Articles by Fred Hill
CONTRIBUTORS
Collins should show brass on Obama nominee for Defense secretary
With a vague, ideologically driven rationale for opposing Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s nominee to be secretary of defense, Sen. Susan Collins is proving once again that she does not have the courage and independence of outstanding Maine Republican senators who preceded her. It is impossible to predict how Margaret ...
CONTRIBUTORS
Four false premises of the Romney campaign
Now that the smoke has cleared and President Barack Obama has been re-elected, the postmortems will soon be overtaken by a renewed focus on critical issues, especially the need for bipartisan compromise on economic policy. But before we move on, it is important to take a look at the surprising ...
China and US have big interest in tiny Spratlys
Vital economic issues, the provocative behavior of North Korea and climate change proposals are sure to dominate Chinese President Hu Jintao’s important meetings with President Barack Obama in Washington this week. But it should be no surprise if at some point during their discussions, quietly out of the public eye, ...
The fallacious GOP stand on tax cuts
Barack Obama has restored integrity and vision to American leadership. He keeps the broader national interest in mind whether promoting health care or seeking to reduce nuclear weapons. But he’s a lousy politician. Even the president admitted that Sunday when he conceded that he’d been too wrapped up in numerous ...
Taking a real stand against terrorists
Heightened concern over the threat of terrorist strikes in Europe or the United States has all the earmarks of three major challenges facing the West: the evolving nature of the terrorist threat, the shortcomings of U.S. strategy to deal with it and the lack of a mature political debate in the United States.
Nuclear regulation cannot wait for partisan politics
Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe should know better. For all the talk of their moderate positions, Maine’s senators have allowed themselves to be lumped together with the resurgent know-nothing wing …
US troops leaving Iraq may be end of the beginning
It is tempting to think of Winston Churchill’s famous words at the Lord Mayor’s luncheon in November 1942 as we approach the end of August and the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Iraq down to 50,000 troops.
US, Israel relationship ripe for peace push
George Mitchell may not get to spend much vacation time in Maine this summer.
Mitchell, President Obama’s Middle East envoy, is likely to be spending much of the summer in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, …
US needs comprehensive counterterrorism strategy
It happens every three months or so, and leads to a similar series of cartoons in various newspapers and magazines: The caption reads: “The reported No. 3 leader of al-Qaida, (in Pakistan, Afghanistan or elsewhere), has been killed or captured.” The cartoons depict a series of FBI-posterlike images of terrorist ...
Several options for dealing with a nuclear Iran
“Contain: v. To hold or include within its volume or area.” That’s the first definition of “contain” in my unabridged Random House dictionary.
U.S., allies set the stage to increase pressure on Iran
After a year of quiet diplomacy and a readiness to engage Iran, President Obama must soon take a tougher stand against the Iranian regime’s determined pursuit of a nuclear weapons …
Conference eyes conflicts in Pakistan, Afghanistan
A common criticism of American foreign policy is that the American public itself is not well informed about the world.
Foreign policy guru Zbigniew Brzezinski recently commented in Foreign …
How Sen. Mathias calmed the partisan passions
During his eulogy at the memorial service for Sen. Charles "Mac" Mathias of Maryland two weeks ago, Vice President Joseph Biden saluted the former liberal Republican senator as a mentor who didn't …
US should establish disaster relief corps
It is almost impossible to think of a silver lining in a calamity of the magnitude of the earthquake in Haiti.
Deciphering the thinkers behind Obama’s words
President Barack Obama did not quote any books in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech last week. But he might well have mentioned one or two in particular. Several pundits heard the philosopher Reinhold Niebuhr in his eloquent defense of “just war,” whether facing the onslaught of Nazi Germany or ...
Repositioning military, civil affairs forces could help
Dividing Iraq into three separate entities, if not nations, emerged as an appealing option at the worst point of civil war in Iraq in 2006 and 2007.
Nobel offers time to assess, for now
Barack Obama’s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize is both deserved and not deserved.
Arms race to test Obama
If the nuclear arms race were to be measured on a 100-yard football field, the United States, Russia, China and all responsible nuclear powers are huddling on their own 25 yard line — with the clock ticking down as the last quarter of the “end-game” unfolds.
Walls of Persian homes, gardens under attack
If the Soviet empire crumbled quickly with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Islamic republic of Iran now faces the disintegration of a very different set of walls.
4 factors for calming Afghanistan’s ‘perfect storm’
The rugged terrain and tragic history of Afghanistan have generated a colorful range of analogies and aphorisms, many from the fateful “Great Game” played out between Britain and Russia in the …
Police seeking tips about pickup truck possibly connected to Glenburn teen’s disappearance
Dixfield teen riding atop car roof pinned under it after rollover
Since 1971, seven Maine children reported missing have not been found
Aggressive out-of-town buyers swarm midcoast real estate market
A better way to help people escape welfare
A letter to Michelle Obama in light of military sex assault epidemic
Five steps to remedy IRS wrongs
Military sex assault
Manchester 15-year-old off to impressive start for Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports
Houlton council, community still concerned about costly Millar Civic Center
Bangor’s Marcus Davis hopes to counter opponent’s height, reach advantage in Lewiston MMA main event
Kitchen Nightmares meltdown or: How to lose an argument online
Farmers markets embracing food stamps with the help of USDA
Arguments over gun control and abortion will never be settled
A spot of tea, a spread of treats, at Camden’s Fromviandoux