War on Terrorism

TGIF: Liberty, Security, and Terrorism

by Sheldon Richman April 26, 2013

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” It would be nice if Benjamin Franklin’s famous aphorism were as widely believed as it is quoted. I doubt that Sen. Lindsey Graham and his ilk would express disagreement, but one cannot really embrace Franklin’s wisdom while also claiming that ...

What If the Tsarnaevs’ Motive Was Revenge for U.S. Foreign Policy?

by Sheldon Richman April 23, 2013

On the day of the Boston Marathon bombings, President Obama stood in the White House briefing room and said, “We will find out who did this; we’ll find out why they did this.” What motivated the murderous acts allegedly committed by Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarvaev is the question on everyone’s mind. We would be surprised if it were ...

TGIF: Government Should Stop Its Own Violence First

by Sheldon Richman April 19, 2013

The horrific bombings at the Boston Marathon have left us all stunned. We still don’t know the perpetrators’ motive, but there are some things we do know. The bombers chose the most closely monitored location in all of Boston. They could have chosen a different site, knowing that all eyes were on the marathon route. But no. They chose the ...

Can We Have a Discussion about Releasing the Majority of the Guantánamo Prisoners?

by Andy Worthington April 12, 2013

With the prisonwide hunger strike at Guantánamo now entering its third month, conditions at the prison have come under sustained scrutiny for the first time in many years, and media outlets, both domestic and international, have learned, or have been reminded, that 166 men remain at the prison. They remain imprisoned despite Barack Obama’s promise to close Guantánamo, ...

Prison-Wide Hunger Strike Still Rages at Guantánamo

by Andy Worthington March 29, 2013

Three weeks ago, I wrote an article entitled, “A Huge Hunger Strike at Guantánamo,” in which I reported the stories emerging from Guantánamo of a prison-wide hunger strike, the most severe since George W. Bush was president, and the gulf between what was being reported by the prisoners through their attorneys, and what the U.S. authorities were ...

“No Indefinite Detention at Guantánamo,” U.S. Claims, Defying Reality

by Andy Worthington March 22, 2013

We live in surreal times. Barack Obama, who promised “hope and change,” has, instead, proven to be a worthy successor to George W. Bush as a warmonger and a defender of those in positions of power and authority who authorized the use of torture. Moreover, when it comes to another hallmark of Bush-era crimes — indefinite detention without charge or ...

North Korea’s Prison Camps — and America’s

by Michael Tennant March 20, 2013

After returning from a recent trip to North Korea, former NBA star Dennis Rodman sat for an interview on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopolous. After Rodman declared that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, whom he had met on his trip, was “a great guy,” Stephanopolous, apparently taken aback by the remark, said incredulously, “A great guy who puts ...

A Huge Hunger Strike at Guantánamo

by Andy Worthington March 8, 2013

When is a hunger strike not a hunger strike? Apparently, when the government says it doesn’t exist. At Guantánamo, reports first began to emerge on February 23 about a campwide hunger strike of a scale not seen since before Barack Obama became president. On the “Free Fayiz and Fawzi” page on Facebook, run by lawyers for

The War on Terrorism, the Constitution, and Civil Liberties (Video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation February 25, 2013

America’s Disappeared

by Andy Worthington February 22, 2013

Injustices do not become any less unjust the longer they are unaddressed; and when it comes to the “war on terror” launched by George W. Bush following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, those injustices continue to fester and to poison America's soul. One of those injustices is Guantánamo, where 166 men are still imprisoned, even though

An Oracle of Tyranny

by Bruce Fein February 22, 2013

Charles Krauthammer’s defense in the Washington Post (Feb. 15, 2013) of President Obama’s limitless power to kill any living thing on the planet in the name of opposing terrorism may carry some charms as a catechism. But — to paraphrase an aspersion cast on the Charge of the Light Brigade — it is not law. Krauthammer rhetorically asks, ...

On Terrorism, America Has Lost Its Way

by Andy Worthington February 7, 2013

Last week at Guantánamo a farcical dance played out, as it does every six months or so. Representatives of the U.S. mainstream media — and other reporters from around the world — flew to the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to witness the latest round of the seemingly interminable pre-trial hearings in the cases of Khalid Sheikh ...