William Arkin

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William M. Arkin (b. 1956) is an American political commentator, activist, journalist, blogger, and former member of the United States Army.

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[edit] Biography

Arkin served in the United States Army from 1974 to 1978. He received a BS from the University of Maryland. He has held positions at the Institute for Policy Studies, Center for Defense Information, Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Human Rights Watch. He has worked as a NBC News military analyst and written columns for the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post. He is currently Policy Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government in the Carr Centre for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University, USA.

In 1985, he wrote The Nuclear Battlefields: Global Links in the Arms Race, which revealed the location of secret nuclear bases throughout the world.

[edit] Controversy

On October 15, 2003, William Arkin released video and audiotapes documenting William Boykin's framing of the War on Terror in religious terms in speeches in churches. Arkin followed up with a Los Angeles Times op-ed that accused the general of being "an intolerant extremist" and a man "who believes in Christian 'jihad.'" Arkin later admitted on Hugh Hewitt's radio program that Boykin never used the term "jihad."[1] Arkin wrote, "Boykin has made it clear that he takes his orders not from his Army superiors but from God--which is a worrisome line of command." Arkin refused to release the full transcripts of the talks that Boykin gave, despite numerous requests from various media sources.[1]

In February 2007, Arkin responded in an NBC Nightly News piece to U.S. soldiers who said they were frustrated by antiwar sentiment at home, and especially by people who say they support the troops, but not the war. In his Washington Post blog, Arkin wrote, "We pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?" He went on, "But it is the United States, and the recent NBC report is just an ugly reminder of the price we pay for a mercenary - oops sorry, volunteer - force that thinks it is doing the dirty work." [2] This sentiment drew denunciations from Bill O'Reilly, and other media commentators, and caused a sharp (albeit brief) drop in NBC Nightly News' ratings.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Hewitt, Hugh. "Who Is William Arkin?", Weekly Standard, 2003-10-23. Retrieved on March 20, 2007.
  2. ^ Arkin, William. "The Troops Also Need to Support the American People", Early Warning, Washington Post, 2007-01-30. Retrieved on March 20, 2007.

[edit] External links