war on terror

Lynne Stewart: Casualty of the ‘War on Terror’

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:02:19 -0500

by Marjorie Cohn

In a decision that reflects the post-911 terrorism hysteria, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed prominent civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart's convictions and remanded her case to district court Judge John G. Koeltl to reconsider her sentence. The appellate panel directed Koeltl to remand Stewart to custody and the 70-year-old woman is now in prison.

The Administration Guts Its Own Argument for 9/11 Trials

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:50:09 -0500

by Glenn Greenwald

"What I'm absolutely clear about is that I have complete confidence in the American people and our legal traditions and the prosecutors, the tough prosecutors from New York who specialize in terrorism" -- Barack Obama, yesterday.
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The Weekly Standard's ACLU Smear Indicts Only Itself

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:01:26 -0500

by Glenn Greenwald

Even for The Weekly Standard, this bitter, juvenile McCarthyite attack on the ACLU by Thomas Joscelyn sputters with so much fact-free, impotent, and self-defeating rage that it's hard to believe it was printed. Right in the headline, it oh-so-cleverly smears the ACLU as "Al Qaeda's Civil Liberties Union"; it ends by proclaiming the group to be "al Qaeda's useful idiots"; and it's filled in the middle with all sorts of trite innuendo circa read more

Profiles In Hypocrisy: James Inhofe

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:26:33 -0500

by Tom Andrews
Hypocrisy, thy name is James Inhofe when it comes to prosecuting terrorists.
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Renouncing Islamism: To the Brink and Back Again

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:48:44 -0500

by Johann Hari
Ever since I started meeting jihadis, I have been struck by one thing - their Britishness. I am from the East End of London, and at some point in the past decade I became used to hearing a hoarse and angry whisper of jihadism on the streets where I live. Bearded young men stand outside the library calling for "The Rule of God" and "Death to Democracy".
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Shining Light on Roots of Terrorism

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:27:41 -0500

by Ray McGovern
Media commentary on the upcoming 9/11 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has raised concern that state secrets may be divulged, including details about how the Bush administration used torture to extract evidence about al-Qaeda.

"I think that we're going to shine a light on something that a lot of people don't want to look at" is how American Civil Liberties Union attorney Denney LeBoeuf put it, according to The New York Times on Saturday.
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Poverty, Global Trade Justice, and the Roots of Terrorism

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:18:56 -0500

by John Perkins
The following is adapted from Hoodwinked: An Economic Hitman Reveals Why the World Financial Markets Imploded—and What We Need to Do to Remake Them. Random House, 2009:
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Just Say “NO” to the War in Afghanistan

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 10:59:48 -0500

by Michael Lerner
Or should we call it "Again-istan?"

Some people never learn. The arrogance of empire? Ignorance of history? Political opportunism? Or cowardice to confront the global challenges we face?

These factors probably all contribute to the current incredible situation, in which the United States is debating whether to escalate its military presence there or maintain a lower-level intensity, relying on mechanical warfare in order to focus the war instead in Pakistan. Neither option makes any sense.
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The Right's Textbook 'Surrender to Terrorists'

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:48:07 -0500

by Glenn Greenwald

Understanding and Combatting Terrorism, USMC Major S.M. Grass, 1989:

Terrorism is a psychological weapon and is directed to create a general climate of fear. As one definition cogently notes, "terror is a natural phenomenon, terrorism is the conscious exploitation of it." Terrorism utilizes violence to coerce governments and their people by inducing fear.
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Major Hasan and The Legacy of George W Bush

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:48:45 -0500

by Thom Hartmann
If Bill Clinton - or, presumably, Al Gore (or even Ralph Nader) - had been President in 2001, the Ft. Hood massacre almost certainly wouldn't have happened. Because George W. Bush was president, it did. Here's why it's Bush's fault:
One of the first lessons aspiring novelists and screenwriters learn is that the goodness of a hero is defined by a single quality - the evil of his opponent. From Superman's Lex Luthor to Batman's Joker to Indiana Jones' Nazis to Luke Skywalker's Darth Vader, for a hero to be perceived as larger than life, he must have a larger than life enemy.
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