Randal Mark

George Monbiot has a piece in the Guardian this week (“The US missile defense system is the magic pudding that will never run out“) explaining the financial motivations behind the US policy of promoting missile defense systems. His observations are fine, so far as they go, although they are limited by his own prejudices. But … Continue reading “Missile Defense: Understanding the Issues”

Andrew Sullivan really does have breathtaking cheek. In the Sunday Times [1], he has the brass neck to accuse the Bush administration of “incoherence” because they don’t fancy taking on Kim, when they did take on Saddam (disastrously). Sullivan’s piece is strongly suggestive of a lust for Korean blood. Kim is a “genocidal, certifiably loopy … Continue reading “Andrew Sullivan Wants
Another War”

Sunday’s Independent carries a piece speculating on whether former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw lost his job, in part, because the Bush regime disliked his lack of crusading fervor. Francis Elliott writes: "Jack Straw’s fate was sealed in a phone call from the White House to Tony Blair last month, according to the former foreign … Continue reading “Straw Canned Over Iran?”

As an occasional past subscriber and more regular buyer of The Spectator, my recollection of the magazine was that it had improved over recent years. Having bought the April 15 issue on impulse, though, I was really quite shocked at the poor quality of the main editorial, “Our Own Cuban Missile Crisis” (access requires subscription). … Continue reading “Is the War Party Really Reduced to This?”

Nuclear Weapons The first thing to remember about nuclear weapons1 is that they are horrible. They represent the logical conclusion of the strategic bombing method of waging war – by obliterating and terrorizing enemy civilian populations. Historically, this was most effectively waged by Britain and the United States in World War II. Nuclear weapons allow … Continue reading “Nonproliferation: From Noble Lie to Pretext for War”

The latest attempt to move on from the Iraq war was set out by Prime Minister Blair last weekend. He was quoted by the BBC as saying: “We do say sorry for all those people who have died, but I cannot apologize for taking the country to war.” In other words, he’s sorry for the … Continue reading “Blair’s ‘Sorry’ Is Not Good Enough”