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Five Mitt Romneys, None Electable by Lakshmi Chaudhry and Sandip Roy, firstpost.com | October 18, 2012
Some experts are calling it a tie, while snap polls anoint President Obama as the winner. But the more accurate reading of the second presidential debate is to say simply: Mitt Romney lost. Yes, Obama was “much improved” as one CNN pundit put it, but his re-energized avatar would have been less impressive without Romney’s help. The former governor of Massachusetts committed 5 key unforced errors that determined the outcome of the debate, each revealing a different and un-electable Mitt Romney. read more »A Clear Win For Obama by Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post | October 17, 2012
Not a close call. President Obama won the second presidential debate as clearly and decisively as he lost the first. For anyone who disagrees, three simple words: “Please proceed, Governor.” This icy invitation to Mitt Romney came amid an exchange about the killings of State Department officials in Libya. Obama noted that in his initial Rose Garden remarks, he classified the attack as an act of terror. Romney, perhaps misinformed by the right-wing propaganda machine, tried to insist that the president waited weeks to call the incident terrorism. “Get the transcript,” Obama said. Moderator Candy Crowley stepped in and noted that Obama was correct. (Indeed, according to the transcript, Obama classified the attack as among “acts of terror” that would not deter or deflect U.S. foreign policy.) Having embarrassed himself, Romney had the good sense to move on. It was a moment that encapsulated what Obama accomplished Tuesday night: He punched hard, and he punched with facts. read more »Benghazi Madness by Joan Walsh, salon.com | October 16, 2012
Americans in both parties are entitled to ask questions about the Sept. 11 Benghazi terror attack that took the lives of Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other people. I reject efforts by Democratic partisans to insist that all such questions, especially by Republicans, are unfairly “politicizing” the tragedy, even though that’s the way the GOP would play it if the attack had come under a Republican president. We deserve answers about what happened in Benghazi, about particularly whether the compound should have been better protected given the rising number of threats against it, and whether U.S. intervention in the region, and particularly our drone policy, are provoking a backlash even in Libya. But the latest right-wing allegations about Benghazi have reached the realm of lurid conservative conspiracy porn. read more »Afghanistan: Our Longest and Least Talked About War by Arianna Huffington, Huffington Post | October 12, 2012
In the last month, the United States hit three milestones in the war in Afghanistan. In late September, the 33,000 additional soldiers that President Obama ordered to Afghanistan in late 2009 came home, leaving 68,000 troops in the country as part of the 108,000-person NATO force. Also last month, the number of U.S. soldiers killed reached 2,000. And this past Sunday marked the 11th anniversary of the longest war in American history. Unfortunately, one milestone the U.S. has not yet hit is the answer to the question: Why on earth are we still there? Maybe it's because, in addition to being America's longest war, Afghanistan is a contender for being America's least-talked-about war. read more »Six Critical Foreign Policy Questions That Won’t Be Raised in the Presidential Debates by Peter Van Buren, tomdispatch.com | October 11, 2012
We had a debate club back in high school. Two teams would meet in the auditorium, and Mr. Garrity would tell us the topic, something 1970s-ish like “Resolved: Women Should Get Equal Pay for Equal Work” or “World Communism Will Be Defeated in Vietnam.” Each side would then try, through persuasion and the marshalling of facts, to clinch the argument. There’d be judges and a winner. Today’s presidential debates are a long way from Mr. Garrity’s club. It seems that the first rule of the debate club now is: no disagreeing on what matters most. Waiting for another quip about Big Bird is about all the content we can expect. So in honor of old Mr. Garrity, here are five critical questions that should be explored (even if all of us know that they won’t be) in the foreign policy-inclusive presidential debates -- with a sixth bonus question thrown in for good measure. read more »Empire and Its Consequences by Robert C. Koehler, commondreams.org | October 11, 2012
Ever notice the way certain basic human values quietly transform into their opposite on their way to becoming national policy? At the human level, the immorality of murder is fundamental, and most people understand the insanity of armed hatred. Keeping these dark forces under wraps is essential to the existence of human society. So why is it, then, that at the abstract level of nationalism, those forces are honored, worshiped, saluted, extolled as glorious, and given command of an enormous budget? Why is it that their perpetuation via increasingly sophisticated technology is equated with national security and no one talks about the completely predictable negative consequences of basing security on murder and hatred? And why does it feel so naïve to be asking such questions? read more »The Shameful Politicization of the Benghazi Consulate Attack by Juan Cole, juancole.com | October 11, 2012
The Tea Party Congress, having, with Paul Ryan’s leadership, deeply cut funds for embassy security, held a hearing on Wednesday on the circumstances of the attack on Sept. 11, 2012, on the US consulate in Benghazi, in which it tried to point fingers at the State Department and the Obama administration. That’s right, the Republicans cut funds for embassy security, and now are blaming the State Department for laxity. read more »Benghazi: Who Can Take These Hypocrites Seriously? by Michael Tomasky, thedailybeast.com | October 11, 2012
The admission this morning on CNN by Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz that he's "absolutely" voted against administration requests for increased embassy and consulate security funding should, in a rationally ordered world, put an end to this whole Benghazi business. I mean, it really takes a set of onions to do this. Vote down increased security funding, then a tragedy happens, then try to exploit it to help your presidential candidate because it happened to occur in September of an election year. This deserves the word disgusting. read more »Mitt’s Advisors: He Has No Clue On Foreign Policy by Russ Baker, whowhatwhy.com | October 11, 2012
It must be really frustrating to work for “respectable” news organizations. Sometimes, things must make you want to scream like Howard Beale did in the movie Network. Most of the time, you’re stuck pretending that things are only slightly amiss when, in fact, they are totally wigged out. Take, for example, a recent New York Times assessment of Mitt Romney’s foreign policy positions. The headline, “Romney Remains Vague on Foreign Policy Details,” was about as restrained as it could be. But read a few excerpts, and you see what is really going on. read more »Killing the Kids that Don’t Need to Die by Bill Moyers, OurFuture.org | October 10, 2012
Written with Michael Winship. Matt Sitton knew the war in Afghanistan was going badly. He knew it because he was fighting it. He could see for himself. Twenty-six years old, with a wife and child back home, Staff Sergeant Sitton was on his third combat tour there. read more »
The Latest
Obama Seeks Extra Funds for Wars, BBC News | April 10, 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama has asked Congress for an extra $83.4 billion to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. In his official letter to the House, he said the request was his "last planned war supplemental [payment]". The supplementary money is needed to pay for the new Afghan strategy and the reduction of combat troops in Iraq. more »
'Cyberspies" Infiltrate Power Grid, BBC News | April 9, 2009
Computer hackers have embedded software in the United States' electricity grid and other infrastructure that could potentially disrupt service or damage equipment. The code in the power grid was discovered in 2006 or 2007. Department of Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano would not confirm such a breach, but said that there has been no known damage caused by one. The U.S. more »
Pentagon Preps for Economic Warfare, Politico | April 9, 2009
The Pentagon sponsored a first-of-its-kind war game last focused not on bullets and bombs — but on how hostile nations might seek to cripple the U.S. economy, a scenario made all the more real by the global financial crisis. The two-day event had all the earmarks of a regular war game. more »
A Help-Wanted Sign for Fraud Investigators , The New York Times | March 22, 2009
Suicides Linked to 'Stressed and Tired' Force, | March 19, 2009
An increase in the number of suicides among military personnel can be traced, in part, to a "stressed and tired force" made vulnerable by multiple deployments, a military leader said. "We must find ways to relieve some of this stress," said Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army, in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee. more »
Pentagon to Stop 'Stop Loss', CNN | March 18, 2009
The military will phase out its "stop loss" program, the contentious practice of holding troops beyond the end of their enlistments, for all but extraordinary situations, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced. Instead, the military will use incentives programs to encourage personnel to extend their service. more »
U.S. Moves to Replace Contractors in Iraq, The Washington Post | March 17, 2009
The decision not to renew Blackwater Worldwide's security contract in Iraq when it expires in early May has left the State Department scrambling to fill a protection gap for U.S. diplomats and civilian officials there. Two other U.S. more »
Obama to End Iraq Mission by 2010, CNN | February 27, 2009
President Obama will say in his speech at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq will end next year. "Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," Obama will say. Congressional officials said the president told congressional leaders of his plan. more »
Senate to Investigate CIA Under Bush, Los Angeles Times | February 27, 2009
The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing to launch an investigation of the CIA's detention and interrogation programs under President George W. Bush, setting the stage for a sweeping examination of some of most secretive and controversial operations in recent agency history. more »
Looted Iraq Museum Opens, The New York Times | February 24, 2009
Well over half the exhibition halls in Iraq’s National Museum are closed, darkened and in disrepair. And yet the museum, whose looting in 2003 became a symbol of the chaos that followed the American invasion, officially reopened. Thousands of works from its collection of antiquities and art — some of civilization’s earliest objects — remain lost. more »
