Antiwar.com

Although we honor veterans every November, the looming prospect of a second Gulf war makes this year especially meaningful for both our armed forces and those who served in past wars. Not surprisingly, many of the veterans I speak with in Texas urge caution in Iraq. Combat veterans understand perhaps better than any of us … Continue reading “Honoring Our Military Veterans”

The absolute evil of what passes for today’s conservative movement may not shock my more liberal readers, but those of us on the Right who were brought up in a more salubrious time remember when things were quite different. Believe it or not, conservatives didn’t always resort to smears instead of arguments – indeed, they … Continue reading “JONAH GOLDBERG, BOTTOM FEEDER”

Bush "bestriding the world"! gasped the BBC. "Buoyant Bush Wins Mandate for War"! announced the London Times, in clearly horrified tones. "World Braces for ‘Triumphant’ Bush" headlined UPI. "Bush’s hand on Iraq strengthened by GOP gains in Congress, likely UN approval of tough Resolution," the Associated Press matter-of-factly informed us. The day after the Democrats … Continue reading “A MANDATE FOR WAR?”

The flower pots lining the main streets of Chongqing and Chengdu are full of fresh lilys and roses, heralding the 16th National Congress. Most Chinese notice the flowers but ignore the banners flapping above touting the nation’s meeting of the minds. No mater how many foreign journalists scramble to get "the story," the outcome is … Continue reading “The Last Emperor”

If memory is what defines an individual, history is what defines a nation. Just as personal memory is colored by individual perceptions, collective memory – history – tends to be colored by the perceptions of those who record it. However economy of scale, and the differences between the collective and individual mind, make manipulating collective … Continue reading “Remembering the Obvious”

The Times [of London] headline said it all: "Attack Iran the day Iraq war ends, demands Israel." What more do we need to know about our "special relationship" with Israel? Israel demands, we obey. Yes, there is something very "special" indeed about U.S.-Israeli relations: like John Williams-Muhammed and John Lee Malvo, Bonnie and Clyde, Nathan … Continue reading “TEAM KILLERS”

Last week we looked at Mr David Frum, and we found him so incredible and fantastic that we felt we’d have to come back and look at him some more this week. Our initial interest in him was excited by this stray Canuck being inflicted on right wing British newspaper-readers as a guide to all … Continue reading “David Frum’s Guide to Mythology, Part II”

The first thing Ivan Eland, the Cato Institute’s Director of defense Policy Studies, said to me about the election in Turkey was that the victory of a putatively moderate Islamicist party is at least partly attributable the increasingly aggressive tone of U.S. foreign policy regarding the region. Domestic factors, especially the inability of the current … Continue reading “Turkey’s Election: Complications and Blowback?”

When I was a little boy, no more than ten years old, I steadfastly refused to go to sleep at night without first putting the theme from the movie Exodus, by Ernest Gold, on the old record player. The soaring chords, the majestic crescendos, the uplifting arpeggios were my introduction to the heroic sense of … Continue reading “ATTACK OF THE OXYMORONS”

When I was a little boy, no more than ten years old, I steadfastly refused to go to sleep at night without first putting the theme from the movie Exodus, by Ernest Gold, on the old record player. The soaring chords, the majestic crescendos, the uplifting arpeggios were my introduction to the heroic sense of … Continue reading “ATTACK OF THE OXYMORONS”