U.S. and the World
Obama Doubles Funds to Clean Up Agent Orange in Vietnam
Long after its military wreaked havoc on the Vietnam countryside with Agent Orange and other defoliants, the U.S. government has decided to contribute a larger share to help clean up the damage from the Vietnam War. President Barack Obama recently... read more
U.S. Taxpayers Shell Out Half Billion Dollars for Little Watched Arab TV Station
The television network Alhurra, created by the U.S. government to compete with the popular Arab-language Al Jazeera network in the Middle East, has turned into a money pit that’s getting killed in the ratings. This according to the largest public ... read more
Shades of Iraq: Obama Plans Super-Embassy in Pakistan
In another sign that the United States intends to remain heavily involved in Pakistan for years to come, the Obama administration is seeking $736 million to build a new super-embassy in Islamabad—which rivals the cost of a similar diplomatic compo... read more
U.N. Honors 22 Places Where Humans Interact Well with Nature
It is possible for humans and nature to get along, according to the United Nations, and to prove it, the world body has been designating those areas where harmony indeed reigns. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ... read more
Pakistan–Wrong Tactic, Wrong Battle: Joel Brinkley
Pakistan’s poorly trained military is attacking cities with heavy artillery and firing capriciously to drive insurgents out, while fighter jets and helicopter gun ships fire hundreds of missiles into unsuspecting residential areas. “Imagine the ca... read more
U.S. to Buy Enriched Uranium from Russia
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has been buying enriched uranium from Russia in an effort to help its former adversary do away with its surplus of nuclear weapons material. Until now the purchases were a “blend” of both weapons-... read more
Tiananmen Protestors Granted Political Asylum in U.S.
Two of three Tiananmen protesters jailed for vandalizing Mao Zedong’s portrait 20 years ago have been granted political asylum in the United States. On May 23, 1989, Yu Dongyue, Yu Zhijian, and fellow activist Lu Decheng threw eggshells filled wit... read more
Special Courts Give Veterans an Extra Break
Readjusting to civilian life often proves difficult for many veterans returning home from war, as they battle psychological problems, alcoholism or drug addiction. For those whose demons get them into trouble with the law, there is now an alternat... read more
U.S.-Russia Scientists Consider Missile Shield Useless
“What’s the point?” was essentially the conclusion reached by a joint American-Russian team of scientists who reviewed U.S. plans to build a missile shield in Eastern Europe. According to the Bush administration, which advocated for the missile de... read more
Addicted to War: Norman Solomon
With the war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama and his advisors are at risk of falling into the same “process of self-hypnosis” that earlier administrations fell into when Vietnam was a burgeoning conflict based on the strategy of counterinsu... read more
Extreme Makeover—Dictator Edition
After forty years of running Libya as a harshly anti-Western dictatorship, Libya’s leader, Muammar al-Qaddafi has discovered that the United States and other developed nations are willing to turn a blind eye to his continued human rights violation... read more
Abused Irish Furious at Lack of Prosecution
A nine-year investigation into child abuse by Irish Catholic institutions has revealed a system that protected child molesters and trapped thousands of poor Irish children in an abusive environment for six decades. On top of the lack of adequate... read more
U.S. Troops to Pull Out of Baghdad…By Redrawing Map
The political art of redrawing urban boundaries, long an American tool in elections, is being applied to the U.S. effort to keep troops in cities in Iraq despite a legal agreement to remove them. Under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that of... read more
U.S. Court Denies Access to Records of Violence in Guatemala
Chief Judge David B. Sentelle, and two other judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia have ruled that the government does not have to release records relating to the violence that a group of individuals or their loved one... read more
Rumsfeld’s Special Unit Responsible for Worst Civilian Killings in Afghanistan
A commando unit created by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has been behind the worst attacks in Afghanistan involving civilians, military and foreign news sources have discovered. U.S. Marines Corps’ Special Operations Command (MarSOC) wa... read more
Next Time You Look at a Lithium Battery, Think about Bolivia
As technology for cell phones and electric vehicles develops rapidly, the world is looking to a new source of energy: the vast salt flats of Bolivia. The poorest nation in South America is home to the world’s largest reserves of lithium, a metal t... read more