Continued Controversy Over Guantanamo Bay, Terrorists, and Tribunals
Late last week, one of the first terrorism suspects admitted to Guantanamo Bay reached a plea bargain with his military prosecutors, marking only the fourth conviction of a prisoner detained at the facility since 2002. Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi stood accused of serving as an accountant, supply chief, cook and bodyguard for al-Qaeda’s primary figure, [...]
Petraeus Has New Approach to Victory in Afghanistan
Recently, General David Petraeus was confirmed as the top military commander in Afghanistan, replacing General Stanley McChrystal. The architect of the successful counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq, General Petraeus will be focused on this single mission, having most recently served as head of United States Central Command, where he was responsible for overseeing the Middle East [...]
The Future of Poland: Presidential Elections This Weekend
Last Sunday, acting president Bronislaw Komorowski of the centrist Civic Platform Party won the first round of Poland’s presidential election with 41.2 percent of the vote. Defeating the national conservative Law and Justice Party’s candidate Jaroslaw Kaczynski (the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski), Komorowski must now prepare for a runoff election as [...]
The Pakistani Double Game
The London School of Economics released a report early this past week alleging that the Pakistani intelligence agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence agency (ISI), not only funds and trains Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan but plays an active and official role in the Taliban’s executive war council. If this report is accurate, the Pakistani military already possesses [...]
Honduras Readmitted to OAS?
During the first meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) since the suspension of Honduras’ membership, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton formally urged the organization to reinstate Honduras as a full member. Because of the commitment to democratic government demonstrated by recently-elected President Porfirio Lobo, Clinton entered the OAS conference prepared to embrace [...]
Much at Stake in Middle East Crisis
Early this past Monday, May 30th, Israeli commandos boarded a series of six pro-Palestinian activists’ ships that intended to provoke and breach the naval blockade surrounding the Gaza Strip with hopes of delivering goods to the Palestinian people. Five of the six ships willingly complied without any resistance to the Israeli inspection and without violence. [...]
Russia and China support IAEA’s rebuke of Iran
On Friday, November 27, 2009, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) demanded that Iran freeze its Uranium Enrichment program. The IAEA and the United States have been making this demand for the past several years, but Iran has failed to comply. Friday’s demand received greater legitimacy, as China and Russia have joined with the United [...]
