By Colonel Richard Kemp, a former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan and author of Attack State Red (THE TIMES, 19/03/10):
The harsh reality of war hit home again this week with two Royal Anglian soldiers killed in Helmand, only hours after one of their regimental comrades, Captain Martin Driver, died in hospital from horrific wounds he had sustained three weeks earlier.
At the same time, the Ministry of Defence was fighting an altogether different type of battle, but one whose outcome could have unwelcome implications for these soldiers’ surviving comrades. MoD lawyers were in the Supreme Court seeking to… Seguir leyendo
By Joel Mowbray, an investigative journalist living in New York City (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 19/03/10):
When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Monday, the setting, overall message and applause lines will be mostly the same as during other recent visits by various high-level U.S. officials to the pro-Israel lobby.
Although it might look normal, it won’t be.
Over the past decade, elected officials of all levels have appeared before AIPAC to receive warm applause for extolling the virtues of the unique bond shared by the U.S. and… Seguir leyendo
By Benjamin Wittes, a senior fellow and research director in public law at the Brookings Institution and Jack Goldsmith, who teaches at Harvard Law School and served as an assistant attorney general in the Bush administration. Both are members of the Hoover Institution’s Task Force on National Security and Law (THE WASHINGTON POST, 19/03/10):
The Obama administration and its critics are locked in a standoff over whether to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other alleged Sept. 11 conspirators in a military commission or in federal court. Both sides are busily ignoring the obvious solution: Don’t bother trying them at… Seguir leyendo
By Michael B. Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 18/03/10):
Israel and America enjoy a deep and multi-layered friendship, but even the closest allies can sometimes disagree. Such a disagreement began last week during Vice President Joseph Biden’s visit to Israel, when a mid-level official in the Interior Ministry announced an interim planning phase in the expansion of Ramat Shlomo, a northern Jerusalem neighborhood. While this discord was unfortunate, it was not a historic low point in United States-Israel relations; nor did I ever say that it was, contrary to some reports.
Prime Minister Benjamin… Seguir leyendo
By Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, an editor at the Nigerian newspaper NEXT and the author of the novel Do Not Come to You by Chance (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 18/03/10):
I’ve heard it said that we Nigerians are the happiest people on earth. We’re also accused of being passive about issues that would stir up revolutions in other countries. For instance, it’s been just over a week since ethno-religious violence left hundreds dead around Jos, a city in central Nigeria, but the slaughtering of our fellow citizens has already largely faded from our headlines and conversations. The general response to announcements… Seguir leyendo
By Sir Malcolm Rifkind, MP who served as Foreign Secretary between 1995-97 (THE TIMES, 18/03/10):
Was it a cock-up? Or was it a conspiracy? In all probability it was a cocked-up conspiracy. By any standards it was an extraordinary diplomatic disaster. The announcement of Israel’s intention to build 1,600 homes in east Jerusalem antagonised the Palestinians and infuriated the international community.
That, by itself, would be unlikely to cause Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, to lose much sleep. But when you manage to humiliate the US Vice-President, who was visiting when the new homes were announced, and cause its Secretary… Seguir leyendo
By Anthony J. Sadar, a certified consulting meteorologist and co-author of Environmental Risk Communication: Principles and Practices for Industry (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 17/03/10):
Diversity is a big deal on college campuses these days. Yet social diversity is what’s promoted primarily, if not exclusively, not diversity of opinion. In a complex field such as climatology, intellectual diversity should be encouraged to help unravel the what, why and how of the globe’s climate.
A careful, dispassionate look at the enormous complexity of the Earth-atmosphere system and what we think we know about it reveals that we know very little. Mountains of data… Seguir leyendo
By Ahmed Rashid,a Pakistani journalist and the author of Taliban and Descent Into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia (THE WASHINGTON POST, 17/03/10):
While the Obama administration is watching the battlefield in Afghanistan, hoping for a quick weakening of the Taliban, regional powers are ratcheting up tensions in and outside that country. Pakistan and Iran in particular want to ensure that by the time the United States is ready to talk to the Taliban, the region’s future will already be shaped by local powers, limiting Washington’s options. Afghanistan’s ethnic and sectarian divisions are being… Seguir leyendo
By Thomas Cahill, the author of How the Irish Saved Civilization (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 17/03/10):
Why should we celebrate the Irish?
No doubt, several reasons could be proffered. But for me one answer stands out. Long, long ago the Irish pulled off a remarkable feat: They saved the books of the Western world and left them as gifts for all humanity.
True enough, the Irish were unlikely candidates for the job. Upon their entrance into Western history in the fifth century, they were the most barbaric of barbarians, practitioners of human sacrifice, cattle rustlers, traders in human beings (the… Seguir leyendo
By David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party and member of parliament for Witney (THE GUARDIAN, 17/03/10):
In Britain today, too many people are denied the chance to escape poverty and build a better life for themselves and their family. Sadly, this is especially true for people in Britain’s black community. Black pupils are permanently excluded from school at more than twice the rate of white pupils. Some 9,500 black children leave primary school every year unable to read, write and add up properly. And of the 3,000 students who started at Oxford in 2008, only five are black Caribbean… Seguir leyendo
By Hew Strachan, professor of the History of War and Fellow of All Souls, Oxford (THE TIMES, 17/03/10):
Barely a week goes by without a retired general — and sometimes a serving one — hitting the headlines. The trouble is that they do so more often because of who they are, rather than because of what they are saying. In most walks of life professional expertise qualifies its possessor to articulate an opinion, and indeed can create a moral obligation to do so. But in the case of war we deny the serving professionals that right.
Counter-insurgencies are 20 per… Seguir leyendo
By Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of Edmunds.com, which recently announced a competition with a cash prize for anyone who can demonstrate in a verifiable manner the reason for unintended acceleration (THE WASHINGTON POST, 16/03/10):
Lately it seems that each day brings another report of a driver’s terrifying experience with an out-of-control Toyota. There have been at least four congressional hearings in as many weeks.
Even the most confident consumer has to wonder what is causing all this and, more fundamentally, whether Toyotas are safe to drive.
The second question is easier to answer. Despite the flurry of reports, incidents with… Seguir leyendo
By Michael Reid, Americas editor of The Economist and author of Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America’s Soul (THE TIMES, 16/03/10):
When politicians talk of a “war” on drugs they rarely mean it literally. Yet in some parts of Mexico the “drug war” is more than metaphorical. On taking office as the country’s president in December 2006, Felipe Calderón launched 45,000 army troops against trafficking gangs, declaring that “organised crime is out of control”.
Since then some 18,000 people have died — and there is no sign of any let-up in the violence. Worst hit is Ciudad Juárez, a… Seguir leyendo
By Sir John Houghton, former chief executive at the Met Office (THE TIMES, 15/03/10):
In the UK only about 26 per cent of the population believe the scientific consensus that climate change is happening and is man-made. Many feel they are being steamrollered into believing something false or flakey that will make them poorer or stop them flying.
Given this dangerous mood of scepticism, it is no surprise that the IPCC — the body that represents the integrity of climate-change scientists across the world — is being attacked.
Let’s be honest, sometimes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change does get… Seguir leyendo
By Ray Hartwell, a Navy veteran and a Washington lawyer (THE WASHINGTON TIMES, 14/03/10):
I’ve been a frequent flier for more than 30 years. I’ve racked up several million “miles,” and I’ve been through security checks hundreds, maybe thousands, of times. I’ve been patted down, scanned and searched – my fair-skinned and blue-eyed contribution to statistics showing nobody is being “profiled.”
Today it’s clear the Islamists are training and sending forth new waves of would-be airline bombers. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab said as much after he tried to blow up Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day. Mr. Abdulmutallab’s holy mission from… Seguir leyendo