The Hindsight Factor

Don't let the Red Cross find out—and other military advice on the use of harsh interrogation techniques.

    Washington - The former US Senator Jesse Helms, a legendary isolationist and defender of "Southern values" who spent much of his life goading liberals, died yesterday.

    Universally known as "Senator No" he was deeply sceptical of international cooperation and intervention. His refusal to ratify international accords, notably the Kyoto treaty on global warming, made him the bete noir of the Georgetown foreign policy establishment

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    Beaches, barbecues and flags as big as baseball fields. Fireworks as loud as thunder lighting the nighttime sky. Hot fun, as Sly & the Family Stone would say, in the summertime.

    Friday was the 232nd anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Celebrations were ubiquitous. HBO offered a marathon telecast of its John Adams series. Bands of wildly varying quality, from one coast to the other, let loose with "The Star-Spangled Banner," "America the Beautiful" and "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

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    Presidential hopeful revisits patriotism with veterans.

    Butte, Montana - Ralph Maxwell, a former attorney and judge in North Dakota, nearly shook with anger. Wearing his World War II uniform, which he hadn't taken out of the closet since he came home to restart his life in 1945, he'd just been asked to comment on recent articles and reports where people questioned the patriotism of the presumed Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama.

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    Al Gore never claimed that he invented the Internet. Howard Dean didn't scream. Hillary Clinton didn't say she was staying in the race because Barack Obama might be assassinated. And Wesley Clark didn't impugn John McCain's military service.

    Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary, titled his tell-all memoir "What Happened." But a true account of modern American politics should be titled "What Didn't Happen." Again and again we've had media firestorms over supposedly revealing incidents that never actually took place.

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    More American servicewomen have been killed serving in Iraq than were killed serving in either Operation Desert Storm or in the Vietnam War, according to a Cybercast News Service database.

    So far, 97 American women, including seven single mothers, have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The average age of these female casualties is 27.

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    Ingrid Betancourt arrived in France today after being held captive for six years in the Colombian jungle, amid claims that a ransom was paid to free her.

    The Colombian government said that she was freed in an audacious operation after the military tricked Farc into handing the French-Colombian politician over without a shot being fired.

    But quoting "reliable sources", Swiss Radio reported that a ransom was paid of around $20m (£10m).

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Tom Hayden Call him slippery or nuanced, Barack Obama's core position on Iraq has always been more ambiguous than audacious. Now it could put his candidacy for President at risk.

    Washington - A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the "exclusive" means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government's claim that the president's constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law. The judge, Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge for the Northern District of California, made his findings in a ruling on a lawsuit brought by an Oregon charity.

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French PM Nicolas Sarkozy wants to use France's turn in the EU's rotating presdiency to "harmonize" European immigration policy.

A new book explores the real populist vision that lies behind the shallow rhetoric to which we've been subjected during this election year.

While the the American Medical Association claims pot has no medical value, Big Pharma is busy getting patents for marijuana products.

Realpolitik is one thing. Realstupidpolitik is quite another.

An embedded U.S. journalist said the military tried to censor him after he posted photos from Fallujah.

"Hancock" is supposed to be a wry commentary on the pressure of being Will Smith, but the meesage gets lost in a big-budget Hollywood train wreck.

There was little media introspection about Heath Ledger's overdose, while Amy Winehouse receives daily scrutiny for her drug habits. What gives?

An embedded U.S. journalist said the military tried to censor him after he posted photos from Fallujah.

John Nichols The people who helped the late North Carolina senator run race-baiting campaigns are now helping John McCain.

An Independence Day look back at the radical influence of Thomas Paine, whose words helped spark the American Revolution.