Month: January 2002

Some might argue that I should be grateful at having my prejudices confirmed. But there’s plenty of evidence on the historical record. I could have lived a long time – a lifetime, perhaps? – without a contemporary, up-to-the-minute demonstration of the old Bournean adage that war is the health of the state. My preferences aside, … Continue reading “State of the Union at War”

My recent column on the "warbloggers" raised a lot of hackles, as well as provoking some interesting arguments. Dealing with the latter first, we have Jim Henley of "Unqualified Offerings" – a consistently interesting and well-written blog – telling me to "aim at the target, please." Henley wants to know: "Why does Justin Raimondo spend … Continue reading “‘Crony Capitalism’ & War”

It is hardly unusual for all sides of a given controversy to miss the central point; it’s what most of us do most of the time. But the skirting of salient issues surrounding the prisoners being held at the American Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba seems more egregious than usual. I doubt if the prisoners … Continue reading “Guantanamo and Geneva: The Missing Questions”

Political trials are the musical accompaniment of modern warfare: Stalin’s purge trials, purportedly showing that the Soviet dictator’s enemies on the home front were agents of Hitler and the Mikado, provided ideological grist for Moscow’s propaganda mills during World War II. The Reichstag fire and the subsequent trial gave the German Nazis a rationale for … Continue reading “The Tali-boy: Made In the USA”

Happy days are here again at National Review. For forty some years, the editors and writers of that august journal have wanted wars and were happiest when they had one. If one ended, they promptly demanded another one. Of course the Cold War was a glorious time for them, partly because of its seeming permanence; … Continue reading “Fast Times at National Review“

Like the old Soviet Union, which no one – including our own CIA – suspected was on the brink of complete collapse, the Republican Party Establishment thinks it is immune to any challenge from within or without. The only difference is that the Bush campaign won’t take 45 years to go into a tailspin: thanks … Continue reading “The Coming Implosion of the Bush Campaign”

The Martha McSally case combines the two absolute worst aspects of American political culture – rampant political correctness and foreign policy triumphalism – in one outrageous package. McSally, the highest-ranking female combat pilot in the U.S. Air Force, is suing the Pentagon: she objects to US military regulations that, in deference to local customs, require … Continue reading “PC Imperialism”

Nicholas D. Krystof, longtime China hand and co-author of the book, China Wakes, wrote on January 22 of the growing Chinese nationalism and the issues it poses to the rest of the world and particularly the US. Krystof wrote of the gloating to be read in chat rooms and websites throughout China following Sept. 11 … Continue reading “Patriotism”

An American Jew, David Horowitz, wrote a 5,000-word article "proving" that "…Israel Is The Victim And The Arabs Are The Indefensible Aggressors In the Middle East." I always enjoy reading the work of an American Jew who defines himself as non-Zionist, but who is nevertheless ready to sacrifice my life in his hatred towards Arabs. … Continue reading “David Horowitz Rewrites the Past”

Washington is all atwitter over what appears to be a sea-change on the foreign policy front: evidence of a developing rift between the US and Saudi Arabia, its most loyal Arab ally. Since World War II, Washington and the House of Saud have enjoyed a lucrative and seemingly permanent alliance, in which the former provided … Continue reading “The War Against the Saudis”