Charley Reese

Have you ever thought how peaceful and prosperous we would be if our national leaders had followed the advice of George Washington in his “Farewell Address“? For starters, we would not be hopelessly in debt, and there would not be so many Americans buried in national cemeteries and in distant lands. Nor would we be … Continue reading “George Washington Had It Right”

How do you persuade a man who has a wife and children and who works hard but can barely make ends meet to take a pay cut and go do something that has a high probability of getting him killed or seriously injured? Clearly, it is not in a man’s self-interest to go to a … Continue reading “What People Believe”

President Bush should talk to the Iranians. Refusing to talk is childish. How would the Cold War have ended if Ronald Reagan had refused to talk to Soviet leaders? How would relations with China have been established if Richard Nixon had said he would never talk to Chinese leaders? For heaven’s sake, how would the … Continue reading “Talking Beats Fighting”

To George Clooney and the other Americans who demonstrated and demanded that the U.S. intervene in the Darfur region of Sudan, I have a simple and clear message: Buy yourself a gun and plenty of ammunition, and go intervene yourself. In the 1930s, a tougher breed of Americans didn’t just demonstrate. They formed the Abraham … Continue reading “Want to Intervene in Darfur? Go Ahead”

The Israeli lobby and the neoconservatives are beating the drums for war with Iran. I hope the president is not that dangerously stupid. The betting on whether he is that stupid is about even. The neocons – who, being self-centered, seemingly have no concept of human nature – are advancing the premise that a military … Continue reading “Israel: The Dead Roach in America’s Salad”

The first weapon of choice for the Israeli lobby when someone with prestige publishes a soundly researched paper or book critical of Israel or its powerful lobby is silence. If it’s a book, it rarely gets reviewed; its author doesn’t get interviewed. If it’s a paper, there are no news stories in the big corporate … Continue reading “Keeping It Quiet: The Israel Lobby’s Crushing of Dissent”

Every day that passes, Americans will be less welcomed in Iraq, and I wouldn’t take lightly the warning of an Iraqi cleric who said, “You should leave before we force you out.” An army that won’t fight is one thing. Twenty million people willing to stab you in the back, cut your throat or toss … Continue reading “Told You So”

Last week’s anniversary of the start of the Iraq War prompted loads of discussions. For some reason, journalists love anniversaries, though of course they are highly selective in which anniversaries they take note of. Out of these discussions always comes the administration’s ploy, which is that if you don’t have a solution, then don’t criticize … Continue reading “Time to Leave Iraq”

War consists of killing people and destroying property. That’s all there is to war. Any honest soldier will tell you the same thing: His job is to kill people and destroy property. That’s true of all branches of the service. The difficult question is, When is a nation justified in making the decision to kill … Continue reading “Consequences of a War State”

George Orwell remains a valuable writer, though he died in 1950. He was a man who was an active participant in his times, and since the new century appears to be going down the same road as the last one, we can still learn from him. His essay "Politics and the English Language" ought to … Continue reading “The Value of George Orwell”