Month: May 2004

The S&M War Beneficial righteous rage followed by action is the only thing that may save this tottering old republic and Justin Raimondo has it in spades. His recent comparison of the US tactics in Iraq to those used by the conquering Nazis, swings the harsh light directly on the US military’s conduct there. Raimondo … Continue reading “”

The proponents of the Annan Plan for Cyprus have expressed great regret at the rejection of the plan by Cyprus’s Greek southern section in a general referendum. But really, the plan’s main supporters got exactly what they wanted- and even if they hadn’t, they would still have won a considerable victory. Cyprus was ruled for … Continue reading “Failure and Success in Cyprus”

The star witness before yesterday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was Army Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba. Taguba carried out an investigation on the activities of the Army’s 800th Military Police Brigade at Abu Ghraib prison. Afterward, he wrote a 6,000 page report, the summary of which was leaked to the press by Seymour M. … Continue reading “Gen. Sanchez’ Command OK’d Use of Dogs on Prisoners”

The blithering, the blathering, the pontification, and the grandstanding – that about describes the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings on the Abu Ghraib filth-fest. The Democrats were so hot to link Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld directly to the scandal, and the Republicans were so busy defending their man (and the war) that neither bothered … Continue reading “Who is John Israel?”

As the United Nations prepares to organize elections and help create a new interim government in Iraq starting in July, skepticism is growing about the wisdom of risking UN lives in a country swirling in violence and chaos.. The UN mission in Iraq is bound to fail, predict many Middle East analysts and UN staffers, … Continue reading “UN Warned of Death Trap in Iraq”

THE SETTING Toby Dodge’s Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied 1 (03) constitutes a very interesting guide to the British period in Iraq – or Mesopotamia, as it was then called. The period began, naturally enough, in World War I. Like their counterparts in the Central Powers, British policymakers were … Continue reading “Inventing Iraq – Yet Again?”

In a 1972 book, Victims of Groupthink: A Psychology Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions and Fiascoes, Irving Janis identified the Vietnam War and the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba as particularly compelling examples of how very smart people can collectively make very stupid decisions. In studying the Bay of Pigs, for example, Janis noted that … Continue reading “Chickenhawk Groupthink”

With pictures of the sadistic sexual abuse of Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison still spilling out onto the front pages, it is not too early to draw some conclusions. The neoconservative hour is over. All the blather about “empire,” our “unipolar moment,” “Pax Americana” and “benevolent global hegemony” will be quietly put on a shelf … Continue reading “A Time for Truth”

I oppose the House resolution that claims to condemn prisoner abuse in Iraq. Like so many resolutions we have seen here on the Iraq war, this one is not at all what it purports to be. Were this really a resolution condemning abuse of prisoners and other detainees, I doubt anyone here would oppose it. … Continue reading “Against the Phony Resolution on Iraq Abuse”