Alan Bock

Unfortunately, it should hardly come as a surprise that it took about a day into what most of the world press called a cease-fire – though the principals were careful not to use the word – for the first fatality to occur by gunshot. According to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, "Gunfire from the Atzmona settlement … Continue reading “Dim Hopes for Peace”

There’s little point in denying, as some people were wont to do, that the election in Iraq on Sunday was a significant step toward the possibility of a reasonably stable Iraq. It went better than almost everybody except the most optimistic of observers expected. While the outcome could be the beginning of a genuine political … Continue reading “Now for the Hard Part”

I suspect there are some among critics of the Iraq war who will be secretly or even publicly pleased if the election in Iraq scheduled for this Sunday goes badly, marred by violence and a certain degree of chaos. That, as some might argue, would validate those who criticized the initial invasion of Iraq and … Continue reading “Elections and Torture”

One doubts that there were enough memorable phrases or stirring lines to make President Bush’s second inaugural address one of those that will be remembered for years. Nonetheless, it was a remarkably frank speech that offered citizens a reasonably honest look at how the president views his role over the next four years. That it … Continue reading “What Chance for Reality?”

Perhaps the most striking thing about the official acknowledgment that the two-year hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is over is the fact that it was greeted by most with a collective shrug of the shoulders and an almost cheerful defense of what many of us view as utterly indefensible. “Based on what … Continue reading “No Semblance of Accountability”

Ever since Yasser Arafat’s death, there has been a certain air of anticipation about the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace – or at least something resembling a settlement, even a formal cease-fire, that will end the current relatively active hostilities. If Arafat himself was the major obstacle to negotiations, as somebody neither the Israeli government nor … Continue reading “Faint Hopes for Peace”

We move into a new year of imperial ambitions. Perhaps it is time to take stock of some of the assumptions that lie behind the imperial enterprise in order to understand why, at least on the basis of its own stated goals, the empire is unlikely to be successful. It wouldn’t be a bad idea … Continue reading “Confused About Democracy”

It is easy, observing the prospects for peace, let alone an American withdrawal any time soon in Iraq, to be discouraged this Christmas season. “There is no peace on earth, I said,” goes the line from the 19th-century Christmas song. And even though that song ends on a hopeful note, it is not difficult to … Continue reading “Restoring Christmas”

Many of the signs and portents hovering around the beginning of a second Bush term look less than promising for partisans of peace. As cabinet members have resigned, they have for the most part been replaced by people whose salient qualities are less competence or expertise than personal loyalty to the president, several of them … Continue reading “Reality Catching Up to Empire?”

Although I had some thoughts at the time, I thought it would be churlish to question the decision of Pat Tillman, in his fourth year as a linebacker for the NFL Arizona Cardinals, with a $3.6 million contract, to give up professional sports and enlist in the Army Rangers after the 9/11 attacks. Although he … Continue reading “Tillman’s True Tragedy”