How Everything Changed

"Everything has changed" – it’s the bromide of the season, and it’s horribly true. Things have gone from bad to worse to downright intolerable in the first weeks and months of World War III. What started out as a finely-tuned, focused hunt for the Evil One has turned into a free-for-all against the Axis of … Continue reading “How Everything Changed”

Never Mind Osama

President Bush’s State of the Union speech confirms what we have long maintained on this website: the “war on terrorism” is not a defensive operation, but a war of conquest. In the wake of 9/11, we endorsed a limited police action narrowly aimed at getting the perpetrators and bringing them to justice: the title of … Continue reading “Never Mind Osama”

‘Crony Capitalism’ & War

My recent column on the "warbloggers" raised a lot of hackles, as well as provoking some interesting arguments. Dealing with the latter first, we have Jim Henley of "Unqualified Offerings" – a consistently interesting and well-written blog – telling me to "aim at the target, please." Henley wants to know: "Why does Justin Raimondo spend … Continue reading “‘Crony Capitalism’ & War”

The Tali-boy: Made In the USA

Political trials are the musical accompaniment of modern warfare: Stalin’s purge trials, purportedly showing that the Soviet dictator’s enemies on the home front were agents of Hitler and the Mikado, provided ideological grist for Moscow’s propaganda mills during World War II. The Reichstag fire and the subsequent trial gave the German Nazis a rationale for … Continue reading “The Tali-boy: Made In the USA”

The Coming Implosion of the Bush Campaign

Like the old Soviet Union, which no one – including our own CIA – suspected was on the brink of complete collapse, the Republican Party Establishment thinks it is immune to any challenge from within or without. The only difference is that the Bush campaign won’t take 45 years to go into a tailspin: thanks … Continue reading “The Coming Implosion of the Bush Campaign”

PC Imperialism

The Martha McSally case combines the two absolute worst aspects of American political culture – rampant political correctness and foreign policy triumphalism – in one outrageous package. McSally, the highest-ranking female combat pilot in the U.S. Air Force, is suing the Pentagon: she objects to US military regulations that, in deference to local customs, require … Continue reading “PC Imperialism”

The War Against the Saudis

Washington is all atwitter over what appears to be a sea-change on the foreign policy front: evidence of a developing rift between the US and Saudi Arabia, its most loyal Arab ally. Since World War II, Washington and the House of Saud have enjoyed a lucrative and seemingly permanent alliance, in which the former provided … Continue reading “The War Against the Saudis”

Gucci Goes To War

Manacled, hooded, and shorn of their beards, Afghan captives are dragged to Guantanamo behind the chariots of the conquering Americans. The pundits and the court intellectuals salute the victor – "Hail Caesar!" – while the US avers that these are not prisoners of war, but "illegal combatants" – since anyone who raises their hand to … Continue reading “Gucci Goes To War”

Manufacturing Dissent

Noam Chomsky – the mere mention of his name drives the War Party wild. The voluble rightist David Horowitz has written himself into a frothy-mouthed frenzy denouncing "Mullah" Chomsky, and the web-artists over at Frontpagemag.com have had a field day fitting poor Noam with turbans and running screaming headlines about the "Ayatollah of the Left." … Continue reading “Manufacturing Dissent”

The Warbloggers

They are the mutant offspring of Virginia Postrel, Andrew Sullivan, and Ariel Sharon: meet the "warbloggers," internet mavens who see themselves as the trendiest of the trendy, the vanguard of the chattering classes, whose little "weblogs" (i.e. diaries) are supposed to be The Latest Thing. Many of them claim to be libertarians, and, simultaneously, they … Continue reading “The Warbloggers”