Charley Reese

Credibility, like virginity, can only be lost once and never recovered. Hence, the problem the Bush administration has in dealing with Iran is that having been so wrong about Iraq, who can believe it now? I recognize that a majority of Americans shrugged off going to war on false premises. The rest of the world … Continue reading “Credibility Can Only Be Lost Once”

With all of the political hoopla and heifer dust that is spread about the Middle East, you might think we are totally dependent on Middle Eastern oil. Actually, we are not. The United States imports about 62 percent of its oil and other petroleum products. Only about 11 percent of domestic usage comes from the … Continue reading “Not What You Think”

"An uptick in airstrikes and other military moves points to an imminent showdown between U.S. forces and Sunni Muslim insurgents west of Baghdad – a decisive battle that could determine whether the campaign to bring democracy and stability to Iraq can succeed." The above quotation is the lead paragraph of an Associated Press dispatch. Note … Continue reading “A War We Can’t Win”

When you realize that communication is the most basic survival skill of the human race, then you must also see that lying is the cardinal sin, since a lie is a deliberate attempt to sabotage communication. It is an immoral attempt by one person to manipulate another by denying that person the truth. We would … Continue reading “Mendacity Without End”

Now we know the truth. Neither the Bush administration nor the Israeli government has any intention whatsoever of allowing the Palestinians to establish their own state. That means, of course, that both have been lying, not only to the Palestinians but to the American people. It also means that there will be no end to … Continue reading “No Palestinian State, No Peace for America”

Any doubt that the Department of Homeland Security is a joke should be put to rest by its recent detainment and deportation of the pop singer Cat Stevens, who now calls himself Yusuf Islam. The entertainer has mysteriously made it to one of the watch lists that the government so famously failed to consult prior … Continue reading “Homeland Security: A Bad Joke”

President George Bush’s denial of the reality of Iraq is beginning to sound like a stand-up comedy routine. “Mr. President, the insurgency has spread to the whole country.” “We’re making great progress.” “But Mr. President, the attacks against coalition forces have escalated dramatically.” “We’re making great progress.” “But Mr. President, all but two percent of … Continue reading “The President’s Comedy Routine”

It was 1996, and Bill Clinton was president. To give the rascal his due, he was laboring mightily to make the Middle East peace process work. That same year, three American neoconservatives produced a policy paper for the newly elected Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The neocons were Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser. … Continue reading “AIPAC’s Power, or America’s Cowardice?”

I‘m going to vote against the president because I think he is dangerously inept and quite likely to crash the economy, get us into a bigger war or both. There is nothing personal about it. President George Bush is an affable man. He was probably fine as a governor in a state where governors don’t … Continue reading “Inept President, Craven Congress”

The hoo-ha about John Kerry’s Vietnam War record reminds me of a conversation I had with a teenage baby-sitter back in the 1960s when the war was actually going on in Vietnam. The girl had brought her high-school history book with her, so I asked her if she liked history. "It’s OK," she said, "except … Continue reading “‘That Real Old Stuff’”