NewsTrust - War - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Under Attack

Sun, 13 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Michael M. Phillips - May. 13 (Dramatization) - When a suicide bomber struck a convoy in Afghanistan, a routine Marine patrol turned into a harrowing firefight. Michael M. Phillips with an eyewitness account of bravery and tragedy in the confusion of war. When the suicide bomber exploded, the world skidded to a stop. The Afghan police pickup truck, 30 yards directly behind us, disappeared in a geyser of thick gray-brown smoke. The only visible object was its hood flying through the air, a black silhouette against the murk, followed by the sound of broken glass falling. Then the smoke thinned, like the curtain rising on a stage, revealing the chaos the bomber had set loose. The pickup truck wasn't where it was supposed to be. The blast had hoisted it into the air and dropped it onto the median strip. There was a moment's hesitation among the troops next to me in the lead pickup. A lone motorcyclist emerged from the cloud, inexplicably upright and seemingly uninjured.

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The False Debate About Attacking Iran

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Nicholas D. Kristof - Mar. 24 (Opinion) - There really isn't such a debate .. credible experts are overwhelmingly on one side.

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The Forgotten Wages of War

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By John Tirman - Jan. 03 (Opinion) - Ignoring the civilians killed in America’s wars is both a moral and a strategic failing.

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The Dead, the Dollars, the Drones: 9/11 Era by the Numbers

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wired - By Lena Groeger - Sep. 09 (Opinion) - Ever since the Twin Towers fell, the United States has been at war. The costs of that decade of conflict have been unimaginably high: trillions of dollars spent, hundreds of thousands of lives lost. The numbers are almost too big to grasp

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Foreign policy: intervention after Libya

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - Aug. 24 (Opinion) - It can be said that in narrow military terms the west's action over Libya has worked, and that politically there was justification It is too early to claim that the Nato intervention in Libya has been a success in the full meaning of that word. It will be weeks before we have a sense of where Libya is heading, months before there is any certainty about its future, and years before we can properly assess the impact of the decision to use force to aid the rebels. But it can now reasonably be said that in narrow military terms it worked, and that politically there was some retrospective justification for its advocates as the crowds poured into the streets of Tripoli to welcome the rebel convoys earlier this week. The argument that we had foolishly gone in on one side in a civil war must be weakened by such scenes, which suggest that the picture of a majority wishing to see the back of Gaddafi is closer to the truth than the alternative picture of a people more or less evenly divided between ...

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In Somalia, a failure in 1992 has led to a famine today

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Nuruddin Farah - Aug. 03 (Opinion) - After the United States left Somalia, the rest of the world stood by, leaving the warlords to profit from their criminality. Al-Qaeda strengthened its presence in the country. Foreign vessels entered Somali waters and engaged in illegal fishing, which caused piracy to balloon into an ugly reality. Somalia lived on mortgaged time, leased out to criminals of one sort or another, an ideal world for terrorists to flourish.

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America's 'detainee 001' – the persecution of John Walker Lindh

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Frank Lindh - Jul. 10 (Opinion) - In 1998, aged 17, my son John Walker Lindh travelled to Yemen to study Islam and learn Arabic. In April 2001 he went to Afghanistan. Then 9/11 happened. He was captured by US troops, tortured, and jailed for 20 years, an innocent victim of America's 'war on terror' John Phillip Walker Lindh, my son, was raised a Roman Catholic, but converted to Islam when he was 16 years old. He has an older brother and a younger sister. John is scholarly and devout, devoted to his family, and blessed with a powerful intellect, a curious mind, and a wry sense of humour. Labelled by the American government as "Detainee 001" in the "war on terror", John occupies a prison cell in Terre Haute, Indiana. He has been a prisoner of the American government since 1 December 2001, less than three months after the terror attacks of 9/11. John is entirely innocent of any involvement in the terror attacks, or any allegiance to terrorism. That is not disputed by the American government. Indeed, all accusations of ...

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Who deserves an ICC arrest warrant more than himQaddafi - By David Rothkopf | David Rothkopf

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By David Rothkopf - Jun. 28 (Opinion) - "What about George W.T.F. Bush?" he must be asking aloud while daubing shoe polish on his moustache and wondering silently who does Tom Selleck's? "He and Cheney violated every international law on the books, invaded a country, hundreds of thousands of innocent people died, and what do they get? Presidential libraries! Book contracts! State of the art pacemakers!"

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Congress Divides on Libya, Moves Toward Key Votes

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Atlantic Monthly - By Conor Friedersdorf - Jun. 22 (Opinion) - Senators John McCain and John Kerry are from different political parties, but the former presidential candidates have a lot in common: both men fought in Vietnam, voted to authorize the Iraq War, and are now pushing their colleagues to support another war of choice. On Tuesday, they introduced legislation permitting "limited use" of U.S. troops for 12 months in Libya. "It is time to authorize the president's use of force, whether he thinks he needs it or not," McCain said.

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Obama Fails to Justify the Legality of War in Libya

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Atlantic Monthly - By Conor Friedersdorf - Jun. 17 (Opinion) - Is the U.S. at war in Libya, putting President Obama in violation of the War Powers Resolution? Or does our mission against Muammar Qaddafi fall short of triggering the statute that requires withdrawal within 60 to 90 days unless Congress approves military action? The White House took up those questions Wednesday in response to House Speaker John Boehner, who demanded to know why we're still involved in the NATO-led conflict despite those bygone deadlines.

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Libya and the War Powers Act

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - Jun. 17 (Editorial) - It would be hugely costly — for this country’s credibility, for the future of NATO and for the people of Libya — if Congress were to force President Obama to abandon military operations over Libya. However, Mr. Obama cannot evade his responsibility, under the War Powers Act, to seek Congressional approval to continue the operation.

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A Day Under Fire with Anton

Mon, 30 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By By Xavier Mas De Xaxàs - May. 30 (Editorial) - Two days before Anton Hammerl was killed in Libya, I spent a few, good, honest hours of war and peace in the field with him.

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Pakistan did its part

Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Asif Ali Zardari - May. 03 (Opinion) - Together, our nations have suffered and sacrificed. We have fought bravely and with passion and commitment. Ultimately we will prevail. For, in the words of my martyred wife Benazir Bhutto, “truth, justice and the forces of history are on our side.”

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Is America still a serious nation?

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Week - By Robert Shrum - Apr. 22 (Opinion) - Are Americans still capable of making this country serious? That is the question — the real and fundamental issue — that spans all the bitter debates now raging in Washington, and everywhere in a decidedly unhappy land.

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The Libyan mission is creeping, no doubt

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Simon Tisdall - Apr. 19 (Opinion) - With Britain sending a 'military liaison advisory team' to Libya, how many more boots on the ground will follow?

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Libya is not Rwanda

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Foreign Policy - By Paul D. Miller - Mar. 31 (Opinion) - Historical analogies are sloppy thinking. U.S. policymakers went to war in Korea and Vietnam because they wanted to avoid another Munich. Liberals believe that Iraq is another Vietnam. Paleoconservatives worry that Libya is another Iraq, while liberals fear it is another Rwanda. These are rhetorical shortcuts that partisans use to excuse themselves from having to think very carefully or learn the details of each new case. One hopes the strategists in the White House will resist that temptation, but judging from Obama's speech, they aren't.

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The President’s Credibility Gap

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Ross Douthat - Mar. 31 (Opinion) - Addressing the nation Monday evening, President Obama suggested that the United States was in the process of reducing its military footprint in Libya, even as he explicitly rejected the idea of pursuing regime change in Tripoli by force of arms. Both statements seemed calculated to make our intervention seem tightly limited rather than open-ended. (“I want to be clear,” Obama said. “The United States of America has done what we said we would do.”) But two days later, both look dubious in the extreme.

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What is the purpose of NATO?

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Baltimore Sun - By Ron Smith - Mar. 31 (Opinion) - It was said upon the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in April of 1949 that NATO's purpose was three-fold: to keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down.

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Obama had to navigate a difficult path in defending Libya strikes

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By James Oliphant - Mar. 29 (Opinion) - In his remarks to the nation Monday, President Obama needed to navigate a narrow, thorny path in explaining the United States' involvement in Libya's internal strife.

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You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Weekly Standard - By William Kristol - Mar. 29 (Opinion) - The president was unapologetic, freedom-agenda-embracing, and didn’t shrink from defending the use of force or from appealing to American values and interests. Furthermore, the president seems to understand we have to win in Libya. I think we will.

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Hugs From Libyans

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Nicholas D. Kristof - Mar. 24 (Opinion) - This may be a first for the Arab world: An American airman who bailed out over Libya was rescued from his hiding place in a sheep pen by villagers who hugged him, served him juice and thanked him effusively for bombing their country.

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At War in Libya

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - Mar. 22 (Editorial) - The allied attacks on Libya were perhaps the only hope of keeping more people from being slaughtered. But there is much reason for concern.

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Odyssey Dawn

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Daily Show - By Jon Stewart - Mar. 22 (Opinion) - The U.S. military fires Tomahawk missiles against Libyan defense targets on the anniversary of the Iraq war.

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Why the U.S. Went to War: Inside the White House Debate on Libya

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Massimo Calabresi - Mar. 21 (Opinion) - President Barack Obama says he's intervening to prevent atrocities in Libya. But details of behind-the-scenes debates at the White House show he's going to war in part to rehabilitate an idea.

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A Very Liberal Intervention

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Ross Douthat - Mar. 21 (Opinion) - A war that’s right out of the Clinton playbook, with many of the same perils.

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