Viewpoints, December 22, 2009

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What Do the Nazis Have to Do With Afghanistan?  by Laurie L. Calhoun

The Best Argument for the Afghan War – and What's Wrong With It by Jon Wiener

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Making More Terrorists in Yemen  by Glenn Greenwald

GOP Hawks Love Obama's War Talk  by Jack Kenny

US News: Supreme Court Guts Due Process Protection

After hearing passionate arguments from the Obama Administration, the Supreme Court acquiesced to the president’s fervent request and, in a one-line ruling, let stand a lower court decision that declared torture an ordinary, expected consequence of military detention, while introducing a shocking new precedent for all future courts to follow: anyone who is arbitrarily declared a “suspected enemy combatant” by the president or his designated minions is no longer a “person.” They will simply cease to exist as a legal entity. They will have no inherent rights, no human rights, no legal standing whatsoever — save whatever modicum of process the government arbitrarily deigns to grant them from time to time, with its ever-shifting tribunals and show trials. read more at Supreme Court Guts Due Process Protection

For More US News go to: North America Front News

Opinions/Viewpoints

NYT Columnists
Doubts About Certitude 
Defense Secretary Robert Gates helped create the mess in Afghanistan decades ago and now has to try to clean it up.MAUREEN DOWD
A troop surge won’t work in Afghanistan unless there is a parallel surge against those who promote jihadism online.THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Global Warming's Cold Shoulder 
Do advocates of global-warming theory think it helps their cause to ignore questions from skeptics? TOBIN HARSHAW

Protesters offer best hope for our planet

Johann Hari: They have ensured that the corporate lobbyists punching holes in the deal are shamed.

Miraculous Organ: Blair, Obama, and the Narcissist's Defense
by Chris Floyd



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Sanctioning Iran a Dangerous, Illegal Move  by Rep. Ron Paul

Possible Unintended Consequences of Regime Change in Iran  by Stephen M. Walt

Intoxicated by Power, Blair Tricked Us Into War  by Ken Macdonald

Grinding Down the US Army
by William Astore and Tom Engelhardt


Obama's Indecent Interval
by Thomas H. Johnson and M. Chris Mason


True Lies: The Tzipi Livni Debacle  by Ayman Mohyeldin


The War Democrats
Justin Raimondo on Sestak's rationale for war
Another Questionable Peace Prize Choice 
Obama has some bad company, says Ivan Eland


Coperhagen Cimate Summit

Independent, UK

Protest hits climate talks

New York Times  
The sharp line between a Brazilian forest and a cleared section of land lies at one of the fronts in efforts to save the world’s forests.
Negotiators were closing in on a sweeping deal that would compensate countries for preserving forests and other natural landscapes.

Police Beat Back Climate Protesters

Reporter’s Notebook

In Copenhagen, ‘To Be Elaborated’ Is a Stalemate

The top United Nations climate official said the many disputes at the climate conference reflected the challenge of finding common ground among 193 countries.

Viewpoints -- December 15, 2009


Blair Sold Iraq on WMDs, but Only Regime Change Adds Up  by Hans Blix

Why Did They Go to Pakistan?  by Jacob G. Hornberger

Old US Allies Are Hedging Their Strategic Bets  by Leon T. Hadar


The Slope of Masada  by Akiva Eldar

Parting Thoughts, for Now  by William S. Lind

The Nobel War Prize  by Thaddeus Russell
Highlights

 









































Letter from Berlin

Details on Afghanistan Bombing Have Merkel on the Defensive

Has Germany begun targeted killings of Taliban leaders? As details about a German-ordered bombing in Kunduz continue to emerge, the list of questions surrounding the incident is growing longer. Both Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defense Minister Guttenberg face intense criticism. By Charles Hawley more...

A Greek Tragedy

Should the EU Save Athens from Bankruptcy?


In Berlin and Brussels there is growing doubt over whether Greece can solve its debt problems without external help. If nothing is done, the country risks falling into bankruptcy -- with unforeseeable consequences for the European currency. By Wolfgang Reuter more...

Washington Post Editorial: 'The coming debt panic'

Monday, December 14, 2009  
IT'S TIME to stop worrying about the deficit -- and start panicking about the debt. To put it another way, short-term deficits aren't the real problem. The punishing hangover of borrowed money is. The ballooning national debt once looked like a long-term problem. Now, the long-term has become the middle-term, fast-forwarded by the cratering economy and the unavoidable and immense spending in the service of saving it. go to article



Coperhagen Cimate Summit, Dec. 14, 2009

Hopes of global emissions deal at Copenhagen begin to fade

200 more arrests as police take zero-tolerance approach to protesters

Protesters Mostly Quiet After Day of Action

Scattered protests continued on Sunday, but climate activists in Copenhagen were largely quiet after a day of mass demonstrations resulted in nearly 1,000 arrests.

Australia’s Rudd Looks for Success in Copenhagen

The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to play a key, behind-the-scenes role at the climate talks.

On Green Technology, Germany Is the Envy of the World

Danish statistician Bjørn Lomborg argued in SPIEGEL last week that efforts to halt global warming should be postponed. Fritz Vahrenholt, head of the renewable energy operations at German energy company RWE, disagrees. Never before has there been a better chance for a global climate deal, he says. more...

New York Times, Editorials, December 14, 2009

Europe and Afghanistan
European countries must join America, which has made disproportionate sacrifices, in what is, emphatically, a common fight in Afghanistan.

Can We Afford It?

The argument that the nation cannot afford health care reform is at best disingenuous; the pending bills would actually reduce deficits.

To Beat Al Qaeda, Look to the East

The key in the Afghan-Pakistani area, as in Southeast Asia, is to use local customs and networks to our advantage.

Japan's Year in Words

This year's selection of most popular Japanese phrases reflects a country battling hard times and fighting the flu.
 
Dubai, the brashest of the seven emirates, is facing something of a midlife crisis. Lost is the blind optimism of its youth. But can the dream be reinvented?

Gone With the Windfall

Will Britain’s bonus tax make banking boring — as it should be?
Columns

Japanese Obsessions

This comfortable, perfectionist society of narrowed ambition leads humanity's rush into isolating forms of electronic fixation.

Disaster and Denial

The Republican Party won’t face up to the reality of what happened to the U.S. economy. So it’s up to the Democrats.

Prisons of Our Own Making

Conservatives need to take ownership of prison reform, and correct the system they helped build.

Viewpoints, December 14, 2009

The Taxi Driver Who Drove Us to War 
Justin Raimondo on how we were lied into Iraq
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The Strange Consensus on Obama's Nobel Address  by Glenn Greenwald

The Dust Bowl of Babylon  by Martin Chulov

Rearranging the Letters in Obama's 'Just War' Theory  by Thomas L. Knapp

The Af-Pak Train Wreck  by Conn Hallinan

Prussia in Palestine  by Uri Avnery

The Land Mines Obama Won't Touch  by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship