Ivan Eland

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives, on a party-line vote, passed an innocuous-sounding resolution that “expects the cooperation of all news media organizations in protecting the lives of Americans and the capability of the government to identify, disrupt, and capture terrorists by not disclosing classified intelligence programs such as the Terrorist Financing Tracking Program.” … Continue reading “Pols, Not the Press, Should Exhibit Prior Restraint”

The United Nations Security Council recently sent Iran a package of incentives to encourage that nation to halt its nuclear program. The proposals included selling Iran light-water nuclear technology, civilian aircraft, and spare parts. Although the United States participated in this initiative and has agreed to directly meet with the Iranians on the nuclear issue … Continue reading “Give Iran Positive Incentives to Halt Its Nuclear Program”

Although on the surface, things have been going well lately for President Bush on Iraq – the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the installing at long last of a permanent government in Iraq, and a vote of support in the U.S. House of Representatives for the president’s Iraq policy – it is easy to forget … Continue reading “Win One for the Gipper (Ayatollah Khamenei)”

The death of the sadistic sociopath Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shouldn’t bring a tear to anyone’s eye, but it is primarily a short-lived public relations triumph for the Bush administration that may mask an actual victory for the Sunni insurgency. Inside the Washington beltway, public relations is often more important than reality. Good policy is less … Continue reading “Probably a Plus for the Insurgency”

The Bush administration is congratulating itself on finally agreeing to direct talks with Iran about Iran’s nuclear program. This smugness shows just how out of touch with reality the administration has become. The United States and the Europeans joining together to negotiate with Iran merely mirrors the multilateral approach already taken many years ago with … Continue reading “Iranian Nukes: US Denies Reality”

On Memorial Day, we should honor those who are buried after dying in the country’s wars, but be a little more skeptical of the U.S. government actions that put them there. It is often said that they died for "freedom" or their "country," but more often they were needlessly put at risk by their government. … Continue reading “Honor the War Dead but Question America’s Wars”

The nomination of Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the National Security Agency’s (NSA’s) former director, to replace the disastrously incompetent Porter Goss as director of the CIA, should be rejected on the grounds that Hayden subverted the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the public debate about the efficacy of the recent intelligence reorganization should lead to the … Continue reading “Abolish Both the Hayden Nomination and NSA”

The Bush administration’s intelligence reorganization, based on the deified recommendations of the 9/11 Commission to expand the intelligence bureaucracy, is an abysmal failure. A second reorganization is needed that will streamline and consolidate the multi-headed hydra that is the U.S. intelligence community. The failure to detect the 9/11 terrorist plot largely stemmed from the improper … Continue reading “The Intelligence Reorganization Needs Reorganizing”

Unbelievably, a belligerent Bush administration is trying to rattle the saber again against Iran, because of its defiance of the United Nations Security Council’s resolution against Iran’s nuclear program. In the long term, such blustering by a superpower is only likely to speed the efforts of Iran and other countries with nuclear aspirations to get … Continue reading “The United States May Have to Live With a Nuclear Iran”

Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the nation’s capital last week was an especially noteworthy disaster. A summit that should have dealt with the vital issue of how the United States can peacefully acknowledge China’s rise as a great power focused instead on narrow trade and proliferation issues and became a farce of administrative snafus. … Continue reading “Bush-Hu Meeting
a Blown Opportunity”