Strategic Dialogue: Afghanistan
Should we stay or should we go: that’s the question.
Obama Must Pick Gurneys Over Guns
Two expensive problems. Lots of debt. Will the administration make the right choice when it comes to health care or war?
The Secret About Jobs Military Contractors Don’t Want You to Know
A new report finds military hardware we don’t need isn’t as great for job creation as advertised.
Poem, ‘When I was Torn by War’
The poet ponders the effects of war.
How to Exit Afghanistan
Five pillars of an exit strategy for Afghanistan.
Conference: Who Decides About War?
“Who Decides About War” will be a national conference confronting essential questions raised by the U.S. invasions and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. These questions are timely, as the political process that brought the United States into those wars is widely recognized today as having been flawed at best, dishonest at worst.
This engaging event will bring together activists and academics, public officials and veterans, lawyers and military families to accomplish two goals. First, to educate ourselves and each other about the issues involved, the state of the law, and alternatives. Second, to develop a statement of common principles leading to a more democratic, comprehensive, and durable national defense policy — one that will honor the Constitution and help keep the United States from entering into unnecessary wars.
Panelists will include:
Keynote Speaker Morton Halperin, Senior Advisor, Open Society Institute
Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
Leah Bolger, National VP, Veterans for Peace
Elaine Brower, Military Families Speak Out
Prof. Marjorie Cohn, President, National Lawyers Guild
Sen. Richard Madaleno, State Senator, Montgomery County, Maryland
Geoff Millard, Chair, Iraq Vets Against the War
John Nichols, Esq., The Nation magazine
Benson Scotch, Senior Legal Counsel, Bring the Guard Home! It’s the Law.
David Swanson, Founder, AfterDowningStreet
The conference will go from October 2-3, 2009. More information and registration on the event can be found on its website.
Afghanistan: War Trumps Elections
The military won’t defeat al-Qaeda and the Taliban, writes Frida Berrigan. Nor will elections in an occupied country solve this problem.
The Pursuit of True Security
For all of the money we spend on defense, are we really all that safer?
Time for Effective Aid in Afghanistan
Plenty of military options are on the table for Afghanistan, but solutions based on development are sorely lacking.
Poem: “The Center for the Intrepid”
The war’s casualties are measured in more than broken bodies.
Military vs. Climate Security: Mapping the Shift from the Bush Years to the Obama Era
In addition to creating an existential threat to the planet and its people, rapidly accelerating climate change is a security challenge.
Iraq: Nightmare or New Democracy?
While Iraq could easily become Obama’s nightmare with a policy that emphasizes sectarian divisions, a national unity framework will help Iraq become a new democracy in the Middle East.
Revamping Plan Colombia
Bogotá and Washington are negotiating an agreement for five military bases in Colombia that would escalate the U.S. military’s presence in the region.
The Intelligence Oversight Mess
The latest assassination scandal reveals a longstanding congressional oversight problem.
Blood and Oil in Central Asia
Conn Hallinan shows how the map of conflict corresponds all too well with the map of future energy supplies.