Mohammad Mohamedou:: The 1970s Redux — In Politics and at the Movies

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The parallel between Richard Nixon’s and George W. Bush’s second mandates has been noted before (failing war, divided society, calls for investigations) but an interesting dimension playing out is how popular culture is echoing the mood from that period. Hollywood, of course, never fails to join the political bandwagon during wartime.

John Stuart Blackton: A Lesson from Haditha

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We need a professional constabulary force to sustain stabilization operations in Iraq. The terrible events at Haditha have us all wishing that our forces were doing a better job in relating to the non-combatant majority in Iraq.

Dave Meyer: Revisiting the GWOT

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True to the balkanized nature of the blogosphere, a fascinating conversation on foreign policy has erupted, with little input from some of the most insightful foreign policy commentators.

Darci Tucker: Responsibilities of Citizenship

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As the illegal immigration issues swirls in the media, I have recently heard debate over whether or not American schools should provide education for the children of illegal immigrants. I find this astonishing. Education is the key to their futures and ours.

Joe Stork: Art of the State

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“Liberty is the price we have to pay for freedom,” quipped T-Bone Burnett as he started his Tuesday night [May 29] in-your-neocon-face show at DC’s 9:30 Club.

Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff: Downplaying Iran’s Oil Leverage

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So, we shouldn’t worry too much when Iran threatens to suspends oil exports in case of economic sanctions, suggests Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She says: “I think something like 80 percent of Iran’s budget comes from oil revenue, and so obviously it would be a very serious problem for Iran if oil were disrupted.

Mohammad Mohamedou: “Ethical Training” — What about Moral Leadership?

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New revelations about massacres of civilians in Iraq are certainly not needed to confirm the abysmal failure of the “adventure in Iraq”, which is a euphemistic way of putting it since this whole thing is no less than a full-fledged colonial enterprise — indeed replaying the 1920s British one — that has set back the…

Steven Clemons: Applause for the Inconvenient Gore

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Al Gore in 2000 was inconvenient, but it turns out he would have been the right man at the right time in November 2000. I seriously underestimated him at that time; or perhaps he is a dramatically new and different Al Gore today — finally punching above his weight.