Winning Hearts & Minds

Sessions’ ‘New’ Drug Policy: Even More Mandatory Minimums

"The directive instructs federal prosecutors to pursue the most serious, readily provable offense. It thus resurrects the emphasis on mandatory minimum sentencing requirements, which have required judges to impose draconian sentences for drug crimes, even when they don't believe these sentences are warranted. Sessions' memo rescinds and reverses the reforms implemented by former Attorney General Eric Holder, which urged prosecutors to charge people with low-level drug cases to avoid triggering mandatory minimum sentences. Nearly half (or 92,000) of the people in federal prison are serving sentences for drug convictions." Continue reading →

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Global Entry Passengers Swept Up In Trump’s Travel Ban

"American citizens certified for Global Entry often learned of the issue only when they sought to travel, according to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which says it received 'dozens' of complaints and is seeking agency records about the revocations through the Freedom of Information Act. The CBP did not respond to questions about how many people had been purged and restored to the 'trusted traveler' programs. Several of the people who complained about being removed from the programs were U.S. citizens originally from countries not included in the bans: India, Lebanon, and Pakistan." Continue reading →

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WaPo: The U.S. will never win the war in Afghanistan

"Obama signed off on a surge that ended with 100,000 U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. His generals also promised to break the stalemate. Today, the Taliban controls more of the country than it has since 2001. Why are we still there? We went into Afghanistan after 9/11 to get Osama bin Laden and to punish the Taliban for harboring al-Qaeda. Now bin Laden is dead; al-Qaeda is dispersed; the Taliban has been battered. The United Nations reports that there were more than 11,000 war-related civilian casualties last year, and 660,000 Afghans were displaced, adding to the country’s massive refugee crisis. The war has now cost us over $1 trillion, making it the second-costliest U.S. war." Continue reading →

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Trump on Collision Course With South Korean Leader on Dealing With North

"Mr. Moon’s strategy is the opposite: to offer an outstretched hand to the North Koreans first, in the hope of reducing tensions with the promise of economic integration. Just because that effort failed the last time it was tried, he argued during a hard-fought campaign, does not mean it will fail again as he deals with an erratic, 33-year-old leader in Pyongyang whose main interest is remaining in power." Continue reading →

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Getting Arrested for Laughing Is No Joke

"The Justice Department is prosecuting a woman who laughed during a Senate hearing to confirm Jeff Sessions as attorney general. I can sympathize with her somewhat absurd plight because I was once tossed out of the press box in the Supreme Court for laughing at the wrong time." Continue reading →

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Ten Ways to Reduce Terrorism – Can We Admit The War On Terror Has Failed?

"In the wake of the terror attacks in England, France, Germany and elsewhere, can we finally admit that the war on terror is an utter and complete failure? So if the war on terror has failed, what should we do to stop terrorists?" Continue reading →

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Fresh US Airstrikes Kill 21, Mostly Civilians, in Northern Syria

"At least one of the strikes appears to have been a deliberate attack on a boatload of civilians attempting to cross the Euphrates River. The boat was carrying about 40 people, and NGOs say that at least seven bodies, six of them children, have been recovered so far, with more missing. The US has dropped leaflets in the area urging civilians to flee toward the Euphrates, but apparently dropped a second leaflet warning them not to try to cross the river or they’d be attacked. The biggest target in the Hanida strikes was an Internet cafe, with the US strikke destroying the site, killing 14 people within, including four children. The US is so far not offering any justification for any of the attacks in the area." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFresh US Airstrikes Kill 21, Mostly Civilians, in Northern Syria