Congress spent just a few short hours last week voting to create the biggest new federal bureaucracy since World War II, not that the media or even most members of Congress paid much attention to the process. Yet our most basic freedoms as Americans – privacy in...
DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF 9/11
In the months prior to 9/11 a flurry of activity by Israeli intelligence agents in the U.S. signaled that something big was going on – but the FBI, the CIA, and the myriad of federal agencies charged with protecting this country from terrorism hadn't a clue. Now,...
‘Crackpot Realism’ Again?
In the field of foreign policy one hears a lot about "realists" vs. "idealists," Marxists, and so on. In such discussions the term "realist" does not necessarily mean hard-headed, feet-on-the-ground, practical, pragmatic, worldly, ready...
Before the Shooting Starts
As I have listened to the discussions about Saddam Hussein and Iraq, some disturbing questions have arisen. As an ordinary citizen with no special expertise in foreign policy, I am unable to get to the bottom of them. As a skeptic, however, who remembers how the Gulf...
Oppose The New Homeland Security Bureaucracy!
When the process of creating a Department of Homeland Security commenced, Congress was led to believe that the legislation would be a simple reorganization aimed at increasing efficiency, not an attempt to expand federal power. Fiscally conservative members of...
LIBERAL IMPERIALISM
During the cold war, foreign policy issues rarely cut across Right-Left lines: the Left was anti-interventionist, the Right was for "rolling back" the Soviets and the matter was pretty clear-cut. Oh, there were a few libertarians (such as Murray N. Rothbard)...
Jiang’s Theory Is a Smokescreen
I, along with many other columnists and reporters, have had a good time poking fun at Jiang and his New Theory in the past few months. Jiang’s own bluster plus the solemn, blatant propaganda churned out by the Chinese media has kept us all laughing. A few have...
Israel Elections. So What.
Elections in the Middle East do not usually attract too much attention in the international media. Who remembers the recent elections in Iraq or in Syria? And who cares? Exceptions to this rule are Turkey and Israel: both countries are considered democracies, even...
HE’S ALIVE!
Last Friday [November 8], Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said in an interview with Le Figaro that he thought Osama bin Laden is not only alive, but also plotting new terrorist attacks: "Something worrying is going on," he said. What's worrying is...
Defending Britain
Conservative scribblers across the English speaking world looking for a tired witticism never wait long before moaning about defence – 'why can't we be honest, why can't we call it "Attack"? Why can't we bring back good old-fashioned names for army...