As American troops prepare to head for the exit in Iraq, pundits prepare to critique the war. Let me contribute my two cents worth: the war was a spectacular failure for the vaunted American system of checks and balances. The only checks in evidence were those written to pay for the trillion or so dollars [...]

Iraq looks more and more like the proverbial tar baby the U.S. can’t get off its hands. The Obama administration had visualized getting rid of the sticky mess by year end but now several thousand American troops may well be slated for duty there beyond the planned departure date. Speaking of the embarrassment that is [...]

This column first appeared in the Fall 2010 issue of Nieman Reports. The e-mail message from Hollman Morris was unexpected. It was “urgent,” he said. “Please call im- mediately on Skype.” I reached him and his brother, Juan Pablo, in Bogota. His image on the computer screen revealed a stricken man at pains to say [...]

The Supreme Court has now decided to close its front doors to the public, citing security reasons. The decision reflects the unfortunate stranglehold that the national security bureaucracy has on the country, a stranglehold that protects no one and nothing beyond the billions of dollars it costs the taxpayers to endure its demands. Remember, for [...]