Thomas Gale Moore

Last week at the United Nations, Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, called President George W. Bush “the devil” and complained he could still smell the sulfur. The reaction was immediate, visceral, and scary. Even the president’s most virulent enemies took umbrage. Charles Rangel, a liberal democrat from Harlem, raged, “You don’t come into my … Continue reading “My President, Right or Wrong”

Several Democrats and even some Republicans have attributed the disaster in Iraq to the way in which the war was fought. There have been calls for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation. Certainly the Pentagon in fighting this war has made serious errors. From the beginning, when looting broke out, the military had no plans … Continue reading “Understanding Why Iraq
Is a Disaster”

President Bush says we must achieve victory in Iraq. What is "victory?" The dictionary defines it as defeating an enemy or an opponent. Under this definition, the problem becomes simply knowing what it means to defeat the enemy. Consider history. We were certainly victorious in World War II; both Germany and Japan surrendered to our … Continue reading “What Is Victory?”

Like many of her Democratic colleagues, Sen. Dianne Feinstein is calling for a timetable to exit Iraq. That is not enough. The longer we stay, the more Americans will be killed and the greater will be the burden on the American taxpayer and the U.S. military. As we have seen recently, with the recall of … Continue reading “Leaving Iraq Is Not Enough”

"You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, and know when to run." – Kenny Rogers, "The Gambler" (words by Don Schlitz) Given the fiasco of Iraq – the slide into outright civil war and the inability of the Shi’ite-dominated government to act – the … Continue reading “The Wisdom of Cutting and Running”

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, has asserted that Israel will destroy Hezbollah or at least force it far enough north so that its rockets cannot threaten the Jewish state. As many have noted, this is turning out to be more difficult than expected. Since Hezbollah forced them out of Lebanon in the year 2000, … Continue reading “Israel’s Quagmire”

The war in Iraq is becoming more and more vicious. Attacks on coalition forces have escalated. Americans are now dying at a rate of over two per day. Iraqi police and militia are suffering major casualties from the constant attacks. Neither presidential candidate has proposed a way out of this morass. Why has the insurgency … Continue reading “A Win/Win Exit Strategy”

The Bush Administration has made much of Iraq’s oil reserves. It wants to use the proceeds from the sale of petroleum to pay off the country’s debts, cover the costs of reconstruction and government expenses. It has been hectoring European governments and the Russian government to write off much of the debt that Iraq owes … Continue reading “The Curse of Oil”

After declaring a war on terrorism, the Bush Administration has gotten us into two unwinnable wars, Afghanistan and Iraq. The war on terrorism is not a war; it is a state of affairs. There is no one enemy to conquer, no land to capture, no way to know when we have won the war. Basically, … Continue reading “Pride, Patriotism, and Propaganda”

Adapted, with apologies to Alfred Lord Tennyson Half a mile, half a mile, Half a mile onward, All in the desert of Death Rode the 200 thousand. ‘Forward, the Coalition Forces! Charge for the guns!’ he said: Into the desert of Death Rode the 200 thousand. ‘Forward, the Coalition Forces!’ Was there a man dismay’d? … Continue reading “The Charge of the Coalition Forces”