Author: Scott Horton

The China Post perceives a new cold war with the United States:

“A new Cold War is taking shape after last week’s U.S.-Japan joint statement that China is their biggest security threat and that Taiwan is key to keep Beijing’s growing military might in check… It was the first time that the U.S. and Japan openly placed Taiwan under their defense umbrella. The joint statement represented the most significant change since 1996 to the 1960 U.S.-Japan Security Alliance. Just two days before that, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Douglas Feith, told the Council on Foreign Relations that China was one of the ‘four key concerns’ of the U.S., the others being weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and failing states. While the U.S. would respect China’s aspiration to achieve national greatness, Feith said, this in turn would require Beijing to ‘forgo the threat or use of force to pursue unification.’
In other words, China’s rise has to be in line with America’s ‘rules of the road.’ If not, he warned, ‘respect for sovereignty’ does not require the U.S. ‘to ignore the depredations of tyrannical regimes.'”

We (especially Feith) are in a position to say so because our government has respect for the rule of law.

Sibel Edmonds, the heroic FBI contract translator – turned – whistle blower, despite the Department of Justice dropping their attempted application of the “state secrets privilege” to silence her last week, is now up against the same tactic with a different name.

According to John Files at the New York Times:

“The government has told a federal appeals court that a suit by an F.B.I. translator who was fired after accusing the bureau of ineptitude should not be allowed to proceed because it would cause ‘significant damage to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.’

Lawyers for the government said in a brief filed with the court on Thursday that the suit could not continue without disclosing privileged and classified information.”

This apparently means, “If we let her tell you what she knows, we might be in trouble.”
Sibel Edmonds’ Website
My interview of her (mp3)

Today on the Weekend Interview Show (4-6pm Eastern Time), I’ll be talking with civil rights attorney and author Elaine Cassel about the case of Lynn Stewart. The lawyer for the bomber of the World Trade Center in 1993, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, Stewart was convicted on February 10th of “providing material support” to terrorism.

In the second hour, I’ll have war correspondent, author and columnist Eric Margolis from the Toronto Sun on to talk about Middle East Policy.

Update: Show’s over. Archives here

Putin humiliated next to Bush “It could be that he kept his cool Thursday because he couldn’t quite believe what was happening to him.”

Robin Shepherd, Washington Times:

“It all happened following the end of bilateral talks when a televised press conference turned into a relentless and devastating assault on Putin’s backsliding on democratic reform.
Since global democratization has been made the centerpiece of Bush’s second term foreign policy agenda, analysts and politicians in the United States and elsewhere had billed this meeting as the first key test of the American president’s credibility.
As Russia analysts James M. Goldgeier and Michael McFaul had put it in a commentary in the current issue of the Weekly Standard: ‘If the president neglects to affirm his commitment to freedom with Putin at his side, Bush will be signaling that his words don’t count.’
So most of us were expecting the issue to be raised, if only in passing.
But no one could have been prepared for what was about to unfold.
While observing diplomatic niceties, President Bush’s opening remarks included a pointedly blunt statement of his concern that Russia was not fulfilling “fundamental” democratic principles.
And this was nothing to what President Putin was forced to endure in the subsequent questions, every single one of which focused on democracy.
Continue reading “Let’s pick a fight with Russia”

and guilty of shaming UK.”

According to the Scotsman, two low level British soldiers have been convicted of “abuse,” in their treatment of prisoners in Iraq at what they call “Britian’s Abu Ghraib.” Quoth The Scotsman: “THE ARMY was facing major questions over its handling of the Iraqi abuse scandal last night after five men in command at the camp where the abuse took place not only escaped charges but were promoted.”