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They Don’t Build Democracies Like They Used To

Mar 30, 2010
Iraq’s recent election was supposed to remove Nouri al-Maliki from power, but the prime minister, sounding rather like a Bond villain, declared “the game is still very much on.” Now a governmental commission created to keep Baathists out of public life says that on the night before the election it banned six candidates who went on to win.

Tracking the Status of the World’s Women

Mar 9, 2010
To mark International Women's Day, Ms. magazine has helpfully broken down some femme-focused reports from the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, detailing how the global group's Platform for Action empowerment program is faring after 15 years and describing the challenges and gains that women around the world are facing in 2010.

Contractor Waste of Tax Dollars Continues

Aug 13, 2009
DynCorp International got caught charging the government $50 million over contract for providing living facilities in Kuwait. The company's CEO told a congressional commission, "If we're not competitive [in costs], it's possible for the government to replace us." But the opposite seems to be true when it comes to contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, where fraud, waste and abuse have been all too common for years.

Pelosi’s Toothless ‘Commission’

Jul 16, 2009
Congressional leaders are expected to announce a new commission to investigate the causes of America's financial disaster. But unless the speaker and her colleagues summon much greater courage than they have displayed to date, it will only highlight the failure of the Democrats to live up to their heritage.A new commission will only highlight the failure of the Democrats to live up to their heritage.

U.N. Investigating Bhutto Murder

Jul 2, 2009
It's been a year and a half since the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and although her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now Pakistan's president, local investigations haven't produced many answers about her murder. Now a United Nations commission, led by Chilean Ambassador Heraldo Munoz, is conducting its own inquiry.

Sex and the SEC

Dec 20, 2008
Turns out that certain employees at the Securities and Exchange Commission weren't just asleep at the wheel, as it were, when they should have been paying more attention to Bernard Madoff's worrisome investment activities.

Report: WMD Terror Attack Likely

Dec 1, 2008
A month too late for Halloween, a congressionally mandated independent panel has come to this terrifying conclusion: "Unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013." Boo!

Rwanda Says France Participated in Genocide

Aug 6, 2008
After two years of investigation, a Rwandan commission has accused France of facilitating the 1994 genocide by training Hutu militias and providing support to the Hutu government. The commission also says French forces murdered and raped Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The French government has consistently denied involvement in the genocide, in which 800,000 people were killed, but said it would look at the new report.