Month: February 2001

It was a shock to see the headline: “Belgrade helped in planning of Baghdad bombing.” The story in the London Independent by Kim Sengupta claimed that the government of Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica “provided vital information on Saddam’s upgraded air defenses” and “passed on details of the hi-tech fiber-optic radar system supplied to Iraq under … Continue reading “The Anatomy of a Lie”

The Zapatista Liberation Front from the Mexican province of Chiapas, along with various hangers-on, is marching from its stronghold in the south to Mexico City to confer with Mexican president Vicente Fox, who has just assumed power and has made resolution of the largely indigenous-based revolt in Chiapas a relatively high priority. You won’t get … Continue reading “Revolution as Tourist Attraction?”

Richard M. Weaver (1910-1963) was a contributor to that strand of American thought which might be called "libertarian conservatism." He is only now coming to be properly appreciated.1 But Weaver was much more than just an intelligent man who wrote, now and then, on politics. He was much more: he was a student of the … Continue reading “Richard M. Weaver on Civilization, Ontology, and War”

I have before written about the myth of the “Saddam Bomb” – the perfervid and recurring group fantasy that has the Iraqi ruler on the verge of developing an atomic bomb – but after playing that one over and over again since 1991, the War Party must has apparently decided that it’s time to change … Continue reading “Saddam Meets The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”

For months, Japanese officials have been denying it: but now, the signs are all too apparent. Mt. Fuji, the sacred symbol of Japan – which some still worship as a god – is on the verge of erupting. The long dormant volcano is awakening, say scientists – and the news is not at all welcome … Continue reading “The Sailors Who Fell From Grace with the Sea”

It must be something in the water: or, perhaps, “Mad Cow” disease is spreading much faster than anyone realizes. I had to read the headline on this news story from the London Independent at least three times, early this [Tuesday] morning, just to make sure I wasn’t still asleep and dreaming: “British protester charged with … Continue reading “Is There Something in the Water?”

Was I the only one who sensed a sort of plaintiveness in the president’s assertion? "The no-fly zones are enforced on a daily basis," said George W. as he touched lightly on the decision of British and American warplanes to dump bombs on targets outside the no-fly zone. "It’s part of a strategy." You could … Continue reading “Bombing for . . . What?”

COLD WAR IMPERIALISM, OR ‘LEADERSHIP OF THE FREE WORLD’ With the ritual bombing of Iraq taking on symbolic importance as the first foreign policy act of any incoming US administration, it is astounding that our wonderful "free press" can never bothered to admit, much less discuss, the joys and sorrows of empire. World War II … Continue reading “An Anti-Imperialist’s Reading List:: Part Two”

As bonnie Prince Charles arrived in Saudi Arabia on a private visit, US and British warplanes launched their first major attack on the outskirts of Baghdad, signaling a new and more aggressive Anglo-American stance in the Middle East – with the emphasis on the Anglo. To read the British papers, one gets the definite impression … Continue reading “Bombs Over Baghdad: The Blair Factor”

It was just another “routine mission” in Iraq, said President Bush, as 24 US and British aircraft bombed the outskirts of Baghdad for the first time since 1998. But is it just another day in the neighborhood, as Mr. Rogers would have it, or is it the first phase of Desert Storm II? The sense … Continue reading “Prelude to War”