NIGHTWATCH Comment on US Mid-East Policy

Special comment. Readers are watching the crumbling of the US policy architecture in the Middle East during the past four decades which stressed regional stability over all other considerations. That policy did not restrain Israel but did help limit conflicts,  It also had many negative consequences for devout Muslims and supporters of the Palestinians. The …

EGYPT: CIA’s Last Stand? Mubarak as First Domino? Advice for the USG: BUTT OUT.

Suleiman: The CIA’s man in Cairo Suleiman, a friend to the US and reported torturer, has long been touted as a presidential successor. . . . . . . . In the mid-1990s, Suleiman worked closely with the Clinton administration in devising and implementing its rendition program; back then, rendition involved kidnapping suspected terrorists and …

Righteous: Lea Michele’s America the Beautiful

Superbowl XLV (45) will be remembered for great football, and one wonderful rendition of America the Beautiful.  Worth a listen…. The singer and actress, who is nominated for a Grammy alongside her “Glee” castmembers, belted a straightforward version of “America the Beautiful” to help kick off the game (she was followed by Christina Aguilera’s vampy …

NIGHTWATCH Extract: Trusted Bodyguard Executes Governor in Pakistan for Being a Blasphemer–Observations on Meaning for Church & State

Pakistan: An elite police commando from the provincial police force who was assigned as a bodyguard for the governor of Punjab Province murdered the governor today in Islamabad. The commando dropped his weapon and surrendered to the police, bragging that he was proud he killed a blasphemer. With that, Pakistan’s political crisis deepened.