Month: August 2006

Sixty-one years ago this week, the United States became the first and (to this day) only nation ever to use a nuclear weapon. It happened twice. First “Little Boy” was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later (before the impact of Hiroshima could fully reverberate), “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki. An … Continue reading “Truman Haunts Us”

It’s been two months since George Bush announced the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Bush administration said Zarqawi was a terrorist mastermind, the head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, a man who organized attacks on innocent civilians, American troops, and the Iraqi police and military. But two months after his killing, violence and death in … Continue reading “Two Months After Zarqawi”

How is it that the army of a liberal, democratic country, one that prides itself as the champion of liberty worldwide, could possibly descend to the level exemplified by the war crimes committed at Haditha, Samarra, and Abu Ghraib? This is baffling to those who have yet to absorb the libertarian lesson that all states, … Continue reading “Counting Kills”

BEIRUT – Many Lebanese Christians say they feel caught in the middle of a war in which they have a lot to lose and little to gain. Most of the areas Israel has been targeting – southern and eastern Lebanon and southern Beirut – are majority Shia Muslim. Israel says it is trying to cut … Continue reading “Lebanese Christians Caught in Political Crossfire”

UNITED NATIONS – Israel’s phenomenal victories against collective Arab armies in 1967 and later against Egypt in 1973 firmly established the Jewish state’s legendary military superiority in the Middle East. The 1967 war – called the Six Day War – was so swift it ended in less than a week, with Egypt losing 264 aircraft … Continue reading “Israel’s Military Invincibility Dented by Hezbollah”

Israel has argued that the war against Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal was a defensive response to the Shi’ite organization’s threat to Israeli security, but the evidence points to a much more ambitious objective – the weakening of Iran’s deterrent to an attack on its nuclear sites. In planning for the destruction of most of Hezbollah’s arsenal … Continue reading “Was Israel’s Aim to Clear Path for US War on Iran?”

SIDON, Lebanon – Residents of south Lebanon’s biggest city and the refugees who have joined them are staying put despite warnings from Israel that it plans to bomb "Hezbollah rocket launching sites" in Sidon, according to the city’s mayor. Sidon’s normal population of 125,000 has swelled as more than 100,000 refugees have fled here from … Continue reading “Residents of Sidon Staying Put Amid the Bombing”

The idea that you can solve social and political problems militarily from the air is, on the face of it, ludicrous. The historical record is filled with the dead dreams of air power solutions to ground-based problems. But that stops no one. Just yesterday, for instance, as part of the new American operation to – … Continue reading “The Damage in Lebanon –
and Beyond”

As both the Bush administration and its client government in Israel, with their invasions of Arab states in Iraq and Lebanon respectively, make the United States ever more hated in the Islamic world, a new book by the chairmen of the 9/11 Commission admits that the commission whitewashed the root cause of the 9/11 attacks … Continue reading “9/11 Commission Chairmen Admit to Whitewash”

“Things are as they are, and their consequences will be what they will be. Why then should we seek to be deceived?” Columnist Stewart Alsop, dead now these 30 years, once closed a column with this quote from the philosopher Bishop Berkeley. His column, I believe, was about Vietnam. As we approach the fifth anniversary … Continue reading “Condi’s ‘New Middle East’”