Most Popular War and Peace Posts
Chechnya's Security Brain Drain
Published February 09, 2010 @ 12:27PM PT
Chechnya, how long must this go on? In light of renewed advocacy for survivors of massacre in the Chechnya region of southern Russia from Amnesty, the Center for the Protection of Journalists, and other organizations, the institute for the study of everything should really do a follow-up study on the effects of brain drain on a region's security.
We've heard for a decade about the shift of the most educated and resourced people away from regions suffering economic or political collapse. But what about the self-selection process when progressive, peaceful, as well as cunning intelligent people, refuse careers in security, so that the third-tier candidates make up the ranks of security organizations?
Obama's Disappointing Record on National Security Law
Published February 09, 2010 @ 10:34AM PT
As the blogosphere remains abuzz over Sarah Palin's latest burst of political thunder, progressives are rightfully seething over the Cheney-esque attacks that she leveled against President Obama's national security policy during her keynote address to the Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
Resorting to the same crass and ideologically-driven language that so often filled her 2008 campaign speeches, Palin censured the Obama administration for its handling of the constitutional issues associated with the war on terrorism, declaring that in order to "win the war [on terrorism], we need a commander in chief, not a professor of law." Palin's poignant critique came in reference to her complaint that President Obama offered constitutional protections to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day underwear bomber.
In directly undermining President Obama's status as commander-in-chief, as well as renewing the tired Republican logic that civil liberties are necessarily antithetical to our national security, Palin's criticisms are certainly regrettable (Note: even conservative Fox News host Brian Kilmeade conceded that Palin showed disrespect for Obama's presidential authority). But, Palin's remarks are even more misplaced because of the regrettable extent to which President Obama has actually often failed to follow through on his all-important campaign pledge to restore and uphold the rule of law in the war against terrorism.
If only Obama were acting more like a professor of domestic and international law.
One wonders how the civilian victims of Obama's ever-expanding use of targeted assassinations and drone attacks inside Pakistan, the Arab-American citizens now subject to expansive racial profiling and invasive security checks at America's airports, or the families of the victims of Blackwater's Nisour Square massacre who have yet to see Obama hold private military contractors operating in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan accountable to the law, might react to Palin's latest statements.
Foreign Aid Reform: Enhance Disaster Preparedness and Peacebuilding
Published February 09, 2010 @ 06:54AM PT
Several years back, when I was heavily engaged in hunger prevention research on Africa and Central Asia, there was a fascinating dual between a BBC radio reporter and a representative of the World Food Programme (WFP) regarding Zambia and southern Africa.
The reporter, meaning well, hit hard with questions about why the WFP had sounded alarms for urgent fundraising to prevent thousands of famine deaths in the region, when in fact after the rush there turned out to be few deaths associated with the food shortages. The WFP rep sounded so bewildered by the question that you could hear him blinking in reaction to the reporter's lack of understanding, rather than defending the agency's move. The reporter nevertheless won the duel, slamming the agency for wasting everyone's time and funding a non-emergency.
The episode illuminates one of the terrific troubles in acting to prevent mass casualty disasters before they happen. Many donor representatives, though not all, still judge the urgency of an emergency by the rate of death, rather than the harder to gauge early warnings of coming death and suffering.
Could an Iranian Counter-Revolution Go Velvet?
Published February 08, 2010 @ 02:40PM PT
Like many Iran followers, my every engagement with the people, language, and news from the country brings me back to the very same question. Would an Iranian counter-revolution go velvet?
In other words, if the democratic opposition in the country managed to shake the foundations of Iran and encourage serious reforms, could the transition happen peacefully? What if the Western nations finally lent their full support to the opposition?
In yesterday's New York Times and International Herald Tribune, some of our heroes of the Nobel Peace Prize left as well as a number of Nobel laureates in the sciences published a full page letter calling for the U.S., Russia, UK, and Germany to put the weight of their support behind democracy activists in Iran. As a huge fan of Elie Wiesel, Betty Williams, and Jody Williams, I am enthused to bring the news to you, and to encourage you to make the same calls for change.
However, in support of the call, I'm actually shocked that the letter did not directly address the reasons these governments have not yet put their full weight behind democracy advocates in Iran. Isn't that the most important detail in advocating for policy change? The U.S., for example, is not failing to support the Iranian reformers because they don't think the Iranian government hasn't done anything wrong. The U.S. is cautious for two huge, delicate reasons which must be reconciled before it is safe to put U.S. support behind the reformers.
John Murtha's Legacy on the Iraq War
Published February 08, 2010 @ 12:52PM PT
Rep. John Murtha, the stalwart and hawkish Democrat from Johnstown, Pennsylvania, died today after complications arising from gall bladder surgery. Murtha was the first ever Vietnam combat veteran elected to Congress, and he spent most of his Congressional career focusing on issues of defense and military affairs.
In recent years, perhaps nothing defined Rep. Murtha's career more than his opposition to the Iraq War. After originally voting to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002, Rep. Murtha switched gears -- and got heads turning -- when in 2005 he called for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and sharply criticized the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq War.
Among certain circles, Rep. Murtha's criticism sparked a sea change in dialogue over the Iraq War. At the time Rep. Murtha was roundly praised by more conservative members of both parties as an authority on military affairs, commanding great respect from politicians and military leaders alike. His turn on the Iraq War not only was an about face in terms of his past votes, it also created space within the Democratic (and Republican, to some extent) parties for more fierce criticism of the way the Bush administration handled the Iraq War.
“The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It is time to bring [U.S. troops] home," Murtha said in 2005.
Sarah Palin on National Security
Published February 08, 2010 @ 08:37AM PT
Sarah Palin made the rounds this weekend, from the Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tennessee to the tubes of Fox News, articulating a vision of U.S. national security less grounded in geopolitics than rooted in taunts of "We want a pitcher, not a glass of water."
Palin, who needed help from the palm of her hand in order to express her concerns with Obama's national security policy, taunted the President for being soft on national security issues. For Palin, in order to win the War on Terror, we need someone who will blow stuff up, not practice diplomacy.
"[Terrorists] know we're at war. And to win that war, we need a commander-in-chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern!" Palin shouted on Saturday night to hoots and hollers from the Tea Party crowd. Yes, instead of a professor of law, maybe we need someone who took seven years to finish an undergraduate degree. In journalism.
Palin then went on Fox News the next morning, to talk about how President Obama could significantly boost his approval ratings if he were to call for a preemptive war with Iran.
Killing Vets Softly With Our Apathy
Published February 05, 2010 @ 12:39PM PT
Lily Casura, who runs the site HealingCombatTrauma.com, has been rallying vets and concerned citizens behind calls for the government to do more to reduce veteran suicides. Often the topic is not far from our minds, particularly for those who have served in the military and/or worked or lived in a war zone, but rarely does one figure out what to do about it.
She recommended this event recording from Swords to Ploughshares during which experts discuss this very question. To add background, I asked her if she'd list any must-reads for people new and old to the topic of combat stress and treatment.
"In five years of reading literally everything I can find on the topic, there are really only three articles that have stood out as superb," Casura said. 'The Long Shadow of War,' by Kathy Dobie, published in GQ, December, 2007; 'Denial in the Corps,' by Kathy Dobie, published in The Nation, January 31, 2008; [and] 'The Life and Lonely Death of Noah Pierce,' by Ashley Gilbertson, published in Virginia Quarterly Review, Fall, 2008.'
The topic of suicide among veterans reminds me of how difficult it is for many people, including active duty soldiers, to empathize with someone living with post-combat stress or unrelated stress as a combat vet.
