Only Alex de Waal could write such a thoughtful review of Saviors and Surivors, Mahmood Mamdani’s book about Darfur. He manages to praise Mamdani for his unparalleled critical insight, while also questioning some of the more conspiracy-theory-sounding aspects of the analysis. Take a look at “‘Save Darfur’: Emancipatory American Exceptionalism?”
GWOT
Olbermann is sorta right about Obama and torture
I think we need a commission, but not necessarily prosecutions or convictions. My concern is that, with convictions, we’d target a few individuals without acknowledging that the problem was systemic (like with Abu Ghraib). I would very much like to see the masterminds (Bush, Cheney, Gonzalez) convicted. Considering the unlikelihood of this, however, I would prefer a commission–with the power to make broad-ranging inquiries to expose the depth of our government’s misdeeds–over a conviction of a handful of the worst people. The Global War on Terror and what it did to our constitution is much larger than something that convictions of a dozen people could undo… To be clear, I don’t think Obama has done enough, and I hope he doesn’t think we’re going to bury our past this easily.
Eamon Kircher-Allen 