AFTER I PUBLISHED “A SOLDIER’S STORY,” A THREAD of extraordinarily interesting and useful comments by others has developed on topics ranging from whether the soldier I was speaking to was feeding me material that was part real and part rumor, all real, or entirely contrived.
LAST NIGHT, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY’S NEWLY ACQUIRED G. JOHN IKENBERRY celebrated his 50th Birthday and his brilliant wife, Lidia Usami, performed in a chamber music recital for about 100 of their Washington friends to whom they wanted to say good-bye. A lot of folks were discussing bin Laden’s latest video message to Americans.
I JUST SAT NEXT TO A VERY TOUGH SOLDIER FROM THE 82ND AIRBORNE on a flight back from Europe. I have been thinking for two days about how to share some of the things he told me without compromising him.
AP REPORTS THAT AN ARMED INSURGENT GROUP, THE AL-KARAR BRIGADE, says that it worked with various U.S. military and intelligence officers in moving the massive amount of explosives that has become a major pre-election controversy.
THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S OBSESSION WITH ESCAPING from the norms of the Geneva Conventions seems bizarre to me. One would think that lessons might have been learned by this point from America’s experiences at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.
AP IS REPORTING THAT CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM RENQUIST is in intensive care, hospitalized for treatment of thyroid cancer. The next president of the United States may appoint THREE justices, and maybe four, to the Supreme Court.
EUROPE IS WORRIED ABOUT THE TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONSHIP, and I am in Geneva now making sure that they know that there is indeed a lot about which to be concerned. This meeting which involves a broad cross-section of Europeans, including Russians who at this meeting have defined themselves as Europeans, has a handful of Americans.
AMERICAN ACCOUNTING PRACTICES USED TO BE THE ENVY OF THE WORLD. Then came the crimes of Enron and Arthur Andersen, foreshadowed and followed by hundreds of cases of fraud and malfeasance cases of illegal collusion between corporate management and those hired by stockholders to be the watchdogs.
JAMES WOOLSEY’S MOST RECENT RECORDED CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS: KLAYMAN, LARRY VIA FRIENDS OF LARRY KLAYMAN 01/16/2004 250.00 24020212665 LIEBERMAN, JOSEPH I VIA JOE LIEBERMAN FOR PRESIDENT INC 02/27/2003 1000.00 23990743001 06/18/2003 1000.00 23991387761 HARMAN, JANE VIA FRIENDS OF JANE HARMAN 02/04/2000 1000.00 20035311284 LUGAR, RICHARD G VIA FRIENDS OF DICK LUGAR INC 05/19/2000 500.
CARL LEVIN GOES AFTER DOUGLAS FEITH IN A NEW REPORT drafted by the minority staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee accusing the Defense Undersecretary of misleading, well really lying to, Congress. In the New York Times Douglas Jehl reports: The report said a classified document prepared by Douglas J.
