PROFILE
FROM Clifford D. May
A defiant Israel and an American reprimand Israel is railing at the Obama administration for not vetoing a UN vote last week condemning settlements in the West Bank. In retaliation, it's pulling envoys and advancing plans for new settlements in East Jerusalem, where Palestinians envision a future capital. Today outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry took Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu to task in a speech making a final plea for keeping the "two state solution" alive. Kerry also rejected the suggestion made by the Israeli Prime Minister that the Obama Administration orchestrated the UN vote behind the scenes. We talk about the Kerry plan, get reaction from Jerusalem, and ask where US Mid East policy is headed under the Trump Administration.
Mistrust between the US and Israel Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is running for re-election — at the same time jumping with both feet into American politics. First, he agreed to address the President's nuclear talks with Iran before a joint session of Congress — without telling the White House. The Obama Administration now suspects him of leaking what it calls "misleading" details about the talks with Iran, creating more mistrust. Vice President Biden and other Democrats — including some Jews — will stay away from the speech. Will Israel gain or lose with the American public?
The Nuclear Deal with Iran Gets Underway Iran announced today that it's begun suspending its most advanced nuclear enrichment, which could produce fuel for atomic bombs. UN inspectors agree . In response, Western nations will relax economic sanctions and begin six months of negotiations to make a permanent deal. It could mark the beginning of the end of Iran's diplomatic isolation, but hardliners on both sides call it a sham. Is Iran still hiding efforts to produce an atomic bomb? Are the Western powers, China and Russia just trying to maintain their monopoly on nuclear weaponry?
Does the US Still Need the Prison at Guantanamo Bay? Barack Obama's first presidential order was to close Guantánamo Bay. Even George W. Bush agreed. But as he began his second term in January of this year, the special envoy for closing Guantánamo was dismissed without a replacement, and 166 prisoners are still there. More than half are on a hunger strike and, last week, military guards put down an uprising. We hear what classified documents reveal about inmate behavior and abusive treatment of prisoners being held without charge. Is there still a "war on terror" requiring military tribunals? Will there be future "enemy combatants" too dangerous to handle in America's court system? (Special thanks to Leilia Thayer for help in producing this discussion.)
Bradley Manning: Hero or Criminal? The pre-trial hearing is almost over in the biggest leak of classified documents in American history. Pfc. Bradley Manning is accused of giving a massive trove of information to WikiLeaks, which published some on line. Was US security damaged? If Manning was the leaker, did he betray his country or tell the public what it needed to know? If a court martial convicts him should he get life in prison? And there’s a broader question. Since much of the information released was inconsequential, why was it classified at all?
Bradley Manning and Government Secrecy The pre-trial hearing is almost over in the biggest leak of classified documents in American history. Pfc. Bradley Manning is accused of giving a massive trove of information to WikiLeaks, which published some on line. Was US security damaged? If Manning was the leaker, did he betray his country or tell the public what it needed to know? If a court martial convicts him should he get life in prison? And there’s a broader question. Since much of the information released was inconsequential, why was it classified at all?
How an Uncontested Mosque Became the 'Ground Zero Mosque' Last Friday, President Obama said Muslims have a right to include a mosque in a new community center two blocks from where the World Trade Center used to be. On Saturday, he said he did not mean to comment on the "wisdom" of the project, which many interpreted as a retreat from his first remarks. That suggests the political power of the controversy over what's come to be called " the Mosque at Ground Zero ."
How an Uncontested Mosque Became the 'Ground Zero Mosque' Seven out of every 10 Americans now oppose the mosque to be located inside an Islamic center two blocks from the World Trade Center site in Manhattan. A few months ago, nobody cared. But what's come to be called "the Mosque at Ground Zero" is this month's angriest political issue. Last Friday, President Obama said Muslims have a right to include a mosque in their new community center. On Saturday, he said he did not mean to comment on the "wisdom" of the project, which many interpreted as a retreat from his first remarks. How did that happen? Was it a creation of right-wing Islamophobes? Are politicians now exploiting fears of a highly diverse religion? Have the mainstream media played a paradoxical role by downplaying Islamic extremism?
Torture Memos: Will the Truth Lead to Consequences? President Obama says Attorney General Eric Holder will have to decide if lawyers in the Bush Justice Department should be prosecuted for memos justifying harsh interrogation techniques. This week, the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed that dissenting legal views were brushed aside by the Bush White House. In testimony before a House subcommittee today, Holder stressed that he would not politicize policy differences but would pursue wrongdoing “to the full extent of the law…in an appropriate way.”
The Torture Memos: Truth and Consequences President Obama says Attorney General Eric Holder will have to decide if lawyers in the Bush Justice Department should be prosecuted for memos justifying harsh interrogation techniques. This week, the Senate Intelligence Committee revealed that dissenting legal views were brushed aside by the Bush White House. The release of the memos has raised a host of troubling questions. Did the memos justify war crimes? Should the lawyers who wrote them be prosecuted? Were the interrogation methods being used before the memos were written? Did the methods, including waterboarding, produce information that made American safer? Would other methods have been more reliable? If Obama says some people should be prosecuted while others are spared , is he “politicizing” the issue? Is he violating the law?
Prosecuting the Bush Administration for Possible War Crimes In September, the conservative Weekly Standard quoted Vice President Cheney as saying, "I think on the left wing of the Democratic Party, there are some people who believe that we really tortured." Today Bob Woodward, in the Washington Post, quotes a lifelong Republican, the Pentagon's Inspector General when Cheney was Secretary of Defense, saying that one suspect was tortured and that she assumes others were tortured as well. Susan Crawford is now in charge of deciding if Guantánamo Bay suspects should be brought to trial. Her statements are intensifying the debate on whether Bush Administration officials should be investigated and possibly brought to trial.
The Bush Administration and Possible War Crimes In September, the conservative Weekly Standard quoted Vice President Cheney as saying, “I think on the left wing of the Democratic Party, there are some people who believe that we really tortured.” Today Bob Woodward, in the Washington Post, quotes a lifelong Republican, the Pentagon's Inspector General when Cheney was Secretary of Defense, saying that one suspect was tortured and that she assumes others were tortured as well. Susan Crawford is now in charge of deciding if Guantanamo Bay suspects should be brought to trial. Her statements are intensifying the debate on whether Bush Administration officials should be investigated and possibly brought to trial. We speak with attorneys, journalist and scholars about accountability, the rule of law and national security.
The Dark Side of America's War on Terror Lawyers, military figures and Bush Administration insiders believed that so-called "enhanced" interrogation techniques really were torture. But Vice President Cheney insisted they were the only way to head off another September 11, despite warnings about prosecution for war crimes. A new book, The Dark Side , also reports that dissenters lost their jobs, even as "enhanced" interrogation produced false information that derailed the war on terror. Will there be a call to accountability?
Should America Use 'Soft Power' in the Middle East? In the aftermath of World War II, the United States was known for generosity to allies and former enemies. Lately, the US is seen as an international bully as President Bush and his neo-conservative advisors project America's "hard power" militarily and economically. Now, isolated and overstretched, as the wars grind on in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US is losing the battles even some Administration officials now say should be fought with "soft power." Even Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a recent reference to this prime American asset when he said that American has "a variety of tools. Not all of them are hammers." What is "soft power?" Are Iran and China beating the US at what used to be its own game? How could "soft power" serve America's interests in a world of terrorism and nuclear weapons?
9/11, Iraq and the Global War on Terror Six years ago, almost 3000 Americans died in attacks orchestrated by al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden. Today, Washington is preoccupied by the war in Iraq. General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are getting tougher questions from Senators than they did from members of Congress. We update the action on Capitol Hill, including criticism from Republicans as well as Democrats, and look at the "Global War on Terror" so tragically dramatized six years ago. Is it really "global?" Is it a "war?" What does Iraq have to do with it?
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