Taking Baby Steps Toward Freedom
By Lady Liberty

Some close friends of mine had an exceptional weekend. They've just became the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy (who, unlike some newborns, actually is beautiful). Mom and baby are just fine; Dad is as proud of both of them as you might expect him to be.

Although the new parents are quite understandably focused on the near term - diapers and late night feedings are doubtless intertwined with the amazement and joy they both so clearly feel - babies more truly represent the long term. They are, after all, the future. As I held the little one, I thought about what might lay ahead of him as he slept. I couldn't help holding out some hope that the past would have a greater effect on him than will the present.

When we - the baby's parents and I - were young, things were quite different for us and our own parents than are the circumstances we see today. For example: (Read the rest here)

It’s Lonely (and Potentially Dangerous) at the Top
By Ivan Eland

All is not well in the empire. From last week’s eruption of violence in the Balkans to hot spots in Afghanistan, Haiti, and Iraq, the Bush administration is rushing to stamp out smoldering conflicts that threaten to ignite into full-scale civil wars. Even with its massive $400+ billion budget for “national defense” (roughly equivalent to the combined defense expenditures of the next 13 highest spending nations), the United States has many more overseas commitments than security dollars to fulfill them and many more conflicts to keep a lid on than forces to do it.

During his presidential campaign, President Bush promised to withdraw U.S. forces from the long-forgotten Balkans (5,000 in Kosovo and 3,000 in Bosnia) but changed his mind after he took office. He may regret reneging on that pledge. During the recent upsurge of Serb-Albanian clashes in Kosovo, the administration rushed additional peacekeeping forces to the province. In fact, the United States remains the ultimate guarantor of peace in Kosovo, a place left in limbo since 1999, when the U.S military separated the mainly Albanian province from Serbia. The same is true in Bosnia, where peacekeepers continue to keep the unfriendly Serb, Croat and Muslim factions at bay, nine years after a foreign occupation that was supposed to be gone in one. (Read the rest here)

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