Ivan Eland

Some things never change. In a continuation of the Bush administration’s Orwellian doublespeak on the Iraq War, President Bush recently gave an upbeat speech in Dayton, Ohio, extolling the progress in Iraq and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s military offensive in the southern oil port of Basra against "criminal" elements. Strangely, as violence erupted in … Continue reading “Putting Lipstick on a Pig”

During the early days of the Clinton administration, Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cringed when Madeleine Albright implied that because the United States had such a big, beautiful military, it should be willing to use it promiscuously overseas. After the debacle in Iraq, the growing group of those who desire … Continue reading “Defense-Contract Reform Key to a Restrained Foreign Policy”

As the fifth anniversary of the United States’ second longest (next to Vietnam) and second costliest (next to World War II) war passes, the good news is that the counterinsurgency strategy of Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno seems to be working. The bad news is that it will probably not save Iraq. … Continue reading “For the Iraq War’s Birthday, Slice the Cake”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) just turned five years old. It seems like it was born just yesterday. The department’s growing pains have made it a slow learner and a downright ugly child. Born in an atmosphere of tension and fear, and cobbled together from pieces of other government departments and agencies, the prospects … Continue reading “Happy Birthday, DHS!”

America is an amazing place – one of the wealthiest and freest nations on earth. Yet because Europe has so many more cultures and languages in one contained area, Americans, compared to their European brethren, seem like country bumpkins in their knowledge and understanding of what is happening in the world. Unfortunately, this tin ear … Continue reading “Accepting Reality Is No Vice; Being Oblivious Is No Virtue”

History will probably show George W. Bush to have been a bold president, ready to gamble his legacy at a moment’s notice. Some risk-taking has paid off for him, and other rolls of the dice haven’t. Even in instances where Bush’s chutzpah got results, the policy goals obtained were disastrous for the country. For example, … Continue reading “Bush ‘Triples Down’ in Pakistan”

The Pentagon has long had a conflict of interest. The Department of Defense builds the weapons of war (albeit in a grossly inefficient manner using a captive defense industry that is a ward of the state). Yet the department also supervises and funds 85 percent of the intelligence effort to identify threats that those weapons, … Continue reading “Threats of Our Own Making”

As the nation’s major media outlets crown John McCain (George W. Bush on steroids) as the Republican nominee for president, their nearly criminal neglect of Ron Paul’s candidacy in the 2008 presidential campaign is nearly complete. “Big media” have never deemed Paul a “major candidate,” as their paltry coverage of him shows. In fact, the … Continue reading “A Direct Descendant of the Founders”

With the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, one of Pakistan’s foremost opposition leaders, the bottom fell out of the Bush administration’s already creaky policy toward that South Asian nation. The administration had hoped that Bhutto would return to a country in turmoil and take the position of prime minister to give presidential dictator Pervez Musharraf’s government … Continue reading “What to Do About Pakistan”

It seemed a strange gamble when President George W. Bush doubled his bet on a messy war in Iraq and opted to dramatically increase the number of U.S. military forces in that country instead of reducing them as American popular opinion demanded. In a republic, escalating an unpopular war is risky… …unless you are leaving … Continue reading “A Cynical Effort to Save Bush’s Legacy”