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Recently, I was the guest on a radio talk-show hosted by a thoroughly decent far-right Republician. I got verbally battered, but returned fire and, I think, held my own. Toward the end of the hour, I mentioned that the National Security Strategy – promulgated by the Bush Administration in September 2002 – now included attacking … Continue reading “A PNAC Primer: How We Got Into This Mess”

You know George W. Bush is in big trouble when even George Will, who backed the Iraq war and has toed the neocon line pretty faithfully, sharply questions the rationale for war. The complete absence of any evidence that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction presents the administration with a major problem: “The … Continue reading “WACKOS, WEIRDOS, AND WING-DINGS”

Paul Wolfowitz finally fessed up to the obvious last week: the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq were merely a pretext for ousting Saddam. That few seem troubled by this brazen admission is a sad cultural indicator. Can you imagine FDR spilling the beans on Pearl Harbor or LBJ coming clean on the Tonkin … Continue reading “Guantanamo, USA”

In the run up to the national antiwar mobilizations of February 15-16, Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun, a liberal Jewish magazine, complained that at previous major rallies speakers had subjected the crowd to "a barrage of Israel bashing," "the emotional climate at these demonstrations has been one that most Jews I have encountered find … Continue reading “The Maverick Feingold and the Dissenting Feingold”

It was a glorious victory, proclaimed by none other than our conquering commander-in-chief as he zoomed onto the deck of the U.S.S. Lincoln: we had "prevailed" in the war against Iraq, and the pro-war pundits, drunk with bloodlust, were delirious with joy. They had been proven right! Now, it would only be a matter of … Continue reading “We Were Right”

While the US ruminates over North Korea’s chest thumping and posturing, China has already turned away from the mess on the peninsula and is sidling up next to its new buddy in the world, Russia. Presidents Hu Jintao and Vladimir Putin met this week and shook hands for the world to see while their underlings … Continue reading “A Sino-Russian Bloc?”

To End A War, by Richard Holbrooke New York, Random House, June 1998, 432 pages (hardcover) Few things have been as grossly misunderstood as the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina, commonly known by its birthplace as "Dayton." Agreed at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio and initialed in Paris, France on … Continue reading “Bosnia’s Founding Stepfather”

Here we go again. While postwar Iraq continues to crumble, the Bush administration is now setting its sights on a new target – Iran – in its so-called effort to reshape most of the Middle East and bring democracy to countries ruled by vicious dictators. But the Bush administration is again relying on flimsy evidence … Continue reading “Despite Thin Intelligence Reports, US Plans To Overthrow Iranian Regime”

Good news – for once! Indeed, we haven’t had any of that since 9/11. I’m happy – nay, ecstatic – to report that the much-ballyhooed attack on Iraq has been indefinitely "postponed." As we are informed by the Washington Post [May 24]: "The uniformed leaders of the U.S. military believe they have persuaded the Pentagon’s … Continue reading “A Victory for Peace”

Changing Conservatives In opposition the Tory party is a marvelous beast. All those principles which, when in power, we sacrificed in favour of what seemed like the \’sensible\’ policies required for governing, well see how we love them now. Adamantine we are in our defence of the Union, or against European encroachments on British sovereignty, … Continue reading “Who\’s Scared of Euroland?”