Month: February 2002

Critics of US wars and US aspirations for empire have had their work cut out for them for over 100 years. This does not mean that there has existed a single, continuous antiwar or anti-imperialist movement of any real public visibility. Certainly, there have been underground currents, so to speak. John T. Flynn, who opposed … Continue reading “The Debate We Never Have”

Readers very often accuse me of not writing about Palestinian terrorism against Israel. A typical reader writes: "if Israeli gunmen were going in Palestinian pizza places, weddings, buses, discos, shoe stores and deliberately massacring Palestinian civilians, Ran HaCohen would go on a tirade against Israel. Yet he remains silent on Arab terrorism against Israeli civilians." … Continue reading “Terrorism Vs. Occupation”

With the shooting in Afghanistan largely over, for now, and in the lull before the next big US intervention – will it be Iraq? Iran? Somalia? – the bloodthirsty emotional atmosphere in which we have all been enveloped since 9/11 is being kept up to a fever pitch by the latest outbreak of hostilities: the … Continue reading “The Olympic War”

We’re living in a comic book world, where American superheroes confront an “Axis of Evil,” and the Evil One (Lex Luthor?) is defeated but lives to fight another day. I hear that comics have fallen on hard times, and that today’s sophisticated kids just can’t be bothered (too much like reading), but, really, if it … Continue reading “BIZARRO WORLD”

We’re living in a comic book world, where American superheroes confront an “Axis of Evil,” and the Evil One (Lex Luthor?) is defeated but lives to fight another day. I hear that comics have fallen on hard times, and that today’s sophisticated kids just can’t be bothered (too much like reading), but, really, if it … Continue reading “Bizzaro World”

The word this week is that the Bush administration is engaged in a large-scale review of current policies that could lead to a massive military campaign against Iraq. The administration plans to have the review completed in time for Vice President Dick Cheney to inform Arab leaders of American plans during his planned tour of … Continue reading “The Empire Plans Strikes”

I should start with an apology, as this piece is wildly long, repetitive in purpose (check out Emmanuel Goldstein’s much more concise alternative), and dubious in form as an exercise in English prose. However, my moral qualms aren’t sufficient to spare you, for what I’m going to do – and even I don’t want to … Continue reading “A TORY LAMENTS:”

The utter cluelessness of what passes for ostensibly “conservative” leaders these days was brought home to me when I read the following item by National Review editor, Rich Lowry: “DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?: [Rich Lowry] “I love James Surowiecki of The New Yorker. He’s a great financial writer. So, I wonder about his argument in … Continue reading “National Review’s Military Socialism”

The wave of cyber-attacks on Yahoo! and a host of other major US websites was in its second day when Janet Reno came riding in on her white horse, promising us “protection” and vowing to get to the bottom of a disruption that horrified investors and roiled the markets. Her FBI henchmen were quick to … Continue reading “Cybercops Unleashed”

The last couple of weeks have witnessed a real awakening of the Israeli peace camp. This heterogeneous camp was beaten ideologically by the purported “generous offer” made by former PM Barak, whose belligerent legacy, as we argued earlier, consisted (of hundreds of victims and) of telling the world that “there was no partner for peace”. … Continue reading “Peace Now. Now?! Well, Maybe Later”