military

In Canada, the controversy over troops in Afghanistan, prisoner abuse, and torture has come to a head: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shut down the Parliament in a move known as prorogation, and his opponents accuse him of doing so to avoid the torture inquiries. This video from the Real News Network takes a look at Harper's moves, and the growing popular movement against his power grab.

Who says the president is failing to show leadership? In one area at least, there's no sign of flag or falter. If anything, the administration's only becoming more forthright. Sad to say, that area is military build-up. Last year, the White House made a big deal of cutting a weapons program -- the F-22 fighter jet, for example -- but the cuts conveniently obscured the growth in spending on unmanned aircraft or drones -- the weapons that Pakistanis say killed dozens of civilians in twelve attacks last month -- 43 for every alleged Al Qaeda operative.

Another aftershock hit Haiti this morning, this one of magnitude 6.1. The devastation from the original quake is nowhere close to being contained, and sustained hits make it even harder to regain some sort of order in the country. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who has a long history with Haiti, says that the country just cannot sustain another big earthquake. She joined us via phone, along with Mark Danner. They both offered more ideas for ways that the U.S. government and people can be an influence for good. Don't miss Danner's recent interview with Laura about his book, as well.

On Tuesday, John Nichols told us that the dire jobs situation in the U.S. has had an effect on the debate surrounding escalation in Afghanistan and that the administration is actually meeting with peace groups for the first time to discuss alternate plans. Brave New Films' Rethink Afghanistan explores the problems there and proposes peaceful and diplomatic solutions and a responsible exit strategy. With this video, they bring together U.S.