Alan Bock

Some of the media are politely calling it an inspired choice. But does anybody really think we will learn anything we didn’t already know from the commission to be headed by Henry Kissinger to look into the intelligence and enforcement failures that led up to the terrorist attacks of September 11? For that matter, does … Continue reading “The Whitewash Commission”

Well, President Bush has his Homeland Security Agency. I hope he’s happy. I doubt that American taxpayers and citizens will be especially pleased when it all shakes out, but the president has parlayed this year’s election results into the appearance of decisiveness and a short-term political victory. Good for him. Not so good for us. … Continue reading “Deck Chairs on the Ship of State”

When it comes to foolish actions by nation-states and nascent empires, I’m probably more fatalistic than average. The prudent, cautious rule in such matters is to expect maximum foolishness so you can be modestly grateful on those few occasions when the appalling people who rule us fall short of maximum stupidity. So the safest bet … Continue reading “Living in an Inspection Bubble”

The first thing Ivan Eland, the Cato Institute’s Director of defense Policy Studies, said to me about the election in Turkey was that the victory of a putatively moderate Islamicist party is at least partly attributable the increasingly aggressive tone of U.S. foreign policy regarding the region. Domestic factors, especially the inability of the current … Continue reading “Turkey’s Election: Complications and Blowback?”

So when will the invasion begin, now that Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, who not only demonstrably has weapons of mass destruction, including hundreds of the nuclear weapons that are the only ones worthy of the term, has used poison gas on his own people? Or do such criteria not apply to permanent members of … Continue reading “Destroying the Hostages to Save Them?”

Perhaps I should not have been surprised, but I was at least somewhat appalled that with the wall-to-wall coverage the issue received almost no attention. But the use of a military surveillance plane to try to capture the notorious Beltway murderer raises serious questions about the already-tattered separation between military activity and domestic civilian law … Continue reading “Bending Posse Comitatus Brings Bad Results”

In the wake of Congress having voted, after a desultory debate consisting mostly of three-minute statements written by aides, to give the president authorization to attack Iraq if he feels so moved, the most striking impression one gets is of how the appalling people who rule us love to pump up their chosen adversaries. But … Continue reading “Pipsqueak Adversaries”

This is being written before President Bush’s address to the nation Monday night, but news reports say he doesn’t expect to deliver any startling new evidence beyond what has already been widely reported. He seems to think that what is already known about Saddam Hussein – that he is a thoroughly nasty dictator who has … Continue reading “War For Frivolous Reasons”

All right, it was San Francisco, which is not exactly the heartland. But the reception last Tuesday for Harper’s magazine editor Lewis Lapham and a panel of four other journalists (including yours truly) willing to criticize the new permanent condition of war was heartening and heartwarming. It was as if most of those people (there … Continue reading “A Hunger For War Criticism?”

Larry Lindsey, the president’s chief economic adviser, whom I did not previously suspect of idiocy, has provided the latest validation of what I think I’ll start calling Bock’s Law. It has been my observation that going into government, especially in a high-visibility job, lowers a person’s IQ by at least 50 points. Maybe it only … Continue reading “Will War Wreck the Economy?”