How much of a disaster is the Iraq War? If the editors of Foreign Policy are correct, a major one. Here, according to the magazine's most recent cover story, are the top 10 "winners" in Iraq: 1. Iran 2. Moqtada al-Sadr 3. Al-Qaeda 4. Samuel Huntington (for his "clash of civilizations" thesis) 5. China 6. Arab Dictators 7. The Price of Oil (and not from...
Because kiwis would never vote for a Prime Minister stupid enough to say something like this:Obama said Saturday at his campaign kickoff in Springfield, Ill., that one of the country's first priorities should be ending the war in Iraq. He has also introduced a bill in the Senate to prevent President Bush from increasing American troop levels in Iraq and...
The good news: The Bush Administration has finally brought criminal charges against Luis Posada Carriles — the Venezuelan terrorist and former CIA asset who blew up a Cuban commercial flight in 1976, killing 73 innocent people — narrowly avoiding a federal judge's February 1 deadline to prosecute or release him. The bad news: The Bush Administration has charged Posada with making...
Excellent news: Morocco is set to become the first Arab country to formally abolish the death penalty:Morocco will become by the end of April the first Arab state to remove the death penalty from its statute books, the president of the state appointed Consultative Committee on Human Rights, Ben Dhikri, confirmed to Adnkronos International (AKI) on Thursday. He is among...
As Julian notes, earlier today the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber I ordered Thomas Lubanga to stand trial on three charges relating to the FPLC's use of child soldiers. Here is the ICC's summary of the charges:The Chamber decided that there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is criminally responsible as co-perpetrator for the...
I thought I would beat Roger to the punch and announce the newest innovation in the Second Life world: the virtual embassy.Sweden is opening an embassy in the internet fantasy world called Second Life - the first country to do so. The project is being run by the Swedish Institute - a promotional body which works alongside the foreign ministry. Institute director...
Here's something I didn't realize: Manuel Noriega will be released from prison in September, after serving a little more than half of his 30-year sentence:Noriega has been in U.S. custody since surrendering 17 years ago during the U.S. invasion of Panama. He is currently serving a 30-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering. "He has now come to the point where...
In his latest post, John Bellinger claims that “[c]ritics will now accept virtually any speculation and rumor and circulate them as fact,” even though “[a]llegations about U.S. military or intelligence activities have become so hyperbolic as to be absurd.” He may well be right on the first count, but he has completely failed to prove the second. With...
I have a new essay on SSRN, entitled "Retreat from Nuremberg: The Leadership Requirement in the Special Working Group's Definition of Aggression." Here is the abstract:The International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression is contingent upon the Assembly of States Parties adopting a definition of the crime. To that end, the Special Working Group on the...
In keeping with my recent spate of hopeful posts, it's my pleasure to mention that Israel is poised to appoint its first-ever Muslim minister:An Arab-Israeli legislator of the centre-left Labour Party is to become Israel's first-ever Moslem minister, Israeli news channels reported Wednesday night. Labour Party head Amir Peretz has decided to appoint Raleb Majadele from the central Arab-Israeli town of Baka el-Garbia as science,...
Ostensibly as a "concession" to the Democratic-controlled Congress, William Haynes II has withdrawn from consideration for a position on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The Democrats filibustered his nomination in 2004, but Bush renominated him last year. Opposition to Haynes, who was General Counsel of the Department of Defense, centered on his responsibility, as...
One of the basic issues regarding Bush's intention to escalate the war in Iraq by committing 20,000 more troops is where the additional troops will come from. As Colin Powell has pointed out, the U.S. military is "about broken" — "[t]he current active Army is not large enough and the Marine Corps is not large enough for the kinds...
