As a sign of deteriorating relations between the US and Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari voiced hopes that the United States and Pakistan could establish "clear terms of engagement." Clearly acknowledging the Abottabad raid that netted Osama bin Laden, Zardari...
Corporatist Foreign Policy and the Disregard for Public Opinion
Justin Logan, director of foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute, notes the gap between public opinion and U.S. foreign policy at the National Interest blog: It’s a bit striking how different public opinion and elite opinion are regarding U.S. foreign policy....
Can Norway Avoid Adopting a Post-9/11 Mentality?
Reuters: Norwegians believe penalties for serious crimes in their country should be tightened in the wake of a shooting and bomb attack that killed 77 people in July, an opinion poll showed Monday. In a survey of 1,283 people conducted six days after the July 22...
Update on US Support for Colombia
Last week's post on U.S. support for atrocities in Colombia was unfortunately vague on exactly how much tangible support we give, and if you heard my conversation with Scott Horton on Antiwar Radio I drastically misspoke when I tried to recall annual U.S. aid to...
As Afghanistan Deteriorates, Withdrawal Said to Still Be on Track
In yet another dose of doublespeak from the US military, Admiral Mike Mullen said of the recent increase in violence in southern Afghanistan, There are going to be these kinds of spikes, in particular these spectacular assassinations. There are some who believe this...
Supporting Atrocities in Colombia
Human Rights Watch recently drew our attention to a recent spate of killings by armed groups in Colombia, gone virtually unreported here. On July 2, members of the Marxist guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) murdered seven civilians. FARC is...
Congressional Report: 40 Americans Joined al-Shabaab
As I've written earlier, al-Shabaab is competing for the title of "Terror Group of the Month" with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Thanks to America's collective, short-term memory loss, the Underwear Bomber and printer bomb plot have been all but forgotten....
Prosecute Bush *And* Obama for Torture
A couple weeks ago, Human Right Watch issued a report calling for a criminal investigation of Bush administration officials for the illegal regime of torture and detainee mistreatment implemented following the attack of September 11th. The report recommends the...
Inflating the Terrorist Threat
Jason Ditz reported today on the contradictory claims simultaneously coming from the government about al Qaeda's strength or weakness now and going forward. Chris Preble has a related post up at Cato: A front-page story in today’s Washington Post reports that al Qaeda...
More Talks to Remove MEK from Terror List
In yet another attempt at destabilizing Iran, Hillary Clinton will soon announce a decision by US State Department on whether or not to remove Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), or "the people's holy warriors," from its terrorism registry. Trita Parsi, president of the National...


