The killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, in the way it was done, cannot be allowed to stand. The president who ordered it has not acknowledged its terrifying implications, not made any attempt to redraw the judicial and moral line that he appears to have blurred or even erased, not admitted the problem raised by the obvious prima facie violation of the Constitution that his actions represent, and not thought the implications...

As uncomfortable is it may make people in the United States – and especially in Mexico – this editorial from Spain’s La Vanguardia warns that with 30 percent of Mexico already in the hands of drug cartels, there may be no way other to take a President Perry up on his offer if Mexico is to avoid becoming a failed state. The La Vanguardia editorial says in part: Mexico City Mayor Marcelino...

How worried are Japanese about the rise of China? Hiroshi Kawamoto form Japan’s Isen Shimbun, after closely examining what he considers the calamitous decade of U.S. behavior since 9-11, warns that closer ties to America is the only strategy that has any hope of preserving Japanese prosperity. For Japan’s Isen Shimbun, Hiroshi Kawamoto writes in part: Trying to return to the United States of the...

Is the state of the world really as dire as world leaders who recently spoke at the U.N. General Assembly would lead us to believe? Have we all gotten carried away with gloom and doom? For Argentina’s Diario Decuyo, columnist Andrés Oppenheimer cites a recent report that asserts things are on the upswing almost everywhere, from life expectancy to education levels to the number of wars. For the Diario...

The one-word-man deviated from his standard one-word script this morning on CNN’s State of the Union when discussing the recent drone strike that killed American-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki. But, first, credit where credit is due. Uncharacteristic as it is for him, Former Vice President Dick Cheney praised the U.S. drone strike that killed al-Awlaki and President Obama’s decision to carry it out: I...

I recently received an e-mail from a dear Republican friend. You know, one of those e-mails that float around cyber space for years—in this case for more than 10 years—and are sent to the world as being fresh off the cyber press and as containing startling new revelations, usually political and politically motivated. Surprisingly, I happen to totally agree with this one as being timely, almost timeless...

I’ve often said that at times the left becomes how it is caricatured by the right and at times the right becomes how it is caricatured by the left. Sometimes left and right seemingly blend. That’s what seems to be occurring in the controversy over the targeting and drone killing of U.S. born terrorist Anwar al-Aulaqi in Yemen. To hear Republican conservatives tell it, it was a no brainer . To hear...

Osama bin Laden used to brag about making Americans so paranoid about terror attacks that just raising an al Qaeda flag would panic us into self-damage without any effort on his part. His legacy comes back in headlines about the arrest of a 26-year-old Massachusetts man, who has been working for months with FBI sting agents to prepare attacks on the Capitol and Pentagon with remote-controlled aircraft, fake...

Another major victory on the anti-terrorism front: it has been confirmed that American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has been killed in Yemen and, CNN reports, this is now confirmed by American officials. He was pitchforked into the headlines this year in a major story when it was revealed that he exchanged emails with accused Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Hassan: American-born Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki,...

Is Washington’s Jewish lobby an impenetrable barrier to the realization of a Palestinian state? Columnist Moqif Mattar of Rumallah’s Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah writes that regardless of the potential benefits of better U.S. ties to Arabs, keeping Palestinian lands under Israeli control is just as much an article of faith for America as it is for Israel. For the Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, Moqif Mattar writes...

The very blunt comments of outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen that Pakistan intelligence has been actively assisting the Haqqani terrorist network has triggered another tremendous upwelling of anti-American sentiment in that nation. These three editorials from Pakistan’s The Nation and The Frontier Post well illustrate the skyrocketing passion and anger toward America now felt in that country. Just...

Yet another story has come out showing Pakistan intelligence in a bad light — this time about its alliance with a group in Afghanistan that resembles the Sopranos: They are the Sopranos of the Afghanistan war, a ruthless crime family that built an empire out of kidnapping, extortion, smuggling, even trucking. They have trafficked in precious gems, stolen lumber and demanded protection money from businesses...

The Terrible Post-9/11 Truth: Our Government’s Been Hijacked Democracy has been commandeered by a self-interested gang by Michael Winship About a year after the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building, I visited Oklahoma City and went to the bombsite with a friend who had covered the attack as a television news cameraman. No memorial or museum had yet been built; fencing covered with teddy bears, flags...

Did Arabs and more importantly, Palestinians, put too much faith in Barack Obama? According to columnist M. Saadoune of Algeria’s Le Quotidien d’Oran, anyone who thought President Obama would shake up the balance of power in the Middle East and make possible a Palestinian state was extremely naive, and now has learned the truth. For the Le Quotidien d’Oran, columnist M. Saadoune writes in...

Will the Arab street erupt in protest if the United States vetoes recognition of a Palestinian State in the U.N. Security Council, as President Obama has promised to do? According to columnist Osama al-Farra of Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah in the Palestinian Territories, unless Arabs rise up to defend Palestinians and their own dignity, there will be nothing left to do but await the next U.S. insult. For Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah...

I strongly disagree with Senator John McCain’s politics and policies—especially his almost fanatic opposition to ending “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” and his stubborn support of the Iraq war. I have also been disappointed with the Senator’s seriously flawed judgment on several issues and decisions, such as his deplorable posturing on the new GI Bill of Rights during the Bush administration...

FORWARD: The recent 10th anniversary of 9/11 once again gave rise to questions about NORAD’s role and performance during the attacks and to the now-familiar conspiracy theories. Hence this writing. === The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was officially established on Sept. 12, 1957, during the Cold War—during the “innocent years.” A couple of weeks before, the Soviet Union...

Today—it is still September 20 here in Texas—”the discriminatory law known as ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is finally and formally repealed.” This is President Obama’s entire statement on the occasion: The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release September 20, 2011 Statement by the President on the Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Today, the...

WE DIDN’T LEARN ANYTHING FROM PRIOR REPUBLICAN POLICIES BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T GO FAR ENOUGH Perhaps Republicans have been correct in asserting that the eight years of President George W. Bush didn’t go far enough in enacting conservative policies. The current Republican presidential candidates argue that the nation must take all their proposals to their logical conclusions in order for them to properly...

Nineteen died in a June drone attack on a suspected terrorist training camp in a Pakistani tribal district near the Afghan border The question is simple but provocative: How does the United States fight the war against terrorism using the rules of traditional warfare? The answer is complex and far from a settled thing. White House, State Department and Pentagon officials are debating the question anew...

The young Marine, who has already done more than enough for his fellow Marines, for the Marine Corps and for his country, is now doing something for the families of Marines and Navy Corpsmen. Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer has partnered with the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to raise $1 million by the Foundation’s 50th anniversary on May 28, 2012. He has also issued a “Challenge to America”...

A Decade of Memorials Squandered? by Michael Winship A long time ago, I helped produce for public television an annual year’s end interview with New York City Mayor Ed Koch. We always shot it in a private room at Windows on the World, the restaurant on top of the north tower of the World Trade Center, with a spectacular view toward the Empire State Building. From that height, at the end of a sunny winter’s...

The Truth Will Out by Michael Reagan No matter what the record shows, there will always be the nay-sayers who have no trouble ignoring facts as obvious as the noses on their faces. Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the horror we call simply by the numerals that mark its point in time. Anyone who watched the minute-by-minute film record of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center buildings broadcast...

Update and correction: Jimmy Leeward, the pilot of the Mustang P51 that crashed in Reno was first reported by media to be 80 years old. He is actually one month shy of being 75. TMV regrets carrying the error forward. Dr.E, M.Ed. Being closer to 80 than to 20 years of age, I bristle when people say ‘old people’ cant, shouldnt, ought not to (fill in the blank with any number of harmless, funny,...

Has the United States been in the midst of a national neurotic episode since the 9-11 attacks? According to this editorial from Japan’s Ibaraki Shimbun, going around the world and “brandishing an ideal” is just as foolish for the United States as it is for al-Qaeda. The Ibaraki Shimbun editorial says in part: Ten years have passed since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States...