Nation Topics - US Military | The Nation

The article presents New York Representative Major Owens' views on education policy in the United States. The author suggests that eduction become the top federal budget priority. Statistics related to education spending are reviewed. The importance of a first-rate education system in the United States is discussed.

The article presents the author's views on media ownership in the United States. According to the author, the number of major U.S. media companies fell by more than one half in the past two decades. It is the author's view that the marketplace of ideas in the U.S. is shrinking large conglomerates continue to by up medial outlets. The history of media consolidation is reviewed.

The article focuses on U.S. Army Special Charles Graner Jr., who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for crimes of assault, conspiracy, dereliction and committing indecent acts while at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq. The question of whether or not Graner was under orders from his superiors to conduct acts of torture is discussed. It is the author's view that prison guards have naturally high stress levels and hair-trigger tempers. It is suggested that there was evidence that Graner was capable of vicious acts even before he was stationed at Abu Ghraib.

Focuses on a grassroots movement against U.S. military recruitment organized by Latinos. Research being done by the U.S. Dept. of Defense to find out how to make enlistment appealing to Latinos; Claim by Larry Korb, former Assistant Secretary of Defense in Ronald Reagan's Defense Department, that a decrease in Latino enlistment numbers would hamper the U.S. military because they are the fastest-growing minority; Drop in African American recruitment due to dissatisfaction with the Iraq war; Details of a campaign to educate Latinos about recruitment, Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities (YANO), organized by Jorge Mariscal, a Vietnam veteran and professor at University of San Diego.

Reviews the book "Imperial Grunts: The American Military on the Ground," by Robert Kaplan.

Investigates the causes of childhood obesity in America. Review of efforts being made by major food companies to convince Americans that they understand their concerns with weight and health; Suggestion that behind the scenes, food companies are pushing the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to defend their interests; Author's view that the conflict over what Americans eat and the way the U.S. government promotes food is an example of how Bush's corporate interests supercede his interests in public health; Review of how public opinion is behind more restrictions on junk food marketing.

Presents various news briefs related to United States politics and government. Report by John S. Friedman that a group of U.S. soldiers who served in Iraq plan to file a lawsuit in Federal District Court against the U.S. Army for violating its regulations by not offering safeguards against exposure to depleted uranium; Report by John Nichols on anti-Patriot Act resolutions; Book release of a recent show of political posters at the New York School of Visual Arts; Review of articles appearing on "The Nation" Web site.

Comments on a American news media, which the author contends are not reporting on the deaths of prisoners in American hands since the beginning of 2005. Suggestion that major news media are not looking into the number of prisoners who have died at the U.S. military controlled prisons and Guantánamo camp in Cuba; Major news agencies that have not reported on the deaths of detainees, including CNN, Fox, and MSNBC; Indication from LexisNexis that the "New York Times" is nearly alone in mentioning deaths; View that American deaths from September 11 are reported, but not the Iraqi deaths from war.

Focuses on the role of civil society in bringing about political change and democratization in countries around the world. Statement that the political movements were peaceful and popular; Shift toward the involvement of governments in bringing political change; Creation of the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States for supporting political parties in other countries; Reference to the U.S. involvement in the successful coup against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 2002; Contributions of the Endowment for Democracy to support the presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine; Claim that the integrity of civil society depends on independence from governments.

The article reports on United States Congressional hearings on the use of steroid drugs by Major League Baseball players. The Congressional hearings on steroid use in baseball turned into an orgy of self-promotion as committee members told gushy stories about their love of the game. After eight hours of this, six subpoenaed multimillionaires delivered pointless testimony. Although slammed for stonewalling questions about his own drug use, baseball player Mark McGwire took a position in the tradition of noncooperating by refusing to implicate others for personal advantage. And player José Canseco, who wrote a book about big-leaguers' drug use, inherited the role of money-grubbing snitch.