Soldier in Leaks Case Says He’s Been Punished Enough

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/us/wikileaks-suspect-bradley-manning-describes-confinement.html?_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 9:38 AM
Subject: re: Soldier in Leaks Case Says He’s Been Punished Enough
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

  Since our debacle in SouthEast asian, the U.S. military has labored long and hard to insure that our news media would never again "bring the war into our livingrooms".  The response is obvious and misguided.  The U.S. military is an arm of the U.S. government and--as such--is answerable to the will of the people. We need to know what's being done in our name, on our tax dollars, at the expense of our sons' and daughters' blood. There will always be tactical forward-looking details (e.g. troop movements) that must be kept secret even from the American public for a time during war.  But the "battlefield video file" that he is pleading guilty to leaking is exactly the sort of document that--belatedly--ended the madness in Vietnam.  If it is a crime for us to see that, we no longer have civilian oversight of the military.

Barry Haskell Levine

Japan’s Nuclear Mistake

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/opinion/japans-nuclear-mistake.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 9:38 AM
Subject: re: Japan’s Nuclear Mistake
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   As Mssrs. von Hippel and Takubo observe, "uranium remains cheap and abundant". What they neglect is that more than 99% of that is uranium 238 and is not fissionable. If we look only at the uranium 235--on which current nuclear generators run--the analysis is quite different. Indeed, there's not even enough to bridge the world over until greener carbon-neutral energy sources can displace our current addiction to fossil fuels.  

   Breeder reactors are not without problems. The plutonium generated is toxic and could be diverted to weapons. But if we are to have a serious discussion of energy policy, it must start with the real cost and risks of the options, not with lazy deceptions.

Barry Haskell Levine

The Palestinians’ U.N. Bid

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/opinion/the-un-bid-from-palestinians.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 9:12 AM
Subject: re: The Palestinians’ U.N. Bid
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    Sixty-five years ago, the U.N. voted to create in what had been Mandate Palestine a Jewish State, an Arab State and the international enclave of Jerusalem. The Jews said yes, the Arabs said no and no one spoke for Jerusalem.  Time runs forward. The Jews now have a state, an educational system, a healthcare system and a voice in the councils of nations; the Arabs do not. The U.N. General Assembly can't undo the mistake of '47. But that's where the repairs must begin. Prime Minister Netanyahu has no more right to veto that progress than the Arabs had to veto the creation of Israel.

Barry Haskell Levine

Close Guantánamo Prison

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/opinion/close-guantanamo-prison.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 9:05 AM
Subject: re: Close Guantánamo Prison
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    The best time to roll back the Cheney/Bush assaults on the rule of law and human dignity is now almost four years behind us; the second best time is now. For too long, the president of the United States was held hostage to the last administration's rearguard, protecting torturers from prosecution and keeping potentially innocent men incarcerated. The American people voted for change, and we mean to have it. Now that he is no longer running for office, perhaps president Obama is finally free to deliver.

Barry Haskell Levine

Election Spurred a Move to Codify U.S. Drone Policy

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/world/white-house-presses-for-drone-rule-book.html?hp&_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Sun, Nov 25, 2012 at 6:41 AM
Subject: re: Election Spurred a Move to Codify U.S. Drone Policy
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:  

     The Obama administration's assertion that "the process [of extrajudicial killings by drone] is meticulous and lawful" should fool no one. Our constitution provides that laws are created in the Legislature, not the Executive branch.  Two administrations now have tried to elevate the internal musings, guidelines and proclamations of their own departments of Justice to the level of law. But as long as the department of Justice is a part of our Executive and not Legislature, it cannot be.

    Presidential power-grabs are to be expected in times of war, whether it's Lincoln's suspension of Habeas Corpus or Truman's seizure of the steel mills. In this undeclared war, it's particularly critical that we get it right; we cannot tolerate a temporary imbalance "for the duration of hostilities" when the duration may be forever. Our system of checks and balances only works if our Judiciary our Legislature and our People push back.

Barry Haskell Levine

Brigades That Fire on Israel Are Showing a New Discipline

Brigades That Fire on Israel Are Showing a New Discipline

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/world/middleeast/brigades-that-fire-on-israel-show-a-deadly-new-discipline.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Mon, Nov 19, 2012 at 8:39 AM
Subject: re: Brigades That Fire on Israel Are Showing a New Discipline
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    On June 20th, 1948 the Israeli Defense Forces shelled and sank a ship carrying arms to an independent Israeli militia. When the Altalena went down, Israel had a single military structure, to whom the people ceded a monopoly on force. At that point and only at that point, what had been a movement was a State.  

    In 2012, The Egyptian government may negotiate with the Qassem brigades over smuggling at Rafah , and Israel's  government may hold talks with Hamas over ransoming prisoners. But until the people of Gaza have a single command to whom they cede a monopoly on force, they are doomed to a Hobbesian state of chaos.

Barry Haskell Levine

Life, Death and Deficits

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/opinion/life-death-and-deficits.html?_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 9:22 AM
Subject: re: Life, Death and Deficits
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   The "political realism" that forced president Obama to settle for a national healthcare plan mediated by the big insurance companies accommodated the congress of 2009.  But with Joe Lieberman's retirement, big insurance will no longer have their man inside. Now, with Obama back in and with Lieberman leaving is the time to deliver what president Obama advocated almost four years ago: a system run for the health of Americans, not for the profit of our insurers.

Barry Haskell Levine

Obama’s Nightmare

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/opinion/friedman-obamas-nightmare.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Wed, Nov 14, 2012 at 8:05 AM
Subject: re: Obama’s Nightmare
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   Ten years ago, Thomas Friedman asserted that Iraq was the keystone to the Middle East; by sponsoring regime change there, the U.S. could bring peace to the region. Now he pins that target onto Syria.

        I no longer care whether Mr. Friedman can learn from his mistakes or not. But it is important that the U.S. should learn, and change our behavior.  Regime change in Iraq has been very profitable to arms merchants and oil companies. It has cost America thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. We can't afford another such adventure.

Barry Haskell Levine

Afghan Warlord’s Call to Arms Rattles Officials

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/world/asia/ismail-khan-powerful-afghan-stokes-concern-in-kabul.html?pagewanted=all

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 8:24 AM
Subject: re: Afghan Warlord’s Call to Arms Rattles Officials
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   Warlords in Afghanistan have been learning from America's last decade, even if we haven't. General Petraeus's signal achievement was built on deception. Under cover of a temporary build-up of manpower (one can always use more headcounts) he shifted our focus from building national institutions in Iraq to arming and enabling sectarian militias there.  The result was a rapid drop in deaths; nobody messes with these militias on their home turf.  But in the long-term, it has guaranteed that Iraq will break up into smaller states along ethnic lines.  

   Now warlords in Afghanistan see that the U.S. has given up on a fool's errand, building strong national institutions there. They know that if there is to be any order when we're gone, they will have to create it. Eventually, Uzbeks and Tajiks and Hazaras and Pashtuns and a dozen other groups who were lumped together when the British drew the border of Afghanistan will (and should) achieve national self-determination as promised in the U.N. charter. Until then, we would be wise to avoid spending American lives and wealth trying futilely to command the tides.

Barry Haskell Levine

The Foreign Policy Agenda

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/opinion/president-obamas-foreign-policy-agenda.html?_r=0

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine
Date: Mon, Nov 12, 2012 at 6:43 PM
Subject: re: The Foreign Policy Agenda
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:
   President Obama's signature stamp on our Foreign Policy agenda has been his assertion of a novel presidential power to kill anyone--citizen or foreigner--without due process of law.  Governments will come and go in Libya and Syria and around the world.  But the evil precedent that president Obama set in killing Anwar al-Awlaki will haunt us as long as the American republic endures, unless he corrects it now.
Barry Haskell Levine

A Second Chance on Human Rights

http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/a-second-chance-on-human-rights/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine <levinebar@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Nov 9, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Subject: re: A Second Chance on Human Rights
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   Professor Lewis correctly identifies sins of president Obama's first term that must be fixed in his second. But his proposed cure for the summary execution of Americans by drone-strike is no fix at all. No court can be simultaneously "ad hoc" and "duly constituted".  If it is formed just for the purpose of approving the president's hit-list, it is "ad hoc". If it is not "duly constituted" it cannot preserve the target's right to due process of law.

   It is likely that Anwar al-Awlaki would have been convicted of treason if he had been charged and tried. But he was neither charged, nor tried. All that has been established is that he engaged in noxious political speech. That's his right as an American citizen.

Barry Haskell Levine

An Invigorated Second Term

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/08/opinion/an-invigorated-second-term-for-president-obama.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Thu, Nov 8, 2012 at 10:10 AM
Subject: re: An Invigorated Second Term
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

   Four years ago, to his enduring credit, president Obama proposed reinventing the American healthcare system. That discussion was swiftly narrowed to a discussion of healthcare coverage. Although coverage is a necessary component, it cannot be the whole system.  Now in his second term, it is for president Obama to dive back into the fray. Americans need to know not only who pays the doctors, but how much treatment we want. Ongoing advances in medicine and medical devices have allowed us to prolong the dying process more often than they have allowed us to restore quality of life and autonomy. The current fee-for-service paradigm means that most Americans will die with the maximum number of tubes stuck into our bodies. Yet we haven't even begun the discussion of whether this  vast outlay of money is aligned with our values.

    The rancor and distraction of the political campaign are behind us. As we begin president Obama's second term America has to decide what our values are, and where we will spend our wealth.

Barry Haskell Levine

Romney’s Closing Argument: ‘Look to the Record’

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/romneys-closing-argument-i-promise-change-and-i-have-a-record-of-achieving-it/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Sat, Nov 3, 2012 at 7:51 AM
Subject: re: Romney’s Closing Argument: ‘Look to the Record’
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    Voters  can't know if this newest incarnation of Romney is anything more than a disposable mask. But there is no more time to "shake the Etch-A-Sketch".  The Romney going into the election is blaming president Obama for Mitch McConnell's strategy of obstructionism.  If you believe that (or even if you believe that he really believes that), by all means vote for Romney. For myself, I've started working on a new constitutional amendment. It is not enough that to run for president of the United States one must be 35 yrs of age and a natural born citizen. One must also not be a spineless liar.

Barry Haskell Levine

C.I.A. Played Major Role Fighting Militants in Libya Attack

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/world/africa/cia-played-major-defensive-role-in-libya-attack.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Fri, Nov 2, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Subject: re: C.I.A. Played Major Role Fighting Militants in Libya Attack
To: letters@nytimes.com


To the Editor:

    Seven weeks after the fact, it's still somehow contentious whether we had a consulate in Benghazi at all. Rest assured, if only for purposes of staffing and funding, our Department of State knows that answer; it is no.  What exactly we did have in Benghazi is less clear. Is it normal that the CIA should comprise a majority of the staff at any diplomatic compound? If Ambassador Stevens was killed while on a mission to provide a charade of legitimacy to a nest of spies, the episode takes on yet another layer of tragedy.

Barry Haskell  Levine