Category: News

U.S. Said to Hold More Foreigners in Iraq Fighting. The Bush administration says the 325 foreign fighters are not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions. By DOUGLAS JEHL and NEIL A. LEWIS. [NYT > Home Page]

Report paints bleak picture of Iraqi forces. WASHINGTON — The State Department's quarterly report to Congress paints a bleak picture of Iraqi security forces in the run-up to this month's election, and Bush administration officials and specialists now acknowledge it could take years to prepare viable police and military units unless the current training program… Continue reading Report paints bleak picture of Iraqi forces

Smoking Gun. The confirmation hearings of Alberto Gonzales are causing a fair amount of controversy this week because of his role in the torture and abuse of prisoners in Guantanamo and Iraq. The ACLU made a Freedom of Information Act request for documents from the FBI and several other government and military branches. They got… Continue reading Smoking Gun

A note from a reader ….  A note from a reader … There are $1.8 trilliion in U.S. Treasury securities in the U.S. Social Security Trust Fund. It is imperative that the Democrats ask Bush whether he intends to honor that obligations and force him to make a public proclamation of his steadfast commitment to… Continue reading A note from a reader …

This afternoon, a reader of mine asked me if I had read Edward Luttwak. I had. I particularly liked his, “Coup D'Etat A Practical Handbook.” Without revisiting it, I can pull one lesson from the book that is relevant to global guerrillas. He points out in the book that colonial administrations and the states they… Continue reading Coup D'Etat A Practical Handbook

Insider White House memo to conservative supporter on the Social Security issue hits the WSJ (it lays out the problem with the approach): “If we borrow $1-2 trillion to cover transition costs for personal savings accounts and make no changes to wage indexing, we will have borrowed trillions and will still confront more than $10… Continue reading WSJ

NYT. Friedman talks about toppling the “tribes with flags” in the Middle East as if it was similar to “uncorking champagne.” I see it as playing with hand grenades in an ammo dump of primary loyalties. Let's see who is out of touch with reality… Both Friedman and Bush underappreciate the long-term consequences of Iraq.… Continue reading NYT

Slipping down the ladder of economic freedom. This is not good news:  For the first time in the 11 years that the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal have been publishing the Index of Economic Freedom, the U.S. has dropped out of the top 10 freest economies… [ProfessorBainbridge.com]

So What Happened in That Election, Anyhow?. No consensus exists among Democrats about why John Kerry was defeated, and the party is locked in a battle of interpretation over just what went wrong. By ADAM NAGOURNEY. [NYT > Home Page]

Drugstores Fret as Insurers Demand Pills by Mail. Many people will soon be required to receive their drugs by mail order so their employers can get lucrative rebates and deep discounts. By MILT FREUDENHEIM. [NYT > Home Page]