In The News

Offense and Defense

Seymour M. Hersh March 31, 2003
Veteran investigative reporter Seymour M. Hersh writes that US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has dominated logistical planning of the US military operation in Iraq. Taking control of day-to-day logistical planning to an unprecedented extent, Rumsfeld has angered several senior war planners in the Pentagon. Hersh says "On at least six occasions, the planner told me, when Rumsfeld and...

Malaysia Headed for US Deep Freezer?

Eddie Toh March 31, 2003
Despite a period of cooperation immediately following the Sept. 11 attacks on the US, in recent weeks Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir has been one of US Pres. George Bush's harshest critics over the war on Iraq. But official criticism should not deter American investors from Malaysia, says this article in Singapore's Business Times. Rather, says author Eddie Toh, Washington and...

N Korea Could Scrap Nuclear Plan for Pipeline

Andrew Ward March 30, 2003
Both South Korean and American officials have claimed that a resolution to the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis should be achieved using different methods than in Iraq. The latest suggestion by the South Korean government is to route a Russian gas pipeline to its northern neighbor, in exchange for Pyongyang's renunciation of all nuclear programs. If the needs of North Korea’s struggling...

Western Media Toeing Official Line

K.K. Katyal March 28, 2003
Media in the US and the UK are too eager to report the "official" news from the war in Iraq, says this opinion piece in India's The Hindu. Western reporters "embedded" with their militaries have lost their objectivity, the author argues, despite having long lectured journalists in the developing world about ethics and responsibility. However, with competition from Al-...

Pentagon Adviser is Stepping Down

Stephen Labaton March 28, 2003
Concerned that charges of corruption might distract the US from the war on Iraq, Richard Perle, a senior American defense official, resigned his post. Perle’s interactions with a Saudi arms dealer raised eyebrows this month. Similarly, Perle was hired to advise a communications company about its efforts to be sold to a billionaire from Hong Kong, despite worries from the Department of Defense...

A day at ‘Hyde Park’

Amira Howeidy March 28, 2003
Public demonstrations have been banned in Egypt since the establishment of the "emergency law" in 1967, but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of thousands of citizens from protesting the US-led war on Iraq. Angry students, journalists, lawyers, and religious leaders filled Tahrir Square last week in what has been called the biggest demonstration since the student campaign for democracy in...

A Role for the U.N. in Iraq’s Future

March 28, 2003
Once the war is over, the United States will have the unenviable task of restoring order and establishing a democratic government in Iraq. The U.N., with its peacekeeping troops, oil-for-food aid program, and international support, would in most cases be an essential partner in this effort, says this editorial in The New York Times. But the U.S. bypassed the U.N. in its decision to invade Iraq...