Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Worth Reading

There are a few columns that have appeared in recent days that are well worth reading. Yesterday, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote about the Bush Administration's attempts to kill the Darfur Accountability Act, which has passed the Senate and is pending in the House of Representatives. Kristof also notes that President Bush has not uttered the word "Darfur" since January 10.

There are a number of columnists I respect, including Nicholas Kristof, but there is none better than James Carroll. This week he has a beautifully written and compelling column in the Boston Globe about the role that revenge plays in the life (and policies) of our nation. Here's a brief excerpt:

The misbegotten character of the war in Iraq was crystal clear last fall, yet John Kerry was unable to challenge it. Why? The answer has as much to do with the American unconscious as with his. The nation's war establishment, and those who support it, are driven by a motive they cannot admit, even to themselves. Their critics have mostly fallen mute because they have yet to find the language for what is really at work in this war.

Read the entire column here.

On Monday, Jimmy Carter addressed the matter of nuclear proliferation and the NPT Review Conference in this International Herald Tribune commentary.

There's much more out there that is worth reading, but these three essays are a good start toward understanding something of the most important things happening in the world today.