Bush’s Iraq Speech Falls Flat

Despite a strong delivery, solemn demeanor, and a respectful military audience, U.S. President George W. Bush’s effort to rally the nation behind his Iraq strategy through a prime-time televised speech at Fort Bragg, N.C., offered nothing new to reassure a restive public that the situation was coming under control. Rejecting increasingly bold calls by Democrats … Continue reading “Bush’s Iraq Speech Falls Flat”

Report: ‘Appalling Fraud and Greed’ in Iraq Contracts

As a congressional committee heard testimony last week that billions of Iraqi dollars – held in trust by the U.S. government – still cannot be accounted for, the inspector general charged with tracking the funds said he has referred three contractors to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecutions for fraud. Stuart W. Bowen Jr., … Continue reading “Report: ‘Appalling Fraud and Greed’ in Iraq Contracts”

Gonzocons Erase History

Oh, to be a gonzocon in denial! Has National Review online (NRO) become the National Backward Glance? Are all the rah-rah warmongers and Star Trek fans on "The Corner" beginning to feel the breath of history down the backs of their necks? Or, to paraphrase Tolkien, is Smeagol losing his nerve? Why, ragin’ Rich Lowry … Continue reading “Gonzocons Erase History”

Jesus Is Not Our Co-Pilot, Academy Insists

The U.S. Air Force continued to carry out damage control Tuesday before a congressional committee looking into religious intolerance at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., which trains future officers. A military task force reported last week that there was no overt religious discrimination at the academy but that it found insensitivity by … Continue reading “Jesus Is Not Our Co-Pilot, Academy Insists”

Ahmadinejad and Bush: Separated at Birth?

Despite the growing likelihood of confrontation between their two countries, U.S. President George W. Bush and Iranian President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad share a number of remarkable similarities. Juan Cole, a prominent blogger and Middle East historian at the University of Michigan, noted last week that the two men’s campaign tactics suggest that they are "soul mates," … Continue reading “Ahmadinejad and Bush: Separated at Birth?”

Immoral Relativism

“At a breakfast meeting with reporters, Wolfowitz said he hasn’t read the [Downing Street] memos because he doesn’t want to be ‘distracted’ by ‘history’ from his new job as head of the world’s leading development bank. He returned this weekend from a tour of four African nations. “‘There’s a lot I could say about what … Continue reading “Immoral Relativism”

Comrade Aaronovitch
Strikes Again

David Aaronovitch, formerly a Communist Party youth leader and now the freshest shoot in Britain’s bumper crop of Blairite neocons, tried to smear me once before, and I dealt with him here. The Stalinist school of falsification never sleeps, however: its practitioners just keep churning out lies, in the hope that sheer repetition will do … Continue reading “Comrade Aaronovitch
Strikes Again”

US Terror Policies Draw Outrage at Home and Abroad

The George W. Bush administration’s policies on indefinite detention and "extraordinary rendition" are coming under heavy fire from a number of institutions and organizations, including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and members of the U.S. Congress itself. "The prohibition of torture is nonnegotiable," said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the International Day in Support of … Continue reading “US Terror Policies Draw Outrage at Home and Abroad”

A Defeat Bred in Deceit

"Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle." – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn When Bush decided, prior to Sept. 11, to attack Iraq, he committed himself to lies and deceit. As his British co-conspirators realized, only victory could save them from the consequences. On June 27, General George Casey, U.S. commander … Continue reading “A Defeat Bred in Deceit”