How New Orleans Was Lost

Chalk up the city of New Orleans as a cost of Bush’s Iraq war. There were not enough helicopters to repair the breached levees and rescue people trapped by rising water. Nor are there enough Louisiana National Guardsmen available to help with rescue efforts and to patrol against looting. The situation is the same in … Continue reading “How New Orleans Was Lost”

The National Guard Belongs in New Orleans and Biloxi

The men and women of the National Guard shouldn’t be killing in Iraq. They should be helping in New Orleans and Biloxi. The catastrophic hurricane was an act of God. But the U.S. war effort in Iraq is a continuing act of the president. And now, that effort is hampering the capacity of the National … Continue reading “The National Guard Belongs in New Orleans and Biloxi”

A Question of Competence

Leave aside the war’s preface of lies. Forget about Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. Pretend not to care about international law and organizations. Ignore the chutzpah of the Coalition Provisional Authority, the increase in terrorism around the world, and the awesome pigishness of Halliburton. Think not about the international reputation of the United States. Don’t … Continue reading “A Question of Competence”

Rejecting Reality

And the Hypocrites Who Do It In October 2004, Roger Cohen wrote a column for the International Herald Tribune titled “The Serbian Question,” arguing that reducing Serbia to a more manageable size and turning it over to the benevolent hegemony of the European Union would finally resolve the issues behind the 1990s wars. It was … Continue reading “Rejecting Reality”

Israel and 9/11: New Report Connects the Dots

This news report in the Philadelphia Times Herald might shock the average reader, but its subject is surely familiar to longtime readers of Antiwar.com: “A memorandum sent to the 9/11 Commission, and Senate and House intelligence committees in September 2004, suggests that young Israelis who canvassed dozens of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) offices in … Continue reading “Israel and 9/11: New Report Connects the Dots”

Asia Displaces Near East as Top Arms Importer

Arms merchants from industrialized nations are increasingly finding Asia, which has replaced the Near East as the world’s top conventional-weapons market, the place to go, according to a new report [.pdf] by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Led by purchases by China and India, the world’s most populous region accounted for nearly 50 percent of … Continue reading “Asia Displaces Near East as Top Arms Importer”

Iraq’s Hollow Sovereignty

Anyone interested in Iraq’s new constitution would be advised to check out the film Return to the Land of Wonders, which focuses on the crafting of Iraq’s interim constitution in the Spring of 2004. The documentary was shot by Maysoon Pachachi, the daughter of 82 year old secular businessman Adnan Pachachi, a former foreign minister … Continue reading “Iraq’s Hollow Sovereignty”

Secrecy Shrouds PATRIOT Act Powers

As the U.S. Congress prepares to vote on the final version of a reauthorized USA PATRIOT Act, a major civil rights group claims to have proof that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has used the law to snoop into people’s library records – a charge the FBI has vigorously denied since the Act was … Continue reading “Secrecy Shrouds PATRIOT Act Powers”

Iraq: Democracy or Disintegration?

One day after the formal presentation by a majority of Iraq’s elected leaders of their proposed constitution, opinions here and in Baghdad appeared divided over whether the draft would lead to greater democracy or the virtual, if not actual, disintegration of the country. While U.S. officials predictably put the most positive spin on the charter, … Continue reading “Iraq: Democracy or Disintegration?”