Month: January 2005

Our search (or, more precisely, our wild goose chase) for WMD in Iraq is finally over. No, we did not find what we were looking for, but White House press secretary Scott McClellan assured us in a recent briefing that we still have a few people poking around, and “if there are any other reports, … Continue reading “War in Iraq: Was It Worth It?”

This timeless article (see Part I) first appeared on June 20, 2000 I promised last week to go further into what the late Murray Rothbard (1926-1995) teaches us about foreign policy, peace, and war. Those who keep up with such things will have noticed that there exists a colossal and ever-growing body of writing on … Continue reading “Murray N. Rothbard on States, War, and Peace: Part II”

CARACAS (IPS) – Some analysts say Colombia ordered the kidnapping of guerrilla leader Rodrigo Granda in the Venezuelan capital last month to prove to the United States that it is cooperating in the anti-terrorism “crusade,” although the cost has been a serious rupture in Colombian-Venezuelan relations. On Friday, leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced a … Continue reading “Did Colombia Kidnap Guerrilla Leader in Venezuela to Please US?”

Jubilant over President George W. Bush’s re-election victory just two months ago, neoconservatives who played a leading role in shaping the radical trajectory of U.S. foreign policy after the Sep. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks appear increasingly divided on key issues and uncertain of their position in Bush’s second term. All are on board for the … Continue reading “Neoconservatives at Sea”

The tsunamis that pounded Indian Ocean coastlines the day after Christmas killed an estimated 30,000 Sri Lankans – nearly half in areas controlled by the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group that has been placed on a special list of "terrorist" groups by the U.S. government. The situation is complicating relief efforts in the country, where … Continue reading “US Charities Feel Heat From ‘Terror War’”

President Bush relied almost exclusively upon the top-secret 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iraq’s Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction for justification of his pre-emptive invasion of Iraq to "disarm" Saddam Hussein. On the eve of the invasion, anyone – including Congressional leaders – having access to that top-secret document ought to have … Continue reading “Coming Up Empty”

It’s not a new tactic here in Iraq. The US military has been doing it for well over a year now. Last January 3rd, in the al-Dora rural region on the outskirts of Baghdad, where beautiful farms of date palms and orange trees line the banks of the Tigris, I visited a farm where occupation … Continue reading “Iraqis Suffer Under American Yoke”

Jerusalem – The Palestinian militant groups who carried out the attack Thursday night in the Gaza Strip that killed six Israeli civilians said they had been planning the assault for weeks. But the timing is not coincidental: it is the first major challenge by armed groups to the newly elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Close … Continue reading “Gaza Killings Cast a Long Shadow”

Sometimes you have to go to the regional newspapers for the punchy editorials. The Pentagon’s announcement that the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction officially ended quietly in late December provokes the Virginia Pilot to observe, “And America is left with a seemingly endless war in Iraq, but without a rationale for it.” Well, … Continue reading “Absolutely?”

The other day I posted a Dahr Jamail piece entitled, Iraq: The Devastation, but another word has recently come to mind that, I suspect, might apply no less aptly to Iraq and other areas where the Bush administration is exerting its muscle. That word is “desolation.” Let’s forget for a minute the recent Newsweek report … Continue reading “Desolate Fallujah: City Without a Future?”