Category: Uncategorized

After five months of unthinking unanimity, deluded triumphalism, and self-righteous posturing, some in Congress appear to be awakening from the war trance that gripped the nation after 9/11 – and not a moment too soon. Republicans went ballistic when Senator Tom Daschle stated the obvious: that the war won’t be a success until and unless … Continue reading “The Tide Turns”

March 2, 2002 Third World Kaplan and the Empire of Gloom A TRACT FOR OUR TIMES Robert D. Kaplan has made a name for himself writing politically tinged travelogues from various Third World pest-holes and global hot spots for the Atlantic Monthly. Now, in his new book, Warrior Politics: Why Leadership Demands a Pagan Ethos … Continue reading “Third World Kaplan and the Empire of Gloom”

Occupation, as I mentioned in an earlier column, is one of the most unpopular terms in media coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In fact, some people say there is no occupation at all, meaning that occupation is not the right term to refer to Israel’s presence in the territories occupied in 1967 – the Gaza … Continue reading “Occupation Vs. Democracy”

A Note from the editor: Matt Welch‘s analysis of conflicting claims over the effect of sanctions on Iraq, published in Reason magazine, is typical of the "war-blogger" mentality: preening arrogance and pretensions to a strict just-the-facts standard. When he isn’t sneering at Noam Chomsky, and otherwise critiquing the politics of sanctions critics, he accuses the … Continue reading “Re: The Politics of Dying Children by Matt Welch”

In my last column, I pointed to the probable genesis of the mysterious anthrax letters – a clique of former US scientists, including one in particular who had been fired from his US government job at Fort Detrick’s biowar research lab – and complained that a government cover-up was in the works. The piece was … Continue reading “The Plot Sickens”

Last year, The Daily Telegraph sponsored a conference in London on the contentious subject of Star Wars – or to foreign policy bores like you and me, National Missile Defence. We will straight-away pass up on the cheap shot about, ‘uh, which nation’s that then, that’s going to be defended?’ and instead consider the enthusiastic … Continue reading “Not So MAD Then?”

The “trial” of Slobodan Milosevic couldn’t have come at a better time. As the US rampages through Afghanistan, bombing friend and foe alike, openly gearing up for an excursion into Iraq – all the name of a holy “war on terrorism” – the double standard operating here is almost comically obvious. THE RAPE OF YUGOSLAVIA … Continue reading “Go, Slobo, Go!”

To date, 272 officers and soldiers of the Israeli army have signed the initiative to refuse to serve the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinians, while thousands of other Israeli citizens have expressed their support. Those that have signed are not pacifists nor are they particularly radical. They are well- trained combat officers and soldiers who … Continue reading “Occupation Begins To Crack”

The news that the US government has set up a special department, the “Office of Strategic Influence,” to plant false news items has liberals and journalists (or do I repeat myself?) in a funk: this is terrible, they whine, why it’s unprecedented. To which the only possible reply is: Oh really? DISINFORMATION: A SHORT HISTORY … Continue reading “Anthrax Cover-Up?”

A joint Senate and House select committee is planning an investigation not just into possible lapses by the CIA and other government intelligence agencies immediately prior to September 11, but into the "intelligence community’s" response to terrorism over the past 16 years. While the investigation might unearth a few interesting tidbits, it is unlikely to … Continue reading “CIA: Avoiding Reform”