If I had a choice of catching 1,000 feral cats or bringing democracy to Iraq, I'd take the cat job in a New York second. The Shiites want immediate elections; the Sunnis have just organized themselves and oppose immediate elections. The Kurds want autonomy, but the...
A War Culture
Our country, if you look at its history, has fought an awful lot of wars, and it's no wonder that militarism is always just beneath the surface of our culture, even in times of peace. Americans fought in the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the War of...
No Stinking Empire
The Army of World War II, you might say, was the last Army of the republic. It performed great deeds, but there was not much luxury, not even for the generals and admirals. Nobody was paid much. Travel was by military plane, troop train or warship, even for generals,...
Threat of Terrorism
You know, I'm sure, that the Bush administration has greatly exaggerated the threat of terrorism. Those who employ the tactic of terrorism do so because they are weak. They have no army. They have no great popular following. Osama bin Laden was a crank living in the...
Everything Is Hyped
When both the press and the politicians resort to demagoguery, it's pretty hard to find the truth about anything, including weapons of mass destruction. It's been fashionable for some time now to scare people about biological weapons that could wipe out mankind. Let's...
Are You Going To Get Mad?
It is now about as clear as it's going to get that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. Secretary of State Colin Powell even contradicted himself (in his U.N. speech) by admitting recently that there is no evidence of any link between Saddam and...
Don’t Throw Away Liberty
Probably one of the most chilling statements ever made by a tyrant was Caligula's warning: "Remember, I can do anything to anybody." Few tyrants have ever had such total power. Even in Caligula's case, he wielded such power for a relatively short time before...
Saddam Capture Won’t Mean Much
I don't believe the capture of Saddam Hussein will have any effect on the guerrilla war being conducted against Americans and their Iraqi allies. Saddam's power was always his ability to command and control. The day he went on the run, he lost that power. He couldn't...
Odd Reaction
It's odd that the American reaction to the recent Russian elections was that they were not up to snuff and probably rigged. One would think that Americans would instead celebrate the fact that the Communist Party suffered a serious defeat that will probably finally...
Misguided Mission
It's clear that the president's brain is occupied by the neoconservatives who surround him. It's clear from their writings and policy statements that the neoconservatives believe the United States can become the dominant power on Earth. This is a bad judgment that is...