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When, twenty years ago, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands – subjecting their British inhabitants to the severest tyranny imaginable (they made them drive on the right hand side of the road) – many Reagan administration officials found themselves in the rare position of agreeing with Mario Vargas Llosa, in that they too felt surely this … Continue reading “Twenty Years On”

A couple of weeks ago Norman Podhoretz gave a speech to the American Enterprise Institute annual dinner: speaking as the Grand Old Man of the War Party, Podhoretz told his audience not to be overconfident. It isn’t enough that we have the USA “Patriot” Act, which gives the government unprecedented powers of scrutiny and interdiction … Continue reading “Big Bill Is Watching You”

While scores of Palestinians and several Israelis are killed every day now, while one of the world’s strongest armies is bravely proving it can turn even wretched refugee camps into ashes, I feel rather uncomfortable talking about ideology. Still, I’ll do it. In a previous column I analysed several arguments of the right-wing ideology of … Continue reading “Postmodernism Alive and Killing”

The story of Israel’s vast underground apparatus in the US – and its key role in the events leading up to 9/11 – was too big to be ignored, and too obviously true to be denied for much longer. Now we have it from an unimpeachable source: no, not some obscure French newsletter, nor from … Continue reading “Israel vs. America”

Osama Bin Laden has won the war in Afghanistan – the first big battle of the War on Terrorism. Americans are claiming victory because American bombers have devastated Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans have been killed, and the already-impoverished country is now almost completely in ruins. But most likely this is exactly what bin Laden wanted. … Continue reading “Who’s Really Winning This War?”

Of the war against terrorism, President Bush says, "You’re either with us or against us." A New York Times article of 4 March by Joyce Walder, titled, "Side by Side in Life, and Now, in Death," sympathetically chronicles the deaths of three Albanian-American brothers who went together to Kosovo to fight and die along side … Continue reading “The Crimes of the KLA: Who Will Pay?”

There is growing evidence that, prior to 9/11, a rather impressive Israeli spy network in the US went into overdrive and launched a concerted effort to penetrate US law enforcement and military facilities: a recent flurry of news stories on the subject provoked an angry reaction from Israel’s apologists, who are loudly and insistently denying … Continue reading “The ‘Urban Myth’ Gambit”

Colombia held legislative elections over the weekend, a preliminary to presidential elections later in the year. President Andres Pastrana, who has functioned as the U.S. government’s "partner" in the ostensibly anti-drug campaign dubbed "Plan Colombia," cannot run for another term. The candidate who now appears strongest is Alvaro Uribe, who is generally considered more hard-line … Continue reading “Colombia Vote Presages More Instability”

If ever there was any doubt about the moral depravity of our leaders, then the news that the Bush administration has ordered the US military to "prepare contingency plans to use nuclear weapons against at least seven countries" should put the question to rest permanently. I tremble as I write this, whether in anger or … Continue reading “The Doomsday Doctrine”

Although, according to The Daily Telegraph, those considered disloyal to Robert Mugabe are today in Zimbabwe being, ‘subjected to terror on a scale that bears comparison with the Khmer Rouge‘, it would be dishonest if I claimed that that was what bothered me the most. No, I’m afraid that what I found most depressing, in … Continue reading “Zimbabwe: Whose Problem Is It Anyway?”