Month: May 2004

Phony Disengagement, Secret Escalation

While the Pentagon says it plans to scale back the U.S. occupation in Iraq, it’s quietly doing just the opposite, high-level internal e-mails reveal. It has launched a massive nationwide call-up of former service members across the country who have not fully completed their eight-year contractual obligation to the US Army. They are known collectively … Continue reading “Phony Disengagement, Secret Escalation”

Ramadi – A Delicate Lid

The city of Ramadi, about 120km (75 mi.) west of Baghdad, appears to be much more stable than nearby Fallujah, where the U.S. military currently won’t enter the city after the failed siege of April. Here U.S. military patrols still roam the streets and attacks seem to be down. Both the Governor of the vast … Continue reading “Ramadi – A Delicate Lid”

James J. Martin, 1916 – 2004

The noted revisionist historian James J. Martin, who died at around six o’clock in the morning on Sunday April 4, 2004 at his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the author of Men Against the State: The Expositors of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827-1908 (1953), American Liberalism and World Politics, 1931-1941 (1963), the collections Revisionist … Continue reading “James J. Martin, 1916 – 2004”

Palestinians Brace for More Destruction

More and more Palestinians are facing homelessness after the fighting last week. Palestinian families could be seen fleeing their homes in Rafah Sunday in anticipation of further Israeli military action. The area close to the Egypt border bears the marks of the fighting and widespread house demolitions last week after Islamic Jihad fighters destroyed an … Continue reading “Palestinians Brace for More Destruction”

Pathological Power of Prisons: Parallel Paths at Stanford and Abu Ghraib

The horrifying photos of young Iraqi men abused by young American men and women have shocked the world in their vivid depiction of human degradation in much the same way as the explosive televised images of the terrorists’ destruction of the World Trade Center did on September 11th. The “unthinkable” became imaginable in both scenarios. … Continue reading “Pathological Power of Prisons: Parallel Paths at Stanford and Abu Ghraib”

Skyrocketing Iraqi Anger as US Raids Sunni Mosque – Fourth Time Since Invasion

As U.S. forces fought the Shia forces of Muqtada Al- Sadr in the south, they broke into the Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque in Baghdad Saturday. Amid moves by Shia and Sunni leaders to come together against the occupation, US forces have chosen to attack both at the same time. US soldiers sealed off the Abu … Continue reading “Skyrocketing Iraqi Anger as US Raids Sunni Mosque – Fourth Time Since Invasion”

Better to Be Children

We would do better if, instead of being sheep and complacently accepting the words of politicians as edicts from God, we were like children who always ask that innocent question, “Why?” Over and over we hear the statement “The United States cannot afford to fail in Iraq.” Even John Kerry says that. Well, why? What … Continue reading “Better to Be Children”
The Buck Stops … Where? Mr. Kaplan’s article confirmed something that even I would have been hard-pressed to really believe about the government, though I don’t know why it should surprise me. His reference to the March 2 NBC report that the administration repeatedly failed to attack the al-Ansar base reportedly headed by Zarqawi in … Continue reading “”