Ivan Eland

Ivan Eland is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and author of Recarving Rushmore: Ranking the Presidents on Peace, Prosperity, and Liberty.

The Legal Rationale for Whacking Awlaki Is Flimsy

Although the Obama administration’s legal rationale for killing suspected terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki remains classified at a high level, administration officials, under media pressure to justify killing an American citizen without a trial, finally have leaked most of it to the press. Although this is an improvement, unfortunately, this action will probably sate the media’s main … Continue reading “The Legal Rationale for Whacking Awlaki Is Flimsy”

The Government’s Illusory Terrorist Threat

Now that the big kahuna — Osama bin Laden — has been killed, the “War on Terror” is much less exciting. Even before Osama’s demise, experts sent chills through the massive post-9/11 U.S. government anti-terrorism bureaucracies by concluding that the threat from al-Qaeda had been much weakened by the group’s own bloody excesses against civilians, … Continue reading “The Government’s Illusory Terrorist Threat”

A Double Standard for the Ultimate Penalty

The execution of a potentially innocent Troy Davis last week justifiably horrified many in the United States and around the world. Most of the non-police eyewitnesses had recanted or contradicted their testimony that he killed an off-duty police officer; they alleged that they had been pressured or coerced by the police to implicate Davis. The … Continue reading “A Double Standard for the Ultimate Penalty”

Unconditional Support for Israel Encourages Bad Behavior

Surprisingly, as the U.S. threatens to veto in the U.N. Security Council a resolution for Palestinian statehood, President Barack Obama faces plunging poll numbers with Jewish Americans. Obama’s sinking poll numbers in the Jewish community (dropping from 80 percent in 2008 to 60 percent in July 2011), usually an extremely loyal bedrock of support for … Continue reading “Unconditional Support for Israel Encourages Bad Behavior”

Government Always Seems to Focus on the Wrong Things

The 10th anniversary of 9/11 vividly illustrated the continued use of the horrible attacks to score political points. The first promise that Barack Obama made as president was to close the torture-tainted Guantanamo prison. Although this could have been a meaningful step toward abandoning the lawless behavior of the George W. Bush administration, Obama has … Continue reading “Government Always Seems to Focus on the Wrong Things”

Comparing Obama and Bush on Civil Liberties and War

Documents found in the files of Muammar Gadhafi’s intelligence services in Libya, which indicated that the now overthrown dictator cooperated closely with U.S. rendition of terrorist suspects to his torture chambers, should prompt questions about how much President Barack Obama has improved civil liberties from the bad old days of George W. Bush. Answer: not … Continue reading “Comparing Obama and Bush on Civil Liberties and War”

Cut Back on Bad Policy or Quit Altogether?

In a recent New Yorker article, an anonymous Obama White House aide suggested that the administration had been trying to lead from behind on issues such as the overthrow of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi or the Egyptian and Tunisian revolts. Yet even some liberal interventionists have suggested that though this approach is fine for less … Continue reading “Cut Back on Bad Policy or Quit Altogether?”

Triumph in Libya? Not So Fast, NATO

The conventional wisdom is that U.S.-led NATO vanquished the ruthless and despotic Moammar Gadhafi. And that is largely what happened. Gadhafi had one of the worst human rights records on the planet, was autocratic, and was even downright bizarre at times. Moreover, although the U.S. pretended to play only a limited, background role in NATO’s … Continue reading “Triumph in Libya? Not So Fast, NATO”

Ron Paul Deserves More Respect

Although Ron Paul placed second in the Iowa straw poll, behind Michele Bachmann by the slimmest of margins, most media commentators — both left and right — refused to anoint him as one of the “big three” candidates remaining in the Republican presidential contest. Translated, the media gatekeepers, as they did in his 2008 campaign, … Continue reading “Ron Paul Deserves More Respect”

US Terror Lists Should Be Downsized

The Christian Science Monitor and the Huffington Post have exposed lobbying efforts by the Marxist-Islamist group Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) to hire for big bucks former high U.S. government officials to give speeches to, either explicitly or implicitly, endorse their efforts to get taken off the U.S. government’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. Yet U.S. intelligence … Continue reading “US Terror Lists Should Be Downsized”