The key to changing our cities involves the car. Cars dominate cities in the rich countries, and they are increasingly swamping poor countries as well. Big auto...]]>Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pelosi+the+hawk.-a0199912429
Reports by international human rights groups and from within Israel in recent weeks have revealed the massive scale of war-crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law, committed by Israeli forces during their three-week offensive against the Gaza Strip earlier this year. Despite this, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has steadfastly stood by her insistence that...]]>Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Iraq+policy+outlook%3a+2009.-a0196824935In Iraq, 2008 carried over much of the beginnings of security improvements that began in late 2007. The decrease in violence, at least relative to the devastation of 2006-2007 is widely seen as enabling President Barack Obama to have the political space needed to call for the drawdown of US. troops in Iraq.

The outpouring of emotion across Africa when President Barack Obama was sworn in had as much to do with his heritage as with the possibility that he might reverse some of the Bush administration's disastrous policies. President George W. Bush trumpeted Africa as a foreign policy success, highlighting the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) as proof. He didn't...]]>Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Beyond+the+drug+war.-a0196907472When Bolivian President Evo Morales recently made his first visit ever to Washington, he gave a rousing speech before hundreds at American University, addressed the Organization of American States (OAS), and met with leaders of both political parties on Capitol Hill. Strikingly absent from his itinerary, however, was any interaction with the Bush administration.

Ecuador's decision not to renew the U.S. lease for the forward operating base at Manta is the culmination of just one of many long-term and recently initiated community-based and national struggles to remove these military...]]>Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+war+at+home.-a0196824961
This is an excerpt from testimony before a House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing held February 28, 2008, regarding the Iraq War's mental health impacts of Iraq War on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans.

I am the author of "When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind." I am currently separated from my...]]>Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Iraq's+%22hidden%22+conflict.-a0196729879While the majority of Iraqis know that the current Sunni-Shiites tension did not exist before 2003, no one can deny that after five years of U.S. occupation, sectarian tension is now a reality. Sectarianism is another disaster that was brought to Iraq by the war and occupation of Iraq.

Number of U.S. troops wounded in combat since the war began: 29,203

Iraqi Security Force deaths: 7,924

Iraqi civilians killed: Estimates range from 81,632-1,120,000

Internally displaced refugees in Iraq: 3.4 million

The three water crises--dwindling freshwater supplies, inequitable access to water and the corporate control of water--pose the greatest threat of our time to the planet and to our survival. Together with impending climate change from fossil fuel emissions, the water crises impose some life-or-death decisions on us all. Unless we collectively change our behavior, we...]]>Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Nervously+and+rapidly%2c+Iran+courts+Egypt.-a0196729877While much of the world is focused on Bush's attempts to demonize and isolate Iran, the Islamic Republic is forging new ties with an unlikely partner, Egypt. Egypt is among the largest recipients of U.S. aid and the only Arab country that equals Iran's international stature. It is also the only one without an embassy in Tehran. Although the north African nation is not among Iran's neighbors,...]]>Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hardliners+target+detente+with+North+Korea.-a0196824502The Bush administration's approach to North Korea was once quite consistent with its overall foreign policy. There was name-calling, a preference for regime change, and an emphasis on military solutions. Not surprisingly, then, the relationship between the United States and North Korea, like so many other tense stand-offs, deteriorated over the last seven years. The United States accused the...]]>Wed, 6 Feb 2008 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Bush+budget+adds+to+military%2c+cuts+prevention.-a0196729876Voters--Republicans and Democrats alike--are telling pollsters they want, not a modest course correction, not a turned page, but a whole new book. The security budget President Bush proposed today is anything but.

Every year since 2004, according to analysis by the Task Force on a Unified Security Budget for the United States, published by the Institute for Policy Studies, nearly 90% of...]]>