Month: September 2003

Ambassador Paul Bremer, head of the US provisional administration in Iraq, appeared before Congress last week to lobby hard for another $87 billion for nation building. This figure is in addition to the nearly $80 billion we’ve already spent in Iraq, and the new funding request is for 2004 only. If we stay in Iraq … Continue reading “That’s Your Money In Iraq”

The Bush administration’s Iraq policy seems to be imploding rather affectively without much help from me this week. President Bush’s speech at the U.N. last week seems to have received the reception it deserved from the thugs standard-issue commentators are pleased to call the "international community" – about what you’d expect from somebody who says: … Continue reading “Remember Bosnia?”

The President’s request for an additional $87 billion for the military and for the reconstruction of Iraq is eye-popping. This request comes at a time when the American people are expressing serious reservations about the President’s go-it-alone occupation of Iraq. The American people are asking questions about the reconstruction plan. The Committee has before it … Continue reading “A Nation With Questions”

The eve of the Jewish New Year is an excellent occasion for what Jewish tradition calls Kheshbon Nefesh, or soul-searching on so-called “anti-semitism”, which has now become the single most important element of Jewish identity. Jews may believe in God or not, eat pork or not, live in Israel or not, but they are all … Continue reading “Abusing ‘Anti-Semitism’”

“I want more prominent Jews – people with a profile higher than mine – to at least come out and say publicly that Israel has a right to exist. I feel like the silence tacitly endorses the opinion that somehow Israel is the bully and the Palestinians are the underdog.” – Josh Malina, actor on … Continue reading “Toward a Meaningful Yom Kippur”

I review most of the major opinion pieces that appear on this website, and, as you might imagine, I read a lot of news stories every day of the week. The process can become somewhat tedious, and it takes a lot to get my attention. But my blood ran cold as I read this jaw-dropper … Continue reading “THE COSTS OF WAR”

Here’s the real-life plot: A famous documentary filmmaker puts out a letter to a retired four-star general urging him to run for president. The essay quickly zooms through cyberspace and causes a big stir. For Michael Moore, the reaction is gratifying. Three days later, he thanks readers "for the astounding response to the Wesley Clark … Continue reading “‘Wesley & Me’: A Real-Life Docudrama”

It’s September 23, and I type this during CNBC’s pregame show for Bush’s speech to the UN requesting international cooperation in Iraq. Joe Kernan, resident analyst, recommends that we buy, not hold, such concerns as Lockheed Martin and GlaxoSmithKline; encouraging, if our aim is to profit from death and illness. For his part, the ubiquitous … Continue reading “So Damned UN-pretty”

That high-pitched whine you’re hearing is the sound of politicians and their media amen corner complaining about the “negative” coverage coming out of Iraq. To hear them tell it, everything is just hunky-dory over there – it’s the “biased” reporters, and not the concept of conquering and subjugating a country in the holy name of … Continue reading “WAR PARTY WHINES OVER IRAQ COVERAGE”

Nearly three years after he left office, Bill Clinton was Emperor again – at least in the minds of worshipful Balkans peons, who cheered him on as he strutted down his namesake boulevard in Pristina and pontificated about good and evil in Srebrenica. Clinton deserves some credit because he at least visited only the scenes … Continue reading “Return to the Crime Scene”