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But let’s talk about bin Laden. The first notion we can discard is that the US pulled this feat off alone–that our intelligence and military capabilities allowed a convoy of Blackhawk helicopters carrying teams of Navy Seals, along with gunships (loaded with 100+ Army Rangers or Marines) flying defense above the Blackhawks, to penetrate, probably from Afghanistan, 100 miles or more into Pakistan’s airspace to one of the country’s most heavily guarded locations (Pakistan’s ‘West Point’) without detection by Pakistan’s intelligence/ military forces or without encountering Pakistani fighter jets.

As I wrote in my piece, Are We Moving Closer to Peace and Human Rights with Osama bin Laden’s Death?, for the Examiner this is a time for celebration and remembrance; However this news, while unprecedentedly victorious, will undoubtedly leave a deep cut in the power of al Qaeda’s forces and the fight against terrorism, […]

After a full day of media reporting and analysis of the death of Osama Bin Laden we are now in a better position to answer some of the questions I posed in my last post. Of course, details remain sketchy and some things may never be known, but we are at least starting to fill […]

One of the most important dimensions of this development is the extent to which Pakistan was involved, both in harboring bin Laden and in executing the operation that killed him.  The Pakistan section of Obama’s Sunday night speech jumped out at me: But it’s important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead […]

Sarwar Kashmeri, a senior fellow in the International Security Program of the Atlantic Council and a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association, has two recent offerings that give excellent insights into how the Libya operation might affect NATO’s future: 1. A posting on European Geostrategy, CSDP – the Atlantic Alliance’s Saviour? (CSDP is the European […]

The UN Human Rights Council has authorized a new three-year mandate for Olivier De Schutter to continue as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. The Special Rapporteur’s position was established to “…respond fully to the necessity for an integrated and coordinated approach in the promotion and protection of the right to food,” […]

Just heard a news flash that DNA results have confirmed that the man Navy Seals killed last night in Pakistan is indeed Osama Bin Laden.  That should cover any lingering doubts for most people.  I say most because there are still some people who don’t believe Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30, 1945.  Just […]

President Obama announced tonight that Osama Bin Laden is dead. A military operation comprised of elite special forces from the CIA and Navy SEALs conducted a raid on a compound located in Pakistan and in the ensuing firefight Bin Laden was shot and killed. Forensic tests have confirmed the identity of the body. Here is […]

There have been a number of useful developments recently in which electric power utilities are showing that big-ticket programs are now and are going in the near future to make a difference. TVA – The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has announced that they are going to phase out 18 coal-fired power plants, replacing them with […]

The U.S. House of Representatives will soon come off a two week recess for which they took right after they made critical budget decissions.  The House passed their version of next year’s budget, which was written by Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan. Many child advocacy organizations  and activists are in heavy opposition of the budget resolution and are urging Senators to reject the […]

In honor of today’s royal wedding, I draw to your attention a very interesting article that appeared in one of Canada’s leading newspapers, the Globe and Mail – Britain’s Crisis of Succession: Charles and the Story Behind the Royal Wedding. The article gives us a glimpse into the politics inside the royal family and how […]

From ABC News: Syrian army units have clashed with each other over following President Bashar Assad’s orders to crack down on protesters in Daraa, a besieged city at the heart of the uprising, witnesses and human rights groups said Thursday… “There are some battalions that refused to open fire on the people,” Monajed told The […]