Category: Uncategorized

You might not think that peace and prosperity would need defending against the pervasive sacrifice and death that characterize war and conflict. To assume that most people, especially public intellectuals, would prefer peace to widespread devastation, however, would be to make a mistake. There are certain sectors of American intellectual life – spread sometimes surprisingly … Continue reading “Defending Peacetime”

The major newspapers have been crowing about the negative impacts the 9/11 attacks and the ensuing War on Terrorism will have on the US economy and therefore the world economy as a whole. Already we are seeing these effects in the US: airlines have been bailed out by the government as they lay off thousands, … Continue reading “Standing Aloof?”

Rememberthe post-cold war military doctrine that we had to be able to fight two and a half wars at once? Two major conflicts – one in, say, the Middle East, and the other in Korea or somesuch outpost of Empire – and, perhaps, a guerrilla insurgency in some obscure Third World country (Colombia, for example, … Continue reading “TWO WARS AT ONCE”

At great pains to come up with a column today [November 1], I thought I’d better have lunch first, so I went to the corner store for a sandwich and a fresh pack of cigarettes. Perhaps, I thought, a little walk will give me some ideas. Back in ten minutes, I dumped the contents of … Continue reading “ANTHRAX ON MY MIND”

How can we prevent future terrorist attacks? The first step is a foreign policy that rests on a simple principle: We’re prepared to defend ourselves, but we threaten no one. Such a foreign policy should have four elements. 1. Noninterference Our government should never interfere in other countries’ disputes, never arm foreign governments, and never … Continue reading “Preventing Future Terrorism”

War is hell – and, thanks to Senator John McCain, it has just gotten a little more hellish. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, this angry embittered man has launched an effort to undermine the war effort, one that will no doubt be far more effective than the Lilliputian efforts of peaceniks. “War,” he intones, … Continue reading “ATTACK OF THE McCAINIACS”

After what is seen in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe as the worst weekend of the bombing campaign in Afghanistan (I’m still reluctant to call it a war, though it is in almost every aspect except that it hasn’t been declared as such by Congress) for the American-led forces, some preliminary questions and … Continue reading “Nagging Questions About the War”

It was left to Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica to comment on the bitter irony of the US “war on terrorism” from his own particular vantage point as the leader of a nation that was the recent victim of a US-sponsored Muslim terrorist campaign. Asking the US leaders to examine “the true deep roots and the … Continue reading “OSAMA IN THE BALKANS”

One thing I’ve learned here is to trust absolutely no one and to not believe anything anyone tells me. I have friends here with whom I often go out and drink. These friends of mine never tell anyone their real name. I don’t know their real names. When I ask why, they reply that telling … Continue reading “China’s Afghan Agenda”

As news of the first anthrax cases began to come out of Florida, most were too horrified and numbed by the specter of bio-terrorism to draw out the implications all that clearly. But it didn’t take long for the ghouls of war to start speculating – and, yes, hoping – that it would give them … Continue reading “THE ANTHRAX CONUNDRUM”