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An article in the Friday, March 29 Washington Post pointed to the long-expected opening of Phase III of America’s war with Iraq. Phase I was the jousting contest, the formal “war” between America’s and Iraq’s armies that ended with the fall of Baghdad. Phase II was the War of National Liberation waged by the Baath … Continue reading “Phase III Resistance in Iraq”

Every now and then, the rumor arises that I have a Palestinian wife. Some of my kin were highly amused by a debate on that subject that was being conducted by letters to the editor in their local paper recently. Apparently, it does not occur to anyone simply to ask me. As a matter of … Continue reading “My Palestinian Wife”

In today’s world, where state-worship is the secular faith of our age, and the idea that “the government will take care of it” is the centerpiece and source of all political discourse, the revelations of Richard Clarke, former terrorism czar, are nothing less than terrifying: Clarke, a foreign policy hawk and career government official who … Continue reading “Is Anybody in Charge?”

The Iraq War: Is the United States Better Off? Though I found Dr. Moore’s argument sound and convincing in the above article, I must take exception to the following paragraph: "Then there are King Fahd and Prince Abdullah (Saudi Arabia), Than Shwe (formerly Burma, now Myanmar), Teodoro Obiang Nguema (Equatorial Guinea), Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenistan), Fidel … Continue reading “”

A year has elapsed since President Bush ordered U.S. forces to invade Iraq. Since that March day, 2003, it has become clear as crystal: Operation Iraqi Freedom was an unnecessary war. Saddam had had no role in 9-11 or the anthrax attack, no plans to attack us or to invade his neighbors. He was contained … Continue reading “The Consequences of Bush’s War”

Taiwan had a chance to prove to the world, and most of all to China, that a free democratic election is a just and righteous method for choosing leaders. That chance was blown, and now with angry opposition protests raging across the island screaming “invalid” and “staged,” the stage is set for Beijing’s intervention to … Continue reading “Chinese and US Bluffs”

So Spain is pulling out of Iraq, and Poland may be close behind. So what? What have Spain, Poland, or any of the other coalition countries besides the United States and United Kingdom done, anyway? This may only be my inner chauvinist talking, but I doubt that Lithuania’s airspace or Tonga’s enthusiasm brought down the … Continue reading “Unilateralism: The Unknown Ideal”

"Big events like last year’s antiwar demonstrations on February 15 would exist even without the Internet, but they would be much smaller," says Lorenzo Mosca, a researcher from the University of Florence on civil society’s use of new technologies. "New technologies like e-mail and short text messages (SMS) radically changed the way to mobilize people," … Continue reading “A Click Becomes a Political Tool”

One year after the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, civilians are seeing some improvements in human rights but violence is endemic and many people live in fear for their safety, says a report by Amnesty International (AI). Based on a series of visits to Iraq over the past year, as well as media accounts, the report, … Continue reading “Rights Group Slams US Actions in Iraq”

In two major speeches at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in 2003, President Bush sketched the outlines of what he called “a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East”: in short, a militantly interventionist foreign policy in the Middle East. This new paradigm, according to the President, … Continue reading “One Year After the Invasion: Baghdad and Beyond”