Alan Bock

It is hardly impossible, but it won’t be easy. Iraqis who don’t want their country to be either torn apart by continuing insurgent violence or occupied permanently by U.S. military forces have a few weeks to get their act together. To be sure, despite the fact that he is suffering a bad bout of the … Continue reading “Interval of Uncertainty”

I know it’s more than a bit of a long shot, but I’m hoping beyond hope that the election Saturday in Iraq is something that can at least be viewed as a modest success. The definition of success will have to be far more modest than what our wise leaders might have accepted as success … Continue reading “Just a Chance”

President Bush, showing in full bloom the instincts that make it clear that whatever he is politically he is not a conservative of the traditional limited-government or Constitutionalist variety, has lofted a trial balloon to promote the idea of having the military play a more extensive, earlier and perhaps even primary role in handling future … Continue reading “Posse Comitatus: Remembering Why”

Hurricane Katrina and its near-catastrophic aftermath, which bids fair to be compounded by Rita, might be reason enough, given the resources that will be used (whether they are really required on the federal level is another matter, but President Bush is approaching this disaster like the big-government Republican he has turned out to be) to … Continue reading “Before It’s Too Late”

With all the attention being paid to the sorry aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – most of the media, especially the 24/7 cable channels, don’t seem to be able to focus on more than one story at a time, but perhaps we should be grateful that Natalee Holloway has been pushed out of the picture – … Continue reading “Remember Iraq”

What has been obvious to many of us for some time should be obvious to almost everybody in the wake of the botch government – city, state, and local, there’s plenty of incompetence to go around – has made of Hurricane Katrina. The empire has no clothes. After 9/11, the government spent countless billions reshuffling … Continue reading “Katrina and 9/11: Criminal Incompetence”

It is important to be responsible in discussing the aftermath of what seems to be developing into the worst, most destructive national disaster in this nation’s history. There is a human tendency to fix blame, and in the political arena to fix blame on one’s political opponents, even if it takes a lot of stretching. … Continue reading “Making Disasters Worse”

President Bush’s speeches this week before a couple of carefully selected military audiences indicate that even the administration is becoming aware that in terms of domestic opinion we may be getting close to a tipping point in terms of support for the Iraq war. Polls show that a majority of Americans now believe the invasion … Continue reading “For Immediate Withdrawal”

Not being as intimately acquainted as some others seem or claim to be with the ineffable methods and motives of the universe, I would hardly say that it is providential that Cindy Sheehan had to leave Crawford to be with her mother in Los Angeles, who had a stroke. But it will be interesting and … Continue reading “A Real Peace Movement?”

It now appears likely that the Iraqis will come up with some sort of written constitution by the Aug. 15 deadline. Although President Bush has expressed aversion to strict deadlines for the United States, both Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq (what ever happened to John Negroponte, whose veteran savvy … Continue reading “Constitution: How’s Chances?”