Category: Uncategorized

As a commentary on how quickly the original rationale for this war has been abandoned, Maureen Dowd dubs the Evil One “Osama bin Later,” or, alternatively, “the One Formerly Known as Evil,” as the President declares: “I am truly not that concerned about him.” Yesterday bin Laden was the epitome of Pure Evil – today … Continue reading “What Are We Fighting For?”

Why is the Bush administration, after a period of benign neglect, suddenly interested in mediating the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian dispute? It’s hardly a news flash that it’s mainly because the administration is just itching to attack Iraq. But how realistic is the idea that the United States can play deus ex machina in the Middle East … Continue reading “Mideast: The Iraqi Connection”

There’s nothing like being in the safe hands of the Bush administration. I mean, how embarrassing for those poor people in Zimbabwe, dealing with their rigged presidential election. Imagine the shame of knowing opposition voters had been systematically disenfranchised, and that the Supreme Court had stepped in to support a specific presidential candidate. That could … Continue reading “God, It’s Great To Be American!”

There’s nothing like being in the safe hands of the Bush administration. I mean, how embarrassing for those poor people in Zimbabwe, dealing with their rigged presidential election. Imagine the shame of knowing opposition voters had been systematically disenfranchised, and that the Supreme Court had stepped in to support a specific presidential candidate. That could … Continue reading “God, It’s Great To Be American!”

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”

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”

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?”