Two Weeks to Go – and One President to Oust
"The thousands of African-American women and men lining up at early-voting sites in Florida are sending a profound message across this country."
A Draft or Merely Hot Air?
"The current tar baby in Iraq has bogged down 140,000 U.S. troops and may ensnare more after November if the worsening violence and freedom from electoral constraints cause the next administration—whether headed by Bush or Kerry—to escalate U.S. involvement. So the government may be tempted to enlarge the military “on the cheap” by using conscription."
A Few Comments on Tafsir of the Qur’an
"Recently, people have appeared who, without the slightest qualification for interpreting the Qur'an, try to impose their own objectives and ideas upon both the Qur'an and the Sunnah."
Holding Up a Mirror to the Face of U.S. "Exceptionalism"
"Empire is about power; absolute power corrupts because it allows people such as Donald Rumsfeld to treat people, whether Iraqi civilians or American soldiers, as mere ciphers."
Will the US change policy toward the conflict?
"Bush is likely to maintain his unilateral approach to foreign policy, although he may seek greater cooperation with allies in NATO and countries such as Russia and China. Kerry intends to replace unilateralism with multilateralism; this means the placing of greater priority on cooperation with the UN, the EU and other world powers."
