Alan Bock

We’ve talked on the phone several times, but when I had an almost-free day last week I thought it was time to talk with Chalmers Johnson face to face. His 2000 book Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (Henry Holt Metropolitan, now in an Owl books paperback, $15.00, 266 pp.) was selling well … Continue reading “Chalmers Johnson: Changed Cold Warrior”

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I learned that I had the opportunity to meet with Robert Fisk, the British journalist, who was in Southern California last Friday for a speaking engagement at Chapman University in Orange. Of course, I knew his work, in part because Antiwar.com features it regularly and the Register used … Continue reading “Meeting Robert Fisk”

Most of the commentators, analysts, journalists and establishment talking heads have professed to be astounded this week that Ariel Sharon didn’t snap to immediately when President Bush, over the weekend, suggested that Israel should withdraw its forces from the West Bank "without delay." The phenomenon says more about the naiveté of most observers and the … Continue reading “Arrogance of Empire”

As the violence escalates in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians, the pressure for intervention by the United States or some other force increases as well. I listen mostly to NPR while driving, but the experts they have on repeat a drumbeat similar to what one gets on the cable and network news. Greta … Continue reading “Middle East Bloodshed: The U.S. Role”

Conservative columnist George F. Will is upset, claiming that "The war on terrorism is suddenly going terribly wrong." He thinks that "more than six months into the war on terror, terror is more indicated as a tactic than ever before." Will is upset, as are many conservatives and neocons, that the United States is once … Continue reading “The Terrorists Are Winning”

Why is the Bush administration, after a period of benign neglect, suddenly interested in mediating the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian dispute? It’s hardly a news flash that it’s mainly because the administration is just itching to attack Iraq. But how realistic is the idea that the United States can play deus ex machina in the Middle East … Continue reading “Mideast: The Iraqi Connection”

Colombia held legislative elections over the weekend, a preliminary to presidential elections later in the year. President Andres Pastrana, who has functioned as the U.S. government’s "partner" in the ostensibly anti-drug campaign dubbed "Plan Colombia," cannot run for another term. The candidate who now appears strongest is Alvaro Uribe, who is generally considered more hard-line … Continue reading “Colombia Vote Presages More Instability”

I could be imagining it, but I thought I detected some notes of bitterness as Charles Gibson of ABC-TV’s "Good Morning America" interviewed the wife and twin brother of Chief Warrant Officer Stanley Harriman of North Carolina, one of seven or eight Americans killed on the ground in Afghanistan last Saturday. The family members said … Continue reading “The War Comes Home”

A joint Senate and House select committee is planning an investigation not just into possible lapses by the CIA and other government intelligence agencies immediately prior to September 11, but into the "intelligence community’s" response to terrorism over the past 16 years. While the investigation might unearth a few interesting tidbits, it is unlikely to … Continue reading “CIA: Avoiding Reform”

The word this week is that the Bush administration is engaged in a large-scale review of current policies that could lead to a massive military campaign against Iraq. The administration plans to have the review completed in time for Vice President Dick Cheney to inform Arab leaders of American plans during his planned tour of … Continue reading “The Empire Plans Strikes”