Author Archives: David Keyes

We are told ad infinitum how the rest of the world hates the United States. From repeated accusations of imperialism and cultural insensitivity, universal ire is supposedly at our doorstep. Pundits claim that we are despised today as never before. But could it be possible that anti-Americanism, despite two consecutive U.S-led invasions, is now waning […]

For those who thought the war on terror was winding down, the recent London attacks should have come as yet another rude awakening. A week and a half ago, four bombs exploded in England, killing over 50 civilians and injuring more than 700 people. It was an act of unadulterated barbarity. It also should have […]

On Sept. 10, 2001, the world was an extremely dangerous place. The networks of A.Q. Khan in Pakistan were in full swing, peddling near-turn-key instructions for nuclear weapons to Iran, North Korea and elsewhere. Libya had a clandestine nuclear program that went completely unnoticed by the notoriously unintrusive International Atomic Energy Agency. In addition to […]

The picture says it all. A night photo of the Korean peninsula from space is worth a thousand words. South Korea teems with light; it is awash with fluorescence. But the light abruptly stops at the demilitarized zone. Then utter blackness. North Korea is an abyss of darkness. It is a desperate veritable black hell. […]

It’s rather strange when you stop to think about it. Just a stone’s throw away from UCLA there are thousands and thousands of bodies buried beneath the ground. Uniform white tombstones rather unceremoniously mark the graves of U.S. veterans. The street is called Veteran, after all, for a reason. Dedicated in 1889, the Los Angeles […]

“Everywhere I’ve traveled recently … I’ve run into Americans, ranging from generals down to privates, who ask perplexedly, “˜What are we Americans supposed to be doing here? Are we going to take over this place and stay here forever?’ Not one American political leader fully realized at the outset how formidable our … commitments would […]

Heroes live among us at UCLA. Real, living, breathing heroes. I write now of the kindred spirits who compose the Darfur Action Committee. Certain students have taken upon themselves burdens and responsibilities far beyond the norm. They bounce like mad from class to activity to event to meeting to activity and back again. Their altruism […]