lead us into war. From the New York Review of Books' feature story, "Now They Tell Us" by Michael Massing. If nothing else, the Iraq saga should cause journalists to examine the breadth of their...
Baghdad’s graffiti wars
From The Daily Star (Lebanon), a verbal tour of a city's hopes and fears: Each dawn, Baghdadis discover the helpless victims of the city’s nightly battles: its walls, scarred by a ferocious war of words. In a city where graffiti was once punishable by death, there’s...
Condi bailing out?
From Thomas M. DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Daily News: WASHINGTON - Condoleezza Rice is supposed to be a slam dunk for secretary of state in a second Bush administration. But she may do the unthinkable and just say no. Friends and colleagues of the...
The Real Voice of America
In his opinion column for the Toronto Sun, Eric Margolis, although admitting that this is not necessarily a reliable nor scientific method of assessment, shares his observations on the changing tenor of his incoming mail which may be a harbinger of real changes in...
News: Nukes are Back!
War planners not only are rethinking the unthinkable -- how and when to use nuclear weapons -- they're discussing it. Out loud. Over drinks and cheese balls... William M. Adler begins his frightening commentary with the opening night reception of Strategic Space 2003,...
The Costs of Tough Talk
Does America really need "warrior" presidents, and what does that say about our country and its citizens. Why is a military background so important in candidates for the presidency, and would we be better off as a nation without that qualification? In this commentary,...
Newfoundland Town Mourns Hero
Cpl Jamie Brendan Murphy, 26, died in Afghanistan just a week before he was scheduled to return home. Military personnel knocked on the Murphy family's door at 5 a.m. to tell them their son had been killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Hours later, members of...
