What We’re Reading Now
Aug 08, 2011
AFGHANISTAN
Attack adds to signs of an unstable Afghan region
Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times- August 8, 2011
The devastating attack on an American helicopter in eastern Afghanistan over the weekend has heightened attention on the harsh reality that even now, at the height of the NATO troop presence and not far from Afghanistan’s capital, large stretches of the country are perilous and heavily infiltrated by insurgents.
UNITED STATES
China media says U.S. debt woes show military overreach
John Chalmers, Reuters- August 8, 2011
Chinese state media on Monday blamed Washington's huge military spending and global footprint for the crisis that led to the U.S. debt rating downgrade, calling for an end to the foreign "domineering" dragging down its economy.
U.S. stocks- Index futures tumble after S & P downgrade
Edward Krudy, Reuters- August 8, 2011
U.S. stock index futures tracked a sharp drop in global equity markets on Monday after rating agency Standard & Poor's cut the top-tier AAA credit rating of the United States, rattling already-jittery investors.
HIROSHIMA
Hiroshima's lessons: What the Air Force should remember about Just War and nuclear weapons
Rev. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, Washington Post- August 8, 2011
Faced with secular activists’ furor over the separation of church and state, the Air Force recently shelved a mandatory ethics training for nuclear missile officers following a report that the session employed Christian theology and Bible verses.
64th Anniversary of Hiroshima: Time for Progress on Nukes
Aug 06, 2009
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates adds his voice to those calling for nuclear reductions
Today marks the 64th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. 50,000 people gathered in the city to remember the 140,000 killed within months of the attack and to honor thousands of survivors.
Hundreds more events to mark the anniversary happened around the globe, including one in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the location of the Y-12 plant where the “Little Boy” bomb was built. The event’s organizer, Ralph Hutchison, stated that, “The bomb does not make us more secure, it makes us less secure."
Many others agree.