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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”

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?”

"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”

Following the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks in Madrid, Secretary of State Colin Powell told ABC TV’s “This Week” that he hoped Europeans, recognizing that no one is immune, would dedicate themselves to “going after” terrorist organizations with military force, intelligence, and law enforcement. He said that all of us have to get together to … Continue reading “Defeating Terrorism, Step One: Look in the Mirror”

Despite a rash of suicide attacks and roadside bombings directed at US troops and foreigners in Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan is preparing to send a team of UN officials back to Baghdad to help Iraqis hold elections and form a new civilian government. “We are all very conscious of the security conditions (in Iraq), and … Continue reading “US Arm-Twists Iraqis to Seek UN Help Before June 30”

It is Déjà vu in Kosovo, back to 1999. After four years of creeping secession and covert ethnic cleansing, the Albanians have taken the next step and begun a war on UNMIK, KFOR, and whatever Serbs remained after the 1999 war. Throughout the occupied province, Serb houses and churches are burning, UN offices and KFOR … Continue reading “Kosovo Burning”