The two paragraphs come at the end of the New York Times‘ article about George Mitchell’s decision to step down from his position as U.S. envoy to the Middle East:

In an article benignly titled “The ‘Road to Heaven’ at Sobibor” almost exactly two years ago, I wrote about a photograph accompanying an article in the Dutch NRC Handelsblad published around that time. It was the photo of “a blissful, peaceful, country path bordered on both sides by tall pine trees.” A path that was described in the newspaper as a “reflection lane,” a path that roughly...

Is the U.S. reaction to Osama bin Laden’s death embarrassing for a country that likes to see itself as a magnanimous force for justice in the world? For Mexico’s La Jornada, columnist Jose Blanco writes that U.S. behavior since bin Laden was killed rips the mask off of a hypocritical, self-absorbed global empire, intent on infringing on the sovereignty on other nations under the guise of a global...

I do not usually agree with Senator John McCain. In fact, most of my past articles on the Senator from Arizona reflect my dislike for many of his policies and decisions: His obstinate opposition to ending “don’t ask, don’t tell;” his equally obstinate support of the Iraq war; his disappointing posturing on the new GI Bill of Rights during the Bush administration; his silly pick of Sarah Palin...

Police in Kenya are doing a special security watch on Barack Obama’s grandmother Sarah Obama, after Al Qaeda threatened her life in retaliation for the death of its mass murderer leader. She says she’s not afraid. ABC News: Security has been increased around the home of President Barack Obama’s step-grandmother in Kenya after an African al Qaeda branch issued a personal threat against her,...

How do Iraqis feel about the apparent death of al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden? For Iraq’s Al-Sabaah newspaper, columnist Amran al-Abaidi writes that Iraqis are right behind the Americans in celebrating the demise of a man that inflicted untold horror on the Iraqi people – far more, he writes, than the American invasion itself. For Al-Sabaah, Amran al-Abaidi writes in part: The world has...

For the sake of all that makes America America, don’t let this happen. As evidenced by Europe’s political institutions, it would be the most effective take-down of liberty yet seen on this continent.

The passing of a patriarch always brings contention and confusion and, for one who leaves behind so many births and deaths, the aftermath is bound to be complex. Now Osama bin Laden’s son Omar issues a family statement asking for (1) “conclusive evidence” that his father is dead and (2) if so, why he was “summarily executed” without a fair trial such as those granted Saddam Hussein...

From the Times: The adult sons of Osama bin Laden have lashed out at President Obama in their first public reaction to their father’s death, accusing the United States of violating its basic legal principles by killing an unarmed man, shooting his family members and disposing of his body in the sea. And? Look, I realize that in a perfect world Osama would have been put on trial for his “alleged”...

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So much for our new era of national unity. When Rep. Gabby Giffords was shot in Arizona, the pundits and political class predicted that it might be a turning point in political dialogue, ushering in a new era of civility. That lasted almost a week But that was comparatively impressive: the killing of mass murderer Osama bin Laden on Sunday May 1 sparked pronouncements from talking heads about Americans being...

Is the demise of Osama bin Laden a moment that all of world religions should seize upon to begin building a world free of war and religious strife? After ten years of chaos that emerged from a perverse interpretation of Islam, columnist Víctor Corcoba Herrero of Diario Decuyo’s writes that it’s time for all religious leaders to end the terrorist strife by promoting the ideals they all claim to...

Now that al-Qaeda’s prime mover has left the scene and we’ve had ten years to digest the neurotic episode that the West and the world experienced after 9-11, is it time to retool how the terrorist threat is addressed? This editorial from Spain’s El Pais suggests that it’s time for the world’s democracies to restore the values they proclaim to hold dear, which were set aside to...

Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This copyrighted cartoon is licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.

Those who are hailing the new “clarity” reflected in Monday’s Canadian election results should read Dan Gardner’s column in the Ottawa Citizen. Looking back at the demise of the British Liberal Party, Gardner writes: Something similar is quite possible here. In a matchup between the Conservatives and NDP, particularly at a time when voter turnout is appallingly low, the electoral math...

Is the Catholic Church – and specifically the revered deceased Pope John Paul II, as deadly as al-Qaeda and its now-dead leader, Osama bin Laden? Columnist Patrick Etschmayer of Switzerland’s News writes that between outlawing condoms and covering up decades of child abuse, the former pope did at least as much damage as the terrorist mastermind now residing at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. For...

In some societies, John Yoo would be a disbarred lawyer writing newspaper columns in praise of torture from a prison cell, although speaking engagements and television appearances would be out of the question. But this is the good old US of A, and Yoo, whose pretzel-logic legal opinions as a Justice Department attorney and Bush administration flunky underpinned the use of torture, has of course escaped...

In a world where nothing is private and the most vulgar images and ideas are bandied about with little concern, is there a place for keeping photos like that of the death of Osama bin Laden private? Der Tagesspiegel columnist Juliane Schauble writes that when it comes to holding the moral high ground on the public’s right to know, President Obama is a cut about George W. Bush. For Der Tagesspiegel, Juliane...

Is bin Laden’s death, coupled with the Arab uprisings, the ‘true beginning of the end for the radical, medieval, imperial and dictatorial ideas with which al-Qaeda proposed to reorganize the world’? Columnist Bartosz Weglarczyk of Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza writes that with its safe havens quickly disaapearing and its ideology falling into widespread repute, the writing is on the wall...

Another sign of deteriorating U.S. Pakistan relations in light of the killing of Osama bin Laden which suggested either official collusion or official incompetence: Amid bitter, recriminatory exchanges between the United States and Pakistan over the Osama bin Laden extermination, planned bilateral visits of President Asif Ali Zardari to Washington DC and a return trip of President Barack Obama to Islamabad are...

Here’s the latest bit of news/conspiracy to come out of the Pakistan press about the apparent demise of Osama bin Laden. Is the reason the Obama Administration decided not to release the death photo of bin Laden because the terrorism pioneer blew himself up to avoid capture? That is the claim of this news item from Pakistan’s The Nation, which cites an anonymous senior Afghanistan intelligence...

Is the U.S. greatly increasing pressure on Pakistan in the war on terror? There are a variety of indications that this is happening, not the least of which are comments in news reports from officials about the fact that the late, unlamented terrorism chief Osama bin Laden was found living a stone’s throw from Pakistan’s West Point. I don’t usually quote the site Debka, but this one is worth...

Will Christmas come really early for Americans this year? It already has but maybe…not quite. First, there was the long-awaited, long-prayed for death of Osama bin Laden — and via American bullets, not by natural causes, yet. And now there are an increasing number of reports that Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could be on his way out – due to defying Iran’s Supreme (and...

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Is the death of Osama bin Laden the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda? Ahmad Abdal Aziz Al Jarallah, editor and chief of Kuwait’s Al-Seyassah, writes that the terror group is about to disintegrate, and its members will soon face justice, if not in this world, then the next. For Al-Seyassah, Ahmad Abdal Aziz Al Jarallah writes in part: The world breathed a sigh of relief at the killing of the man who believed...