Big Win for Watada: A Study in Courage and Honor: "On Thursday, November 8, Hon. Benjamin Settle, a federal court judge, issued a preliminary injunction halting any further court-martial proceedings of 1st Lt. Ehren Watada and effectively ruling against the Army on virtually every issue in the case. This injunction not only extends the stay until the conclusion of the habeas corpus proceedings, but also addresses the specific request for relief from further legal proceedings, stating, 'the remedy sought by Petitioner, while rare, is appropriate.' Although the Army issued a press release claiming to 'look forward to the opportunity to further explain to the District Court judge the full extent of the protections and safeguards that are afforded to a military accused,' (Seattle Times, 11/9/07), anyone who glances at the court ruling will agree that the Army's only lingering hope is to appeal this ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Settle wrote 'for several reasons ... it is likely that [Lt. Watada] will succeed on the merits of his double jeopardy claim' (Order, p. 22; a copy of the order is attached). The court held that the military judge acted 'irrationally, irresponsibly, precipitately' (Order, page 31) in failing to consider feasible alternatives to a mistrial, and there was no good reason to stop the proceedings."
Broken Spring? : Information Clearing House This is a sequel to my June 2011 article, ‘After the spring’, on the upheavals in the Arab world. It is an article that has been painful to write, because it brings bad tidings and offers a pessimistic analysis of the upheavals, at least in the short term, in a number of Arab countries. The outcomes and potential outcomes of these uprisings have also acquired new, very significant dimensions. These include a complex entanglement with the accelerated preparations for a possible attack on Iran, and a poisonous, sectarian aspect that could have the consequence of ripping Syria and the Middle East apart.
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