Years

2004

332 posts

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Young, Right-Wing and Stupid in Iraq

I know better than to read the National Review, but this quote in an article on “Gen X in the Green Zone” contains a remarkably stupid comment from Michael Ledeen’s daughter in defense of the vast number of kids who…

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Go Sonia! Congress wins in India. Bush will blow it, again.

The Hindu natonalist (BJP) government of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has fallen. The Congress party (led by Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi) won a surprise victory in India’s elections and is expected…

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NFIRE Stumbles in Senate

The Bush Administration and the Missile Defense Agency may run into trouble over their plans to place weapons in outer space. The Senate Armed Services Committee, in its defense authorization mark-up, directed the Missile Defense Agency “to provide the congressional…

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A bad couple of days for arms control …

Today, two pieces of terrible news for the arms control community and, more generally, anyone serious about discouraging the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. First, the United States collapsed the NPT Prepcom. The third nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory…

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Bush to give July address on Space

Bush plans to defend his space exploration initiative in a speech timed to coincide with the release of a report by a presidential commission to review the plan, according to administration sources quoted by United Press International. UPI also reported…

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Rumsfeld on Torture

I wouldn’t call it a “torture” tape. I don’t think cutting someone’s head off is torture, just to be precise.Donald Rumsfeld, October 2003 Some other stunningly insensitive remarks about torture from the SECDEF: We don’t torture people. To suggest that…

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North Korea Taepodong Test Preparations

The conservative Chosun Ilbo (South Korea) claims “North Korea has begun work on deploying intermediate range ballistic missiles (with ranges of 3,000-4,000km) it developed last year, building underground bases at two sites.” “In particular, U.S. spy satellites have discovered about…

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More Iraqi torture

“The unreleased images show American soldiers beating one prisoner almost to death, apparently raping a female prisoner, acting inappropriately with a dead body, and taping Iraqi guards raping young boys, according to NBC News.” Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel,…

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An Iraqi Enclave Strategy

I spoke with a military officer who suggested that the recent civil violence in Iraq had accelerated implementation of an “enclave” strategy in Iraq. He thinks this may help us turn the corner; I think he is nuts. The creation…

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ICRC: Iraq Abuses Widespread

The ICRC called a press conference to comment on the publication, by the Wall Street Journal, of a confidential January 2004 report on detention in Iraq submitted by to Coalition Forces in February 2004. The report alleged that the conditions…