Charley Reese

When they finally hang Saddam Hussein, we’ll probably miss him. He has, after all, been an obsession of American politicians since 1991. Since the Washington media obsess over whatever the politicians obsess over, Saddam’s face has adorned our television screens for 14 years. He bears a strong resemblance, by the way, to the late actor … Continue reading “We’ll Miss Saddam”

I listened to the president’s speech last week at the Naval Academy. It was pretty much what he has said all along. He believes that democracy can be implanted at the point of a gun and that, once implanted in Iraq, it will spread to the rest of the Middle East. He’s wrong, in my … Continue reading “The Prospects for Democracy in Iraq”

Politicians, like writers, preachers, and professors, are word people. They deal mainly in words, not in actions. If you wish to understand the present political situation, you need to understand how politicians use words. You can start by scratching off "communication of truth." That is a very low priority in Washington, for the simple reason … Continue reading “Words and Reality”

I fear the vice president has had one too many heart attacks. His mind seems to have slipped its moorings and is drifting out into the sea of fantasy. Dick Cheney was the misleader in chief prior to the war in Iraq, and in a recent speech in which he chastised people for suggesting that, … Continue reading “Slipped His Moorings”

All of the Bush administration’s junkyard dogs are out on the attack, feigning righteous indignation that anyone would suggest that they manipulated the intelligence and misled the American people. Of course, that is exactly what they did, and a majority of Americans are finally catching on. That doesn’t absolve Congress from lazily going along and … Continue reading “Unforgivable”

Our terrorist foes are practicing a technique employed by the great Confederate cavalry leader Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. It worked for him, and it’s apparently working for the terrorists. Forrest, on several occasions, would arrange for a Northern prisoner to overhear him and his staff making plans for an attack. Later that night, Forrest’s men … Continue reading “Disinformation in the Terror War”

What I fear most for the future of our country is that our leadership seems to be developing the same arrogance that doomed the British Empire. In early 1941, the British general in charge of the Far East scoffed at the idea that Japan would attack. The Japanese wouldn’t dare, he said, because they were … Continue reading “Let’s Not Imitate the British”

I just read an excellent book on World War I, and it made me incredibly sad. World War I was the beginning of all the horrors of the 20th century and of problems we still have to deal with in the 21st century. It all started there. What’s so sad is that we really learned … Continue reading “The War to End All Wars That Started Them All”

The so-called war against terrorism is unwinnable. It was designed to be unwinnable so that it can be carried on for an indefinite duration and thus support the vast military-industrial-anti-terrorism complex. The end of the Cold War scared this complex half to death. It can only survive with an enemy at the gates. Conventional wars … Continue reading “Unwinnable War”

Now that Israel has evacuated from the Gaza Strip, we can forget about any serious peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has done all he is going to do. In the words of a close adviser published some months ago in Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, there will be no serious negotiations … Continue reading “Gaza Withdrawal Is Not Enough”