Month: August 2006

In what some critics describe as a replay of the run-up to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the House of Representatives has released a report suggesting Iran may acquire nuclear weapons much more quickly than U.S. intelligence agencies believe. The 29-page report, authored by a former … Continue reading “Republican Report Hypes Iran ‘Threat’”

Talk about chutzpah! I was suffering a bit from outrage fatigue yesterday but was shaken out of it as soon as I downloaded an unusually slick paper, “Recognizing Iran as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States,” released this week by House intelligence committee chair, Pete Hoekstra. No, not “Hoaxer.” This is … Continue reading “Hoekstra’s Hoax: Hyping Up the Iran ‘Threat’”

To get a better idea of what ails the world, let’s use our imagination to transport ourselves into outer space. From there, we can look down on Earth not as an American or as a European, but as a disinterested alien. We see a collection of sovereign nations – some large, some small, some powerful … Continue reading “Clueless and Catastrophic”

According to the Jerusalem Post a “high-ranking [Israeli] defense official” told them that “there is growing consensus within the [Israeli] defense establishment that the United States will not attack Iran, and that Israel might be forced to act independently to stop the Islamic republic from obtaining nuclear weapons.” But, after more than three years of … Continue reading “Nuking Safeguarded Facilities”

There is increasing evidence that Israel instigated a disastrous war on Lebanon largely at the behest of the United States. The Bush administration was set on crippling Hezbollah, the radical Shiite political movement that maintains a sizable block of seats in the Lebanese parliament. Taking advantage of the country’s democratic opening after the forced departure … Continue reading “How Washington Goaded Israel Into War”

During the American Civil War, President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus three times – all under the pretense that the government needed to “keep the peace” and “to protect its military operations.” As a result, dozens of journalists in the North were imprisoned for reporting about various military and executive activities. The Espionage … Continue reading “These Days, Everyone Dares Call Everything Treason”

Laura Rozen, guest-blogging for the Washington Monthly, wonders if “the marketing campaign” for war with Iran has begun, noting what the deputy director of operations for the joint chief of staffs said over at the Pentagon the other day: “The Iranian government is training and equipping much of the Shiite insurgency in Iraq, a senior … Continue reading “The Neocons Ride Again”

And yet another menacing terror plot was thwarted August 10, with the arrest of 24 suspects, all British Muslims. It was an ominous conspiracy aimed at committing “mass murder” on an “unimaginable” scale, British authorities quickly concluded. US authorities hastily joined the action, too claiming a decisive victory over the plotters, thanks in part to … Continue reading “The Real Terror Plot”

Nearly five years into the "war on terror," it’s still at the core of American media and politics. Yeah, I’ve seen the recent polls showing a drop in public support for President Bush’s "war on terror" claims. And I’ve read a spate of commentaries this month celebrating Bush’s current lack of political traction on the … Continue reading “The Mythical End to the Politics of Fear”

C. Fred Bergsten, et al., China: The Balance Sheet (New York: Public Affairs, 2006), 206 pp. Jed Babbin and Edward Timperlake, Showdown: Why China Wants War With the United States (Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2006), 226 pp. Ted Galen Carpenter, America’s Coming War With China: A Collision Course Over Taiwan (New York: Palgrave, 2005), 216 pp. … Continue reading “Readings in the Age of Empire”