Patrick J. Buchanan

Fourteen months ago, after the 3rd Infantry Division and Marines swept into Baghdad, Washington was at the feet of the neoconservatives who had been plotting and propagandizing for an invasion for years. A celebratory breakfast was held at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, where William Kristol, Richard Perle and Michael Ledeen held forth in … Continue reading “The Dog Days of the War Party”

America may be heading home from Iraq sooner than many of us realize. For the implied message of the president’s address at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., is that America wants out of Iraq. Rereading that speech, one finds in it little of Churchill’s “We-shall-fight-them-on-the-beaches” defiance. Rather, the president laid out a five-step … Continue reading “Has Bush Become a Realist?”

“Nitwit pundits and Sunday morning television sages, with that faked look of thoughtfulness which is their trademark, talk about an exit strategy – as if it were just one more Mapquest printout. But any such exit strategy will lead us only on a short path to hell.” So writes Tony Blankley, editorial editor at The … Continue reading “Escalation vs. Exit: The Costs of Both”

“So, how do we advance the cause of female emancipation in the Muslim world?” asks Richard Perle in An End to Evil. He replies, “We need to remind the women of Islam ceaselessly: Our enemies are the same as theirs; our victory will be theirs as well.” Well, the neoconservative cause “of female emancipation in … Continue reading “What Does America Offer the World?”

With pictures of the sadistic sexual abuse of Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison still spilling out onto the front pages, it is not too early to draw some conclusions. The neoconservative hour is over. All the blather about “empire,” our “unipolar moment,” “Pax Americana” and “benevolent global hegemony” will be quietly put on a shelf … Continue reading “A Time for Truth”

On some cable networks, they were comparing it to the Battle of Stalingrad, which is absurd. At Stalingrad, 500,000 Red Army soldiers died along with 147,000 Germans. Another 91,000 Germans surrendered, few of them ever to be seen again. No, Fallujah was no Stalingrad. It was not even first Bull Run in 1861, where society … Continue reading “The Meaning of Fallujah”

At Versailles in 1919, delegates of four of the five victorious powers arrived with cold, clear ideas of what they must bring home. Japan demanded and got Germany’s islands north of the equator and Shantung in China. Italy demanded and got the Austrian South Tyrol, but was denied Fiume on the Adriatic, and left embittered. … Continue reading “Kipling’s Brutal Epitaph”

“If we have to make common cause with the more hawkish liberals and fight the conservatives, that is fine with me,” William Kristol has told the New York Times. The Weekly Standard editor added that the neoconservatives may just abandon the Right altogether and convert to neo-liberalism. Alluding to his father Irving’s definition of a … Continue reading “Going Back Where They Came From”

“Speaking of the Palestinians, they were dealt a lethal blow,” exulted a jubilant Ariel Sharon, “It will bring their dreams to an end.” Sharon was bragging about his trip to Washington where he bullied Bush into selling out the Palestinians as thoroughly as Neville Chamberlain sold out the Czechs at Munich. “Sharon Got It All” … Continue reading “Bush Outsources Mideast Policy”

“I hope you got a sense of conviction about what we’re doing,” said the president, as he ended his primetime press conference. We certainly did. Indeed, listening Tuesday night, one must concede the convictions, the earnestness and the resolve of the president that he is doing what he believes best for America. And he has … Continue reading “Thinking the Unthinkable”