Peace and Security
The United Nations is Failing Syria
The United Nations Security Council, which is supposed to be the bulwark of global peace and security, has failed in its response to these popular uprisings, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. Inaction over Syria has left the Council seeming woefully unfit for its primary purpose: maintaining international peace.
Send in the Drones
Whew! The United States finally seems to have gotten the globe pretty much under control. Sure, it’s messy, but empires are like that. There are always malcontents mouthing off about “foreign threats” and the like, but nothing serious. We have the military, the technology, the will, and the oil.
Pentagon Spending Spree
Are you wondering where your tax dollars are going? Then take a look at the $642.5 billion stuffed into the National Defense Authorization Act, which the House of Representatives recently approved.
Diplomacy Is the Only Way Forward with Iran
Negotiators from the United States, the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Germany met with Iranian negotiators in Baghdad to discuss Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Although there’s still a long road ahead, the resumed diplomatic action has made progress that undoubtedly sets the tone for future negotiations.
The State of the Military-Industrial Complex Is Strong
What can you do with a bunch of used generals? If you keep them active, they need new assignments. These can be expensive. But if you let them retire with fat pensions, they’ll go to work for arms producers, lobbying for more weapons and more wars. Either way citizens pay through the nose.
Operation Lip Service
The popular uprising in Bahrain shows no signs of going away.
The Strange Case of Charles Taylor
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who was found guilty of 11 charges by a court in the Netherlands, is a man of many firsts. He’s the first head of state to have escaped from a medium-security prison in the United States. He was the first sitting head of state to face charges of international crimes against humanity since the Nuremberg trials. Now, he’s the first head of state since World War II to have been convicted of war crimes by an international tribunal.
U.S. Torturers are Still Awaiting Arrest
Torture isn’t a good subject to fail on one’s moral report card. If you’re an individual, St. Peter is likely to take a dim view. If you’re a nation, it can cost you plenty of international prestige, besides putting hot-headed zealots yearning for revenge on your trail. We acknowledge these determined folks each time we try to board an airplane.
An Exit Strategy for Afghanistan
Here in Washington, it’s easy to find boosters for the current U.S. war strategy in Afghanistan. Outside of Washington, it’s harder. A CNN poll late last month found that three-quarters of Americans now oppose the war and more than half would like U.S. combat troops to leave Afghanistan sooner than 2014, their scheduled withdrawal date. France, Spain, and Australia are all planning to accelerate the withdrawal of their soldiers from Afghanistan.
Let’s Protect Children, Not Guns
The Children’s Defense Fund dedicated our report Protect Children, Not Guns 2012 to the memory of Trayvon Martin and the thousands of other children and teenagers killed by guns in America. Guns killed a total of 5,740 kids in 2008 and 2009, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If Congress passed stronger laws and closed loopholes, it would save lives.
