Patrick J. Buchanan

The antiwar Democrats are crying betrayal – and justifiably so. For a Democratic Congress is now voting to fully fund the war in Iraq, as demanded by President Bush, and without any timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal. Bush got his $100 billion, then magnanimously agreed to let Democrats keep the $20 billion in pork … Continue reading “Why Congress Caved to Bush”

It was the decisive moment of the South Carolina debate. Hearing Rep. Ron Paul recite the reasons for Arab and Islamic resentment of the United States, including 10 years of bombing and sanctions that brought death to thousands of Iraqis after the Gulf War, Rudy Giuliani broke format and exploded: “That’s really an extraordinary statement, … Continue reading “But Who Was Right – Rudy or Ron?”

All week, young toughs in Moscow have besieged the Estonian embassy to harass Ambassador Marina Kaljurand. Her bodyguards had to use a mace-like spray to drive back the thugs, who call Estonia a “fascist country.” Estonian diplomats and their families are being pulled out of Moscow and sent home. Relations between the countries are about … Continue reading “Dying for…Estonia?”

Barracks language edited out, Tommy Franks once referred to the Pentagon’s No. 3, Doug Feith, as “the dumbest guy on the planet.” It now appears Gen. Franks’ honorific better applies to Feith’s boss, the Pentagon No. 2, Paul Wolfowitz. For a man once hailed as the brightest of the neocons, Wolfie has behaved with a … Continue reading “Wolfie’s Piggy Bank”

As Chairman Carl Levin of Senate Armed Services conceded Sunday, Congress is not going to de-fund the war in Iraq, even if Bush vetoes every Democratic timetable for withdrawal. The war will go on – backed by a Democratic Congress. If Majority Leader Reid is not bluffing about his threat to vote with Russ Feingold … Continue reading “What a Lack of Courage Cost”

The Easter pardon by Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the 15 British sailors and Marines, seized by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in waters off the Iraqi coast two weeks ago, ends the crisis. And as the beaming smile of President Ahmadinejad while he graciously accepted apologies from the sailors and Marines testifies, there is no doubt as … Continue reading “Magnanimous Mahmoud”

“Whatever happens in Iraq, retreat from the world is not an option,” wrote Financial Times columnist Philip Stephens last weekend. Why not? Because a world map highlighting those regions where the West’s vital resources are located would exactly overlap a map highlighting those regions where state power is crumbling, disease and poverty are pandemic, and … Continue reading “Interventions Without End?”

If George W. Bush launches a preemptive war on Iran, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will bear full moral responsibility for that war. For it was Pelosi who quietly agreed to strip out of the $100 billion funding bill for Iraq a provision that would have required President Bush to seek congressional approval before launching any … Continue reading “Pelosi’s Capitulation”

“A soft answer turneth away wrath,” teaches Proverbs 1:15. Our new secretary of defense, Robert Gates, seems familiar with the verse. For his handling of Saturday’s wintry blast from Vladimir Putin at the Munich security conference was masterful. “As an old Cold Warrior, one of yesterday’s speeches almost filled me with nostalgia for a less … Continue reading “Does Putin Not Have a Point?”

In aborting Iran’s nuclear program, “all options are on the table.” Some version of this threat against Iran has lately been made by John McCain, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Mitt Romney. Yet, if an attack on Iran is among “options … on the table,” who put it there? Who gave President Bush the authority … Continue reading “Is Bombing Iran Bush’s Call?”