Month: February 2006

Who’s the Bigger Hawk, George or Hillary?

There aren’t many elected officials in Washington who want to throw the gauntlet down on Iran more than Hillary Clinton. The New York senator believes the president has been too soft on the militant Islamic country, claiming that Bush has played down the threat of a nuclear-armed Tehran. “I believe we lost critical time in … Continue reading “Who’s the Bigger Hawk, George or Hillary?”

Special Forces, Big-Ticket Weapons Dominate Defense Plans

WASHINGTON – While the Pentagon emerged as the big winner Monday among U.S. government agencies in next year’s budget sweepstakes, its failure to choose among the threats it says it must defend the country against may prove costly in the long run, both financially and operationally, according to analysts here. Although a major part of … Continue reading “Special Forces, Big-Ticket Weapons Dominate Defense Plans”

How Conservatives Went Crazy

What happened to a formerly conservative press to reduce it to political partisanship and warmongering? Specifically, I have in mind National Review and the Wall Street Journal editorial page. When I was associated with National Review, the magazine understood that the U.S. Constitution and civil liberties had to be protected from government. It was not … Continue reading “How Conservatives Went Crazy”

Rotten in Denmark

The publication of 12 cartoons in Jyllands-Posten, a Danish right-wing newspaper, that caricatured the prophet Muhammad was clearly a provocation – and it has had its intended effect. The editor responsible claims the genesis of the cartoons was the alleged reluctance of artists to illustrate an upcoming children’s biography of Muhammad: they are supposedly too … Continue reading “Rotten in Denmark”

Empire’s Choice

After over six years of occupation, and a year of preparatory propaganda, it appears the Empire is ready to finally separate Kosovo from Serbia. Treated as a fait accompli in the media as they reported on the death of Albanian President Ibrahim Rugova two weeks ago, separation of the occupied province has now been officially … Continue reading “Empire’s Choice”

Juggernaut Gathering Momentum: Next Stop, Iran

What President George W. Bush, Fox News, and the Washington Times were saying about Iraq three years ago they are now saying about Iran. After Saturday’s vote by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report Iran’s suspicious nuclear activities to the UN Security Council, the president wasted no time in warning, "The world will … Continue reading “Juggernaut Gathering Momentum: Next Stop, Iran”

From the Founders
to the Felons

For the past several weeks now, we have had to deal, as a country, with the realization that the Pentagon, the White House, the National Security Agency, the Justice Department, and who knows how many other federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been secretly tapping into untold thousands of telephone conversations by U.S. citizens … Continue reading “From the Founders
to the Felons”

Gravest Threat – Not

John Negroponte, our first director of national intelligence, gave his first threat assessment [.pdf] to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence last week. “Let me begin with a straightforward statement of preoccupation shared by all of us sitting here before you: terrorism is the preeminent threat to our citizens, homeland, interests, and friends. “The War … Continue reading “Gravest Threat – Not”

Following Orders Is No Excuse

"A hoax on the American people, the international community, and the United Nations Security Council." That is how Secretary of State Gen. Colin Powell’s February 2003 Iraq WMD speech to the UN was described last Friday (Feb. 3) on PBS by one who ought to know, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to Secretary Powell. … Continue reading “Following Orders Is No Excuse”