Backtalk, February 8

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;...

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The Myth of Iraq’s ‘Liberation’

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...

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Sadr Marginalized … for Now

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...

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What’s the Meaning of ‘Freedom’?

"[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...

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US Errors in the War on Terror

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...

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ElBaradei Keeps His Eye on the Ball

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...

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Is Democracy on the March — or Revolution?

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...

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Hawk-Realist Impasse Could Persist in Second Term

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...

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