Copyright 2010 Michael Rubin Wed, 10 Mar 2010 07:40:02 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Michael Rubin :: Writings http://www.michaelrubin.org mrubin@aei.org (Michael Rubin) webmaster@pundicity.com en-us http://www.michaelrubin.org/7034/afghanistan-deadline-is-not-smart-policy Mon, 8 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST Stephen Schlesinger has a remarkably rosy reading of President Obama's speech at West Point. No matter how he reads it, though, the reality is that the U.S. will begin to abandon Afghanistan yet again in July 2011. And it will not bode well for the war... http://www.michaelrubin.org/7033/afghanistan-withdrawal-deadline Mon, 8 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST On December 1, after months of careful deliberation, President Obama announced a surge strategy for Afghanistan. "As Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan,"... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6920/stop-iran-bomb Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST On Thursday, Iran will mark Revolution Day, its annual commemoration of the monarchy's end. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has promised to use the day to "punch" and "stun" the West, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the Islamic Republic will... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6889/iraq-watershed-election Mon, 1 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST After the Iraqi parliament banned 500 candidates from contesting the March 7 national elections, Vice President Joseph Biden rushed to Baghdad to urge Iraqi political leaders to reconsider. While the ban has fueled U.S. cynicism about Iraqi democracy,... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6898/taking-tea-with-the-taliban Sun, 1 Feb 2010 09:00:00 EST Addressing the nation on December 1, 2009, President Barack Obama laid out the case for an augmented American presence in Afghanistan to battle the Taliban forces seeking to push their way back into power. "Over the last several years, the Taliban has... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6710/iran-syria-hezbollah-axis Thu, 17 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST The 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel took not only outside observers by surprise, but also Israel and the government of Lebanon. A day after an operation in which Hezbollah killed five Israeli soldiers and captured two others, the Israel Defense... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6637/not-nearly-enough-on-afghanistan Tue, 1 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST Announcing the results of his administration's first policy review on Afghanistan more than eight months ago, President Barack Obama declared, "I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6606/syria-islamist-terrorism Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST While the Obama administration and congressional leaders may justify renewed engagement with Syria with their desire to jumpstart the Middle East peace process, they ignore the very issue that lies at the heart of the Syrian threat to U.S. national... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6530/forgetting-the-fall Fri, 6 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST President Barack Obama has RSVPed "nein" to Chancellor Merkel's invitation to Germany to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. National Review Online asked Michael Rubin and a few other experts what this snub reveals about... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6379/human-rights-iran-diplomacy Wed, 7 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST Iranians who took to the streets this summer to protest electoral fraud failed to win a new election. But they nevertheless returned concerns about the Islamic republic's human rights record to the international stage. On June 20, U.S. President Barack... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6365/bad-options-on-iran Mon, 5 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST On October 1, President Barack Obama ascended the podium in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House and declared negotiations with Iran a tentative success. "The P5-plus-1 is united, and we have an international community that has reaffirmed its... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6343/more-than-talk-iran-stonewalling Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST Tomorrow, U.S. diplomats and their Russian, Chinese and European counterparts will join Iranian officials to discuss the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. The meeting follows new Iranian missile tests and exposure of a second covert Iranian nuclear... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6164/british-government-lockerbie-bomber Wed, 2 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST On Aug. 20, Scottish authorities freed Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. Even though he was sentenced to life in prison, he served just over 11 days for each... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6557/listening-to-freedoms-voices Mon, 1 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EST On January 21, 2005, George W. Bush looked out over the crowds gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol for his second inaugural and declared, "It is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in... http://www.michaelrubin.org/6136/to-prosecute-or-not-to-prosecute Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:00:00 EST CIA interrogators should not face criminal charges. Those who seek to prosecute Bush officials and the CIA make two mistakes: First, like armchair dictators, they aim to impose their own definition of torture where no consensus exists. Further, they...