Alan Bock

Friends are always accusing me of being overly Pollyannaish, of relentlessly seeing the bright side when the dark side is much more likely to prevail. So take these observations with whatever rations of salt seem appropriate. Nonetheless, I do think it is possible that the foray into aggression in the Iraq war might just have … Continue reading “Inoculated for a While?”

There is certainly some justification for being less than completely satisfied, as Elaine Cassel certainly is, with the Supreme Court’s decisions this week on people detained without trial or access to friends, family or lawyers by the Bush administration, notably Jose Padilla, Yaser Esam Hamdi and the 600 or so foreign fighters held in the … Continue reading “Restoring Some Balance”

Some unfinished business from last week: In that column I discussed in some detail how the Bush administration’s story about Saddam and al-Qaeda differed from that of the 9/11 commission, and scanned some of the administration’s prewar statements. In general I conceded that the Bush administration had been fairly clever and cagey about the relationship … Continue reading “The Handover Just Might Work”

Perhaps it is just as well to conclude regretfully that mere facts will seldom if ever hold much sway with people whose minds are already made up. In the wake of the report from the 9/11 commission to the effect that there is “no credible evidence that Iraq and al-Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the … Continue reading “Deep Denial Remains”

I know it’s terribly naive to suggest such a thing, but you might have thought that if even a secondary purpose of the vaunted war on terrorism and the sidetrack into Iraq had something to do with demonstrating the superiority of democracy and the rule of law, that the administration would have taken steps to … Continue reading “Thugs With Lawyers”

So now there’s an interim government in Iraq, and at least there’s the appearance that the Iraqis exercised a bit of independence from the United States in the choice of a prime minister (Iyad Allawi, a Shia with longstanding military and CIA connections, head of the Iraqi National Accord, with a power base among former … Continue reading “Entering the Interim”

Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror, by Richard A. Clarke, Free Press, 304 pp. 27.00 The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill, by Ron Suskind, Simon & Schuster, 348 pp., 26.00 When political books come out in an election year it is usually prudent … Continue reading “Scoping Out the Bushies”

It’s still early in the process, and it is important to acknowledge that in the cabal of neoconservative writers and policy wonks we face a generally intelligent, determined, opportunistic and persistent group who are not likely to change their ambitions for the rest of us just because of setbacks that might cause some people to … Continue reading “Seeking Silver Linings”

I asked retired Gen. William E. Odom if he agreed with me that the Bush administration would be well-advised to release all the Abu Ghraib photos immediately, even the most disgusting ones. PR gurus routinely advise corporation and other organizations facing a brewing scandal to make a fetish of openness and make everything public preemptively. … Continue reading “Former NSA Director: War Weariness Growing”

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the current imperial venture – I’m not so naive as to suppose our neocon buddies don’t have more ventures in mind for your children and mine, and note that even as Iraq blows up the United States is stirring the pot in Cuba, planning to send military planes over the … Continue reading “Dying for an Exit Strategy”