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A Mormon “frontlash” for Romney?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

A poll out of Nevada this week showed Mitt Romney winning 45 percent of those Republicans likely to attend Saturday’s caucuses. And the internals of the poll showed Romney's base: 86 percent of Mormon likely caucus-goers support him.

That’s a significant number, especially given that Mormons, who represent 7 percent of the state’s population, made up a quarter of caucus-goers in 2008, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

It's worth remembering here that Nevada is considered a swing state and Romney could benefit from what Ed Kilgore calls a Mormon "frontlash" in a general election contest against Barack Obama. In the primary, Kilgore points out, Mormons "will also matter on February 28 in Arizona (6% LDS), and in later caucuses in Idaho (27% LDS) and Wyoming (11% LDS), right down to heavily-Mormon Utah, which ends the whole nominating process on June 26."

How Bradley Manning’s fate will be decided

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

This week, Bradley Manning came one step closer to being tried for allegedly leaking a trove of secret American cables to WikiLeaks when a military officer made the formal recommendation that Manning should face a court-martial on 22 criminal charges.

One of the counts, aiding the enemy, carries the possibility of the death penalty, but prosecutors have already said they will not seek it in Manning's case.

The recommendation this week was made to Maj. Gen. Michael Linnington, commander of the Military District of Washington, who is what is known as the convening authority in the case. The military justice system has important differences from the civilian system, so I spoke to Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, to explain the basics.

We've now had the investigating officer as well as another officer this week recommend a court-martial to the Military District of Washington commander. What's the next step?

Afghanistan: “The tide of war is receding”

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Glenn Greenwald wrote recently about how reporter Michael Hastings’ new book on Afghanistan exposes some of the pathologies of national security journalism as it is commonly practiced today. But the new book, “The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan,” also contains lots of interesting reporting on the recent history of the war, particularly the period between 2009 and 2010 when Gen. Stanley McChrystal was in charge. McChrystal, of course, resigned in June 2010 after the publication of a Rolling Stone article by Hastings that contained sundry damaging material, including quotes from McChrystal aides mocking the White House.

I spoke to Hastings about the American relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the effort to arm Afghan militias around the country, and recent reports of negotiations with the Taliban.

Obama’s not-so “dangerous” Pentagon cuts

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

In a presentation at the Pentagon Thursday, President Obama announced the results of a "comprehensive defense review" and some hints about how a proposed $487 billion in cuts over the next decade might be made.

Republicans quickly blasted Obama's initiative as "dangerous," with columnist Charles Krauthammer calling the plan "a road map to American decline."

But are the proposed cuts really all that drastic? For an answer to that question and an explanation of how cuts might -- or might not -- ultimately be made, I spoke to Bill Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy.

Can you give the quick broad overview of what Obama actually announced yesterday in terms of the size of the military and its budget?

Reporter recounts massacre revealed by WikiLeaks

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:01:00 +0000

This week, a State Department cable released by WikiLeaks brought renewed attention to a disputed killing of several civilians in the Iraqi town of Ishaqi on March 15, 2006.

The cable contains a copy of a letter of inquiry by a U.N. investigator outlining allegations that U.S. forces had handcuffed and then "executed" 10 people in the home of Faiz Harrat Al-Majma'ee. The soldiers then called in an airstrike that destroyed the house, it alleges.

The U.S. military has maintained that nothing improper happened, but to this day has refused to comment in detail about the case.

Beyond the primary question about what happened that day and whether it was an unjustified massacre or a case of collateral damage, the incident has political ramifications. As the AP reported Friday, Iraqi politicians said this week the incident could have an impact on any agreement to allow U.S. forces to stay in the country beyond Dec. 31.

Obama’s escalating war in Yemen

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:01:00 +0000

The Obama administration has in recent months intensified its bombing campaign in the unstable Gulf nation of Yemen, where Islamic militants have been the target of U.S. airstrikes for several years.

Just this month, a U.S. drone strike against militants in southern Yemen reportedly killed at least 50 people -- many of them civilians. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal quoted unnamed U.S. officials this week saying that the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula was "placing a higher priority on attacking the U.S. and Western targets overseas."

All of this is occurring against a backdrop of civil unrest and fighting in Yemen, where the regime of President Ali Abdullah Saleh has been trying to violently suppress opposition protesters for months. For an update on the situation in Yemen and the U.S. military campaign there, I spoke to Gregory Johnsen, a respected Yemen analyst and a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern studies at Princeton.

Crackdown on medical marijuana ahead?

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 14:01:00 +0000

Drug-policy reformers are worried about a new Obama administration memo instructing federal prosecutors on how to deal with the growing number of medical marijuana dispensaries.

The Justice Department memo, sent to U.S. attorneys around the nation, addresses a central problem with the growing number of states that have legalized medical marijuana: The drug remains illegal under federal law, whether used for medical purposes or not. The new guidance memo reiterates the illegality of medical marijuana and appears to encourage prosecutors to go after some marijuana dispensaries, particularly the large operations.

President Obama suggested during the campaign in 2007-08 that his Justice Department would not prioritize going after medical marijuana. To find out more about the new medical marijuana memo, and for an update on the broader drug war, I spoke to Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which lobbies for alternatives to the drug war.

Pink-washed: Gay rights and the Mideast conflict

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 14:01:00 +0000

A mysterious video painting the organizers of the latest Gaza flotilla as anti-gay was exposed as a hoax last week, in the latest instance of what pro-Palestinian activists call "pinkwashing."

The term refers to efforts by the Israeli government and its allies to highlight the rights afforded to the gay community in Israel -- and the plight of gays in Arab countries and the Palestinian territories -- to distract from or justify the continued occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza.

Some background on the current flap: The goal of the flotilla organizers is to protest the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza by sailing to the impoverished Palestinian territory. (A similar effort last year ended with Israeli commandos killing several civilians on board one of the ships.)

This video appeared on YouTube purporting to show an American gay rights activist explaining his rejection by -- and disillusionment with -- the organizers of the latest Gaza flotilla. It was promptly promoted on social media by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an intern in Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Watch: