From the Chicago Tribune, January 5, 2007: Consider The Irony Of Guantanamo Bay By Thomas P. Sullivan What an irony, what a contradiction! Although the trial may have been flawed and the execution precipitous, the Iraqi government afforded a mass murderer, Saddam Hussein, basic rights before judgment was pronounced. Hussein was presented with written charges, provided the assistance of lawyers, the government was required to introduce proof to support its charges through competen...

Evaluate the assertions by Ehrlich and Liu that differential population growth rates between Israelis and Palestinians “may exacerbate the conditions that breed terrorism.” What information do they provide that supports their contention that the different rates do actually contribute to terrorism? Potential terrorists are predominantly young adult males (Ehrlich & Liu 2002). Ehrlich and Liu cite that with poverty, a general lack of responsibility, and general indifference towards mor...

Evaluate Hoffman’s conclusion that the PLO was a model for certain types of terrorist groups. What types of groups? What were the features of the PLO and its actions that seem to have been adopted by other groups? Hoffman was quite explicit in how the PLO's efforts have been emulated in regional and international terror groups. Their ruthless efficiency in 1972 Munich made the whole world stand up and take notice. "The undivided attention of some four thousand print and radio journa...

Explain and evaluate Hoffman assertion that terrorists ordinarily act rationally. The terrorist always fights against a better-armed foe. In order to go up against such an enemy, there must be undying fervor and burning desire within the fighter. The training starts from birth. The child is taught to dehmanize the enemy, and that killing them is part of the natural order. Hoffman calls this an "inverted sense of normality" and it is instilled throughout society. [The Pale...

Front page of the New York Times, circa 1944 :

Remember this? WMD in Iraq. The Iraqi government was found to be in "material breach" of its obligations back in 2002: Holding Iraq in “material breach” of its obligations under previous resolutions, the Security Council this morning decided to afford it a “final opportunity to comply” with its disarmament obligations, while setting up an enhanced inspection regime for full and verified completion of the disarmament process established by resolution 687 (1991). By the unanimous adopt...

Some good news from the northern front of the War on Terror: Canadians were about to experience their own 9/11, or more appropriately their own Oklahoma City; if it hadn't been for the police rounding these fellow Canadians up on Friday afternoon... From today's Toronto's Globe and Mail: Brampton, Ont. -- Members of an alleged homegrown terror cell appeared in a Brampton courtroom Saturday to face charges they plotted to attack Canadian targets in Southern Ontario. In a series of...

I watched the news this afternoon, fully expecting and wanting this to finally be over. Moussaoui's life, and the court case. And I was very very very surprised the jury came back with life instead of death. But as I listened to the verdict, a strange and unexpected feeling came to me: contentment. I'm satisfied with his sentence of life in prison. And let me tell you why, three quick reasons: 1) It shouldn't be about revenge. The death penalty shouldn't be about revenge,...

Apparently allowing Muslims the right to self-determination is having unexpected consequences. After the liberation of Afghanistan they have adopted Shari'a law, which claims that converting to Christianity is punishable by death, as an infidel who has caused harm to Islam. From the Times of London Online : PRESIDENT BUSH led international condemnation of Afghanistan yesterday over the case of a Muslim who converted to Christianity and now faces the death penalty under the country's...

Well, Saddam decided that the court was worth his time after all. Instead of hunger striking, refusing to acknowledge the court's authority over him, or calling for the removal of Americans from his country and reinstating himself as potentate over Iraq, Saddam decided to address his captors from the witness stand! From Reuters : BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein formally took the stand in his trial for the first time on Wednesday after earlier acknowledging in court that he gave...

The New York Times reported last night that the Patriot Act was going to be passed, as the motion to reject its renewal was rejected 96-3... Earlier today, the Senate handed the administration a victory as it voted, 96 to 3, not to hold up the Patriot Act to incorporate changes urged by Senator Russell D. Feingold, the act's most persistent critic. Mr. Feingold, Democrat of Wisconsin, said he wants to make the Senate debate several more days on the bill, and under the Senate's rules he...

"I am for socialism, disarmament, and ultimately for abolishing the state itself as an instrument of violence and compulsion. I seek social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class, and sole control by those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal. --ACLU founder Roger Baldwin Peggy Lamson, "Roger Baldwin: Founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, A portrait" Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1976, p.192 Now from The American President , the finest two-hour infom...

Found this article at the Independent.co.uk : It is complete garbage, and I'll tell you why after the article. George Bush considered provoking a war with Saddam Hussein's regime by flying a United States spyplane over Iraq bearing UN colours, enticing the Iraqis to take a shot at it, according to a leaked memo of a meeting between the US President and Tony Blair. The two leaders were worried by the lack of hard evidence that Saddam Hussein had broken UN resolutions, though pr...

Here's responsible statesmanship of the worst kind. Jacques Chirac, President of France and the guy with his finger on the button of France's nuclear arsenal, threatened to use nuclear weapons in response to any terrorist attack on France that originated from abroad. For example, after a 9/11-type attack on French soil, the retaliation would be a nuclear strike on Afghanistan. Chirac showing his tough, manly side. From today's Washington Post : French President Jacques Chirac s...

Here's an unexpected turn of events. He claims that despite al-Qaeda's preparations for fresh US attacks, he wants to sue for peace. He claims that he's got several projects underway and the only way we can prevent them from happening is to accede to bin Laden's demands. He claims that he doesn't want to fight any more, but can we take it at face value? From Yahoo News : Osama bin Laden warned that al Qaeda was preparing new attacks inside the United States, but said the group was op...