Month: February 2005

http://www.independent.org/tii/antiwar/e050208.html

The Dangers of Abstract Nationalism My characterization of the neocon-led Bush administration is that it is Jacobin. I characterized many of Bush’s enthusiastic supporters as brownshirts because of their evident attributes: their minds are closed to facts and debate; they perceive critics of Bush’s policies as enemies whom they hate and wish to stomp into … Continue reading “Backtalk, February 8”

It’s a full-time job keeping track of all the lies the Bush administration has told – and is telling – about the reasons we went to war in Iraq. First it was all about “weapons of mass destruction” – but when that didn’t pan out, they trotted out Saddam’s alleged links to al-Qaeda and 9/11. … Continue reading “The Myth of Iraq’s ‘Liberation’”

With 3.3 million votes counted from about 10 mostly southern provinces, the United Iraqi Alliance of mainly Shi’ite religious parties is so far garnering an astounding 66 percent of the seats in parliament (that percentage will fall as the northern, Sunni Arab, and Kurdish vote comes in, but it may not fall below 50 percent). … Continue reading “Sadr Marginalized … for Now”

"[M]an is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts." – Ronald Reagan We’ve all heard the words democracy and freedom used countless times, especially in the context of our invasion of Iraq. They … Continue reading “What’s the Meaning of ‘Freedom’?”

Almost three years ago, President Bush unconventionally declared war not on one country or world power, but on anybody or anything in a category he referred to as the "axis of evil" – countries President Bush wanted the American people to believe were harboring terrorists. There are several reasons why the War on Terror must … Continue reading “US Errors in the War on Terror”

In an interview with Newsweek‘s Lally Weymouth at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland last week, Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency discussed his accomplishments thus far and his plans for a third term. In 2003, both Iran and Libya had agreed to sign an Additional Protocol to their IAEA Safeguards … Continue reading “ElBaradei Keeps His Eye on the Ball”

Following the attempted assassination of Israel’s ambassador in London in 1982, Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon invaded Lebanon to eradicate the PLO nest of Yasser Arafat, then holed up in Beirut. Mission accomplished. The Israelis triumphed. Arafat and his PLO were expelled to Tunis. But that was not the end of it. In occupied Lebanon, … Continue reading “Is Democracy on the March — or Revolution?”

This timeless article first appeared on February 20, 2001. COLD WAR IMPERIALISM, OR ‘LEADERSHIP OF THE FREE WORLD’ With the ritual bombing of Iraq taking on symbolic importance as the first foreign policy act of any incoming US administration, it is astounding that our wonderful “free press” can never bothered to admit, much less discuss, … Continue reading “An Anti-Imperialist’s Reading List: Part Two”

With the pomp and circumstance of the inaugural and the State of the Union address now out of the way, the foreign policy direction to be taken by President George W. Bush in his second term remains a subject of considerable speculation and uncertainty. Foreign diplomats and analysts are still poring over the list of … Continue reading “Hawk-Realist Impasse Could Persist in Second Term”