The debate over Libya this week in Washington isn’t about what the U.S. goal should be. President Obama settled that question last week when he declared: “It’s time for Gadhafi to go.” He’s reaffirmed that message several times, and leaders of the most important U.S. allies in Europe ― Britain, Germany and France ― have made similar statements.Instead, the question is what role the United States a

As Libyan rebels are pushed back by the forces of the mad Col. Moammar Gadhafi, we’re all rooting for the underdog.Even though we know little about the rebels and their leaders, we assume they’d be an improvement over the crazed colonel. But that emotional tug doesn’t justify the proposal by three influential senators ― Republicans Mitch McConnell and John McCain, and Democrat John Kerry ― that we

In February last year, the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democratic Party agreed to resume efforts to reform the judiciary and the prosecution, a project that was promoted by lawmakers of the 17th National Assembly but has since been left on the back burner. The main impetus behind the latest legislative campaign was the two parties’ desire to correct what they saw as the pol

A Herculean rescue and recovery operation is under way in Japan following Friday’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. The quake, which hit Japan’s northeastern coast, measured 9.0 in magnitude, the strongest ever recorded in that country. It triggered a ferocious, 10-meter tsunami that swept away everything in its path. To make matters worse, radiation leaked from a quake-damaged nuclear reactor

Tens of thousands of Gmail users had a rude shock recently when they logged in only to find all their messages had vanished. Google has restored their e-mail from tape backup by this week, but the inadvertent deletion (during a software upgrade) must raise concerns over security and trust in applications that share remote databases beyond the control of individual users. There were no reports that

The assemblies of Okinawa Prefecture and two cities in the prefecture ― Naha and Urasoe ― on Tuesday unanimously adopted resolutions protesting comments by a U.S. official that allegedly disparaged the Okinawans. Other Okinawan assemblies will follow suit. In an off-the-record lecture in Washington in December before 14 students who were about to visit Tokyo and Okinawa, Kevin Maher, head of the o

In the annals of fashionable timing, Prada SpA’s trip to Asia deserves a mention. It’s blowing off Milan and taking the largest initial public offering of a family-owned Italian company since 2006 to Hong Kong. The reason investors in Prada’s hometown must reach 5,800 miles away to buy the stock: Asia’s hot, Europe’s not. It gets even better for Prada. The $2 billion IPO will hit the investment ca

Apple Inc. suffers from a Steve Jobs discount, and it’s not fair.Ever since Jobs, the chief executive officer, disclosed that he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer in August 2004, Apple’s stock has been underpriced. That assertion may seem absurd, given that the shares have risen more than 2,000 percent since then and the company’s market value of $325 billion is second only to that of Exxon Mob

The turmoil in much of the Arab world has grown into more than a regional protest by peoples seeking to overthrow repressive regimes. Successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have spurred demonstrations from Morocco to Iran and now, tragically, conflict in Libya which increasingly looks like civil war.The criminal acts of that country’s leader, Moammar Gadhafi, demand foreign intervention. With t

Whenever gasoline prices spike, it’s a pretty good bet that politicians are going to propose tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This time around, the talk started with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, who last week urged President Obama to consider selling oil from the reserve as a way to stabilize prices. Then on Sunday, White House