Ilana Mercer

Never underestimate the contribution neoconservative women in the scribbling and broadcasting professions have made to sexing up the war. When a bunch of babes with bursting décolletages quakes and quivers for military action, their fans (males, especially) do more than just look … they listen. The Fox News War Harpies were certainly a dream come … Continue reading “Lethal Weapons: Neocon Groupies”

For a short time, the badly mutilated body of a Western woman found in the ruins of Fallujah gave hope to Margaret Hassan’s family and friends. The unidentified Jane Doe, you see, had blond hair, while hostage Hassan was a brunette. But hope was dashed when images of the British aid worker being shot by … Continue reading “Feeding the Iraq Moloch”

After their jerry-built justifications – 1. WMD. 2. Saddam and Osama sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G – fell apart, the neoconservatives had a problem. Why, exactly, did we invade Iraq? It seems we invaded not so much for us as for them. The Iraqi people, that is. How very altruistic. Saddam was a killer, and … Continue reading “Liberation Has a Body Count”

“One of the first things you learn in the military,” my father was saying during the monthly call I put through to his home in South Africa, “is to stay mum about impending operations. Soldiers’ lives depend on it.” Dad, who had served in the Israeli Defense Force reserves, was baffled by the American military’s … Continue reading “The Big Dog’s Lapdogs”

French political scientist Pierre Rosanvallon was not describing the Bush administration when he wrote, “[They] speak like Tocqueville but continue to think like Robespierre.” Had he been referring to the Bushies rather than to France’s elites, he might have said that they speak like Tocqueville but act like Robespierre. Rosanvallon argues that France’s big cheeses … Continue reading “Kerry’s Cowardly Convergence”

The sign of a civilized society is the sanctity it accords human life. According to the Talmud, “To save one life is like saving the world.” You needn’t be religious to live by this maxim. You must, however, be observant of the most precious thing on earth: the life of an innocent human being. As … Continue reading “After Their Heads Roll, America’s Dead Remain Faceless”

Even Sean Hannity, always eager to consider gratuitous bombing and killing, had a hard time with Michelle Malkin’s latest book, In Defense of Internment: The Case for “Racial Profiling” in World War II and the War on Terror. The cringe-making crux of Malkin’s book is that, in light of the intelligence intercepts to which the … Continue reading “Internment Chic”

Suppose your doctor misdiagnoses your condition – he tells you that six months hence you’ll be stone-cold dead, pushing up the daisies. As it turns out, however, you did not have leukemia after all, but were only suffering from Lyme disease. Would you not consider switching practitioners? Say your stockbroker’s picks leave you with a … Continue reading “Pundits, Heal Thyselves!”

The networks and other custodians of consensus sicced the dogs of war on anyone who dared question Pat Tillman’s post-Sept. 11 epiphany. Tillman, may he rest in peace, abandoned his NFL career and a $3.6-million contract to become an Army Ranger. As Len Pasquarelli of ESPN put it, "His conscience would not allow him to … Continue reading “Pat Tillman and the Culture of Death”

We ain’t seen nothing yet, the congressional censors warn. The pornographic pictorials from Abu Ghraib prison, starring some sadistic and slutty servicemen and women, are soft core compared to the X-rated fare that has yet to go public. The members of the 800th Military Police Brigade have so far been captured by digital cameras in … Continue reading “GI Joe Meets GI Ho”