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That was pretty exciting there, at least for a while: the Northern Alliance was closing in on Osama bin Laden, or so we were told, and the battle of Tora Bora was going to be Al Qaeda’s Gotterdammerung: the Mad Sheik’s last stand. They heard Osama’s voice giving commands to his beleaguered troops over the … Continue reading “THE 9/11 ENIGMA”

Back in the bad old days academics and spooks called "Kremlinologists" worked assiduously to try to decipher the meanings and intentions of cryptic statements and portents from the central governing institutions of the secretive and security-minded masters of the Soviet Union. Although the attempts to predict what the Kremlin might do next were often backed … Continue reading “Tracking the War”

When is American foreign policy going to start putting America first? The US had nothing to gain, and everything to lose, by vetoing a UN resolution condemning violence on all sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The resolution condemned terrorism, no matter what the source, called for the creation of a "monitoring mechanism" to prevent violence, … Continue reading “9/11 – WHAT WAS ISRAEL’S ROLE?”

Why are the Bill of Rights, open trials, the rule of law, and the traditional American rules of evidence important? Two reasons: If an innocent person is convicted and punished, it’s an injustice to that person – and the Founding Fathers were determined that Americans wouldn’t suffer the injustices that had oppressed so many innocent … Continue reading “Secret Trials Endanger Security”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I read the following entry in Andrew Sullivan’s weblog: "People ask why Americans tend to sympathize more with Israelis than Palestinians. It’s not racism. It’s a recognition that, for all their failings, the Israelis live in the same moral universe as we do. The Palestinians palpably, brazenly do not." … Continue reading “ET TU, ISRAEL?”

China reacted with caution to the war next door in Afghanistan and yipped in the background about civilian casualties and the role of the UN, as "Daisy Cutters" incinerated or traumatized all Afghans unfortunate to be within a mile of the explosion. City after city fell to the Northern Alliance with the help of US … Continue reading “Missing the Boat?”

‘MODERN’ BUT NOT LIBERAL The dogs referred to above are, of course, the dogs of war. More to the point, they are the dogs of unlimited state "sovereignty," a topic on which we lately touched from the standpoint of John Taylor of Caroline. Without the notion of sovereignty, as understood in Europe anyway, it might … Continue reading “Who Let the Dogs Out?”

Now that the Taliban seem to have been defeated, now that Al Qaeda seems to be on the run – although as of this writing Osama (Usama?) bin Laden still seems to be alive and at large – a few people are talking about the shape of a future government in Afghanistan. Various Afghan factions … Continue reading “The Road Not Noticed”

The idea that US foreign policy sowed the seeds of 9/11 is denounced as "anti-Americanism" and "blaming the victim" by our wartime intelligentsia, including such notables as Christopher Hitchens. The acerbic British-born journalist, who juggles columns in the glitzy Vanity Fair and the dowdy Nation, used to be a leftist and is now, whether or … Continue reading “WARMONGERS ON THE LEFT”

The horror of life in wartime – and getting more horrible by the minute – reached a new nadir on Pearl Harbor Day, when MSNBC trotted out Doris Kearns Goodwin to talk about the World War II internment of Japanese Americans. Kearns, the Godmother and Protectress of the Liberal Mythos, managed to discuss the issue … Continue reading “THE HORROR OF IT ALL”