Month: May 2005

Those who know me often accuse me of being Pollyannaish in my long-range optimism, noting that I still believe, unlike most post-Marxists, that the state will eventually wither away (although I’ve come to accept the likelihood that it just might not happen during my lifetime). So take this with whatever saline dosage seems appropriate. It … Continue reading “With a Whimper?”

LONDON – The invasion of Iraq rebounded a little on the government of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to dent his majority as he returned to a third term as prime minister. But it was not serious damage. Iraq did not prevent Blair from returning with a comfortable enough majority, and this is the first … Continue reading “Iraq Clouds Blair Victory”

A top secret British memorandum dated July 23, 2002 was leaked in the run-up to Thursday’s parliamentary elections in the UK (which Blair won, though his Labour Party was much weakened by public disgust with such shenanigans as the memo describes). It summarizes a report to Blair and others in the British government by Sir … Continue reading “The Smoking Gun”

Well, here we are, two years out (as they say in Washington) from “mission accomplished,” the president’s now-famous speech during the photo opportunity on an American carrier. The American death toll in Iraq is now 1,585, and the wounded exceed 10,000. The cost is about $300 billion. Somewhere between 140,000 and 150,000 Americans remain in … Continue reading “Mission Accomplished, Captain Queeg?”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi’s address to the Seventh Review Conference of the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons was a diplomatic masterpiece – in sharp contrast to the undiplomatic badgering of the Conferees about alleged “loopholes” in the Treaty by the head of our delegation, Stephen Rademaker. Kharrazi focused on how to strengthen the … Continue reading “Iran Defends the NPT”

It was June 26, 2003, and three friends – Naor Gilon, chief of political affairs at the Israeli embassy in Washington; Steve Rosen, longtime policy director and key operative of the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC); and Keith Weissman, AIPAC’s senior Iran specialist – were meeting for lunch at the Tivoli restaurant in Arlington, … Continue reading “Larry Franklin
and the
Axis of Espionage”

Excuse me if I sound irritable, but according to the gonzocons, I should by now be under a pile of smoking rubble. We’re having the British general election today. On Sept. 25 last year, gonzocon spiritual director Michael Novak gushingly reported the pearls of wisdom that the disgraced liar and now thankfully ex-prime minister of … Continue reading “The Gonzocon Terror Lie”

“Now it’s time for the cherry on the cake: have a photo-op with both leaders smiling, preferably in the Oval Office, announcing that their respective nations are firmer friends than ever. The admirable ways in which this tragic incident was handled, with great cooperation on both sides, only strengthens their resolve to stand by one … Continue reading “Berlusconi and Bush Renew Their Vows”

The voices of veterans who have served in Iraq is among the most important in convincing the public and government officials that the war in Iraq is wrong and the occupation must be ended. The interview below is with Patrick Resta of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Patrick, who served as a combat medic in … Continue reading “Iraq Vet: End the Occupation Now”

On Aug. 6, 1945, the day that was to prove the blindingly bright dawn of the atomic age, Little Boy, a 9,700-pound baby with the look of “an elongated trash can with fins,” had already been loaded into the specially prepared bomb bay of a B-29. The night before, in large letters, mission commander Col. … Continue reading “The Nuclear Renaissance”