Charley Reese

President George Bush says that America is safer because of our war against Iraq. I respectfully disagree. For one thing, our “shock and awe” campaign has turned into a show and tell of America’s military limitations. We have not been able to defeat the Iraqi resistance, and trying to do so has put a great … Continue reading “Where Is This ‘Safer’ America?”

I love the sharp tongue of the British. A former legal adviser to the British Foreign Office has said George Bush’s war on terrorism is “legal nonsense” and confers no more power on the United States to detain people than the war against obesity. That’s true. The British lady, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, is quite correct, too, … Continue reading “Legal Nonsense”

Somebody ought to tell President George Bush something he obviously doesn’t know. He keeps talking about wanting democracy in the Middle East and reform in general as an antidote to extremism. What apparently his staff members have not told him, probably because they themselves don’t know, is that most of the reformers in the Middle … Continue reading “Islamic Democrats”

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Russia today is estimated to have 7,800 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal. I emphasize “estimated” because Russia, like all the nuclear powers, remains quite secretive about its nuclear arsenal. Altogether, Russia’s nuclear arsenal of intact warheads is put at 17,000. The difference is classified as being … Continue reading “A Boy and His Nukes”

You know, of course, that the alleged handover of Iraqi sovereignty on June 30 is a phony-baloney public-relations stunt. The armed forces will remain in the country. A U.S. embassy with 1,000 employees will open. In other words, it will be a continued occupation with an Iraqi face. What the White House hopes will happen … Continue reading “White House Counting on Public Apathy”

The biggest single problem the federal government has is its hypocrisy. It talks one way and acts another. It talks of spreading democracy while supporting dictators; it blathers about human rights while violating them; and it claims to promote the rule of law while scoffing at laws it considers inconvenient. If the basis of our … Continue reading “Hypocrisy: The US Government’s Biggest Single Problem”

In the words of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind, Memorial Day weekend was all about “War, war, war!” In addition to the real ceremonies, the History Channel and the old movie channels featured nonstop war movies and documentaries. This was quickly followed by the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Europe. Anyone with … Continue reading “War! War! War!”

Once more, Americans will be forced to vote for a man instead of a policy. It doesn’t say much for self-government that the American people are almost never given a chance to vote on major policy issues. The trouble is that Sen. John Kerry, as his campaign has developed, is saying essentially this: I support … Continue reading “No Real Choice”

The conventional wisdom is this: With the economy improving, President Bush’s political fate will depend on Iraq. For an administration of control freaks, this is bad news, because they do not and cannot control Iraq. What happens in Iraq between now and the election depends on the Iraqis and on whoever else is dipping oars … Continue reading “Bad News for Control Freaks”

I confess – I’m not sure if President Bush lied or is just confused when he said in his recent speech that “full sovereignty” was to be handed over to an Iraqi government on June 30. Full sovereignty would mean that the Iraqi government could tell us to get out of the country, and we … Continue reading “Lying or Confused?”