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The vanquished know war. They see through the empty jingoism of those who use the abstract words of glory, honor, and patriotism to mask the cries of the wounded, the senseless killing, war profiteering, and chest-pounding grief. They know the lies the victors often do not acknowledge, the lies covered up in stately war memorials … Continue reading “War: Realities and Myths”

The top U.S. government official in charge of arms control advocates the offensive use of nuclear weapons and has deep roots in the militarist political camp. Moving into the old job of John Bolton, the administration’s hardcore unilateralist nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Robert G. Joseph is the right … Continue reading “Nuclear Warrior Replaces Bolton as Arms Control Chief”

As I travel around this country speaking about my experience as an unembedded journalist in Iraq, calling for an end to the occupation, I am inevitably asked the same question: “If the U.S. military leaves Iraq, won’t there be a civil war?” This, I think, is the wrong question. Since toppling Saddam Hussein in April … Continue reading “The Only Hope to Avert Civil War”

If Pinochet Is Guilty, so Is Bush“Pinochet was called to power. He put down terrorism.”Is this an example of American revisionism? Feeling guilty about America’s role in the Chilean overthrow? Here are some facts you seem to have overlooked.CIA Director Richard Helms told of how President Nixon gave him “the marshall’s baton” to conduct covert … Continue reading “Backtalk, June 10, 2005”

Professor Robert Pape’s brilliant new book Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism gives Americans an urgently needed basis for devising a strategy to defeat Osama bin Laden and other Islamist militants. In scholarly and low-key prose, Pape delivers the results of his own extensive research and that done by the University of … Continue reading “Throwing America a Life Preserver”

I happened to be in Paris on the same day that the French people rejected the proposed European Union Constitution – a vote that was described by analysts in the French capital as a defeat for U.S.-led globalization and American-style capitalism. After arriving a few days later in Washington, and reading neoconservative op-ed commentaries and … Continue reading “Europe Votes, Neocons Gloat — but Why?”

Somewhere during the aftermath of the news that Mark Felt, formerly Number 2 at the FBI, was the fabled "Deep Throat" source for then-Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, I heard former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger pontificating on Fox News to this effect: "’Hero’ is not the first word that comes to … Continue reading “Shallow Thoughts on Deep Throat”

Asked why the Ethiopian government arrested 14 opposition leaders in the wake of postelection unrest – in which government troops, firing into unarmed crowds, killed 26 and wounded dozens – Ethiopia’s Information Minister Bereket Simon would not confirm the arrests, but told Reuters: “Anyone who incites violence, other than those elected, will have to face … Continue reading “The Democratic Delusion”

The French may have spurned the European Union’s Constitution for the wrong reasons, but overall their instincts were sound. That the pro-free market Dutch have seconded the non vote with a resounding nee ought to give pause to the collectivist superstate’s illiberal American supporters, the most notorious of whom are concentrated in the Bush State … Continue reading “Adieu to the Evil EU”

Behind the "Srebrenica" Atrocity Video Several minutes of video footage made public late last week pushed the issue of Kosovo out of the Balkans limelight and focused it firmly on Bosnia. A film showing the execution of six men in civilian clothing by a paramilitary group known as "The Scorpions," procured by a notorious purveyor … Continue reading “Death, Lies, and Videotape”