Ariel Ahram -- Talking About Torture

The disaster of Abu Ghraib is a product of this administration, perpetrated by men and women under its command, aided by a civilian-contractor system championed by Secretary Rumsfeld. The resignations of senior Defense Department officials, up to and including Secretary Rumsfeld, are in order, because ultimately their policy contributed to the shame wrought on the military uniform and the pain suffered by the detained Iraqis.

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Ariel Ahram on Richard Clarke: "No Higher Priority"?

Most importantly, the Bush administration realized that punitive military measures, up to and including regime-change, were the only way to deal with states like Afghanistan, that harbored and sponsor hostile elements, establishing the precedence that terrorists would be considered agents of the states that gave them succor. While some of the Bush administration's solutions are highly problematic, at least they were proffered, which is more than can be said for President Clinton.

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Ariel Ahram On Gibson's Hubris

Imam Husayn died in a hopeless battle, starved of water, and betrayed by his friends. He was captured, beheaded, and his head carried on a pike into Yazid's camp. The Shi'a commemorate this martyrdom with passion plays about Imam Husayn's last days and public displays of asceticism, men flailing their bloody backs with leather whips and swords. Yet this physical punishment is mostly metaphorical -- religious authorities forbid participants to do any bodily damage. Mr. Gibson would accept no such limit to violence.

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