I wonder how many liberals would’ve voted for Barack Obama if he had stumped the nation with this campaign vow:“We’re fighting two wars, but as president I pledge to change that policy by ordering up a third. And I will do so by exercising the prerogatives of the imperial presidency. George W. Bush felt it was necessary to get congressional authorization for the war in Iraq, but I will do him one

Did President Obama break the law when he ordered U.S. planes to bomb Moammar Gadhafi’s forces in Libya? Some critics think so. But as with all discussions of the wartime powers of Congress and the president, the law is less clear than partisans would like to admit.The principal legal argument against Obama is that he should have obtained a declaration of war or its equivalent from Congress. But e

Many automobile and electric appliance makers have been forced to suspend output as their production centers were crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that hit the Pacific coast of the Tohoku and Kanto regions.The road to full recovery from the disaster will be bumpy, but the manufacturing industry must play the role of a locomotive to drive the national economy. Manufacturers are urged

Rumors have it that it was the product of a recent series of unsavory episodes in courts involving male and female judges, but a “service manual” prepared by a senior judge in Seoul and now circulating in district courts sheds light to a new culture emerging in the judicial community.“Leave the door ajar when you meet a female colleague in your office. Keep a distance of at least one meter when yo

The Defense Ministry has put off flying leaflets into the North Korean territory in consideration of political and legal factors. Yet, the campaign to send leaflets and consumer supplies by flying balloons into the North that has been engineered by some conservative groups not only sharpens tensions with Pyongyang but causes serious internal troubles in the South.Last year, the military’s psycholo

Twenty-seven of the 31 North Koreans who had drifted into South Korean waters in the West Sea in a boat early last month have returned to the North. Four chose to live in the South, according to the authorities. Last week, six North Korean refugees who had stayed in China sailed to South Korea in a hired boat along with three Korean-Chinese people.We do not know what will happen to the 27 people w

Three years after President Lee Myung-bak abolished the Ministry of Science and Technology to slim down the government, an administrative commission was launched Monday to perform much the same task as the old ministry. Kim Doh-yeon who briefly served as the first minister of education, science and technology under President Lee was named chairman of the new commission.When the transition committe

For children who have suffered mental trauma as a result of the recent earthquake and tsunami, school can be a valuable forum in which to talk to friends and teachers and encourage each other.The situation remains severe in devastated areas, with no clear prospects for reconstruction, but we hope initial steps will be taken to put school life back in order.The March 11 disaster left enormous scars

I was a senior in college when Facebook came online. I got an account immediately, and a year later interviewed the founders for a magazine article oh-so-cleverly headlined “In Your FACE!”Clearly, I should’ve booked the next flight to Palo Alto and begged for stock options, but they struck me as arrogant. “Who do they think they are?” I thought. “They just run a little college website!”OK, I misse

Here’s a crucial fact that you may not realize, given the week’s headlines: Libya is only a tragic sideshow to the historic events in the Middle East.Egypt is the place that counts when we consider the prospects for Arab democracy. Bahrain is the locale where Iran and the Saudis are contesting for power. Yemen, whose president is about to fall, is the country where a strong al-Qaida branch is base