Nation Topics - United States | The Nation

This article reflects on the National Security Agency wiretapping controversy as well as the brutal interrogation policies for prisoners held at the United States Guantánamo military base in Cuba. It argues that despite the President George W. Bush administration's insistence that it is following the Geneva Conventions, Guantánamo has become a torture camp that should be closed down. It also highlights efforts to expand the powers of the Patriot Act by incorporating wiretaps into the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or by simply making them legal.

This article reflects on the Palestinian elections in which Hamas gained control of the Palestinian Authority's legislature. It argues that the United States' insistence that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce violence and agree to abide by Israeli-Palestinian agreements or suffer a cutoff of all aid to the country is short-sighted and dangerous. The author believes that respect for the United States in the Arab world, already in short supply, will suffer further if Washington refuses to accept the results of the free and fair Palestinian elections.

This article reflects on illegal immigration to the United States. In December of 2005, the House passed the Sensenbrenner bill, which the article suggests is one of the most draconian pieces of anti-immigrant legislation in a generation. Vigilante Minutemen, no longer content to patrol the borders looking for illegal immigrants to arrest, have taken to chasing day laborers at pickup sites. Two-thirds of the American population think that illegal immigration is a serious problem.

This article discusses the raising and hunting of bobwhite quails and United States Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of his friend and fellow hunter Harry Whittington while hunting the birds. Quality-of-life indicators for the little bird have been on a steady downward tangent ever since the late nineteenth century. Quail habitat in Texas is minimally improving, as ranch managers try to adapt the terrain from the needs of cattle to quail and other hunting targets.

This article reflects on the withdrawal of Paul Hackett, an Iraq War veteran, from a race for an Ohio Senate seat the Democrats desperately want to win. Hackett insists he was pressured to quit the race by members of his own party. The article suggests that his challenger, Sherrod Brown, is a favorite of grassroots labor, civil rights and antiwar voters and is a better candidate who will bring more energy than Hackett, who had failed to make many inroads among Democrats outside of Ohio.

This article reflects on a court decision in Brooklyn, New York stating that United States courts will not interfere with the torture of suspects in the "war on terror" despite previous court decisions to hold officials of other countries responsible for the torture of people in their own lands. The article suggests this is another example of American exceptionalism and cites the example of a man recently detained and interrogated at John F. Kennedy airport on his way home to Canada from Europe.

The article looks at the investigation by the United States Congress into the President George W. Bush administration's post-Hurricane Katrina response. The article analyzes Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Michael Brown's testimony, where he explained the problem in response as a disconnect between FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security. The author states the real problem is weak leadership from the White House and declares the need of an independent investigation.

The article reflects on the U.S. President George W. Bush administration's handling of the prewar intelligence information about Iraq in the days before the United States invaded Iraq. It argues that Bush and his aides did not study the intelligence to ascertain if an urgent danger really existed and that the administration made the decision for war based on their own reasons.

The article discusses immigration as a global issue rather than an issue to be dealt with by individual countries. Immigrants-right activist with the American Friends Service Committee, Chris Jimenez, and other immigrants-rights activists proposed alternatives to the security-focused approaches to immigrants, such as in the U.S., at the Sixth World Forum in Caracas, Venezuela. Three obstacles to a more enlightened immigration policy debate is presented.

The article presents the last article in a series called "Letter From Ground Zero." The author explains the reasons for ending the series, which center around the complexity of the U.S. President George W. Bush administration's policies originating from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the inability to continue to trace the origins of the policies. The author speaks about the crisis of the balance of powers and popular freedoms in the United States.