Author's note: The following is from a talk I gave at a Libertarian Party of California convention in Fresno on Jan. 28. Although it is 90-percent faithful to the talk, I rewrote it to reflect further thoughts I had after the speech. As well as being a research fellow...
The Long War
Every four years, the Pentagon releases its Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), more accurately the Quadrennial Defense Rubberstamp. Usually, it offers the same, more of the same or less of the same. That is true of this QDR as well, with one interesting exception....
How Not to Ban Torture in Congress
Alfred McCoy, an expert on the CIA and its history of torture, has some actual news the sort that's been sitting unnoticed right in front of our collective, reportorial eyes. Last year's clash between John McCain and the Bush administration over the senator's...
Democracy Not an Export Item
In a new film, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, comedian Albert Brooks is dispatched to South Asia by humorless Bush administration officials to look for, well, comedy in the Muslim world. Trying to cope with the depressing reality of a post-Sept. 11 world in...
Juggernaut Gathering Momentum: Next Stop, Iran
What President George W. Bush, Fox News, and the Washington Times were saying about Iraq three years ago they are now saying about Iran. After Saturday's vote by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report Iran's suspicious nuclear activities to the UN...
Empire’s Choice
After over six years of occupation, and a year of preparatory propaganda, it appears the Empire is ready to finally separate Kosovo from Serbia. Treated as a fait accompli in the media as they reported on the death of Albanian President Ibrahim Rugova two weeks ago,...
Rotten in Denmark
The publication of 12 cartoons in Jyllands-Posten, a Danish right-wing newspaper, that caricatured the prophet Muhammad was clearly a provocation and it has had its intended effect. The editor responsible claims the genesis of the cartoons was the alleged...
How Conservatives Went Crazy
What happened to a formerly conservative press to reduce it to political partisanship and warmongering? Specifically, I have in mind National Review and the Wall Street Journal editorial page. When I was associated with National Review, the magazine understood that...
Special Forces, Big-Ticket Weapons Dominate Defense Plans
WASHINGTON - While the Pentagon emerged as the big winner Monday among U.S. government agencies in next year's budget sweepstakes, its failure to choose among the threats it says it must defend the country against may prove costly in the long run, both financially and...
Who’s the Bigger Hawk, George or Hillary?
There aren't many elected officials in Washington who want to throw the gauntlet down on Iran more than Hillary Clinton. The New York senator believes the president has been too soft on the militant Islamic country, claiming that Bush has played down the threat of a...


