Antiwar.com

There is growing evidence that, prior to 9/11, a rather impressive Israeli spy network in the US went into overdrive and launched a concerted effort to penetrate US law enforcement and military facilities: a recent flurry of news stories on the subject provoked an angry reaction from Israel’s apologists, who are loudly and insistently denying … Continue reading “The ‘Urban Myth’ Gambit”

Colombia held legislative elections over the weekend, a preliminary to presidential elections later in the year. President Andres Pastrana, who has functioned as the U.S. government’s "partner" in the ostensibly anti-drug campaign dubbed "Plan Colombia," cannot run for another term. The candidate who now appears strongest is Alvaro Uribe, who is generally considered more hard-line … Continue reading “Colombia Vote Presages More Instability”

Although, according to The Daily Telegraph, those considered disloyal to Robert Mugabe are today in Zimbabwe being, ‘subjected to terror on a scale that bears comparison with the Khmer Rouge‘, it would be dishonest if I claimed that that was what bothered me the most. No, I’m afraid that what I found most depressing, in … Continue reading “Zimbabwe: Whose Problem Is It Anyway?”

If ever there was any doubt about the moral depravity of our leaders, then the news that the Bush administration has ordered the US military to "prepare contingency plans to use nuclear weapons against at least seven countries" should put the question to rest permanently. I tremble as I write this, whether in anger or … Continue reading “The Doomsday Doctrine”

In late November, the Washington Post ran a story that stopped me dead in my tracks: “60 Israelis on Tourist Visas Detained Since Sept. 11,” but it was the subhead that really got my attention: “Government Calls Several Cases ‘of Special Interest,’ Meaning Related to Post-Attacks Investigation.” In addition to the 1000-plus Middle Easterners of … Continue reading “9/11: The Truth Comes Out”

Along with the long term and painful solutions of economic (and political?) reform and personal sacrifice, Zhu also provided a short-term solution to the problem: a 17.6 percent hike in defense spending to combat "hostile forces inside and outside of China." Targeted aggressors included the convenient Fa Lun Gong, religious extremists and terrorists and generally … Continue reading “1.3 Billion Problems For China”

It’s called the most important trial since Nuremberg; yet, of the over 100 TV channels at my disposal, not one carries it. Curious, since for the past ten years the media and the major TV channels couldn’t wait to spin all the sordid details of mutilations, murders, torture and charges of genocide that the accused, … Continue reading “The Case of the Invisible Trial, or ‘Where’s the Beef?’”

In our victimological culture, where every official minority group under the sun lays claim to special rights and privileges, the impact of political correctness on foreign policy is substantial, and increasing. During the Kosovo war, for example, the fact that the Serbs are Christians, and the Albanians mostly Muslims weighed heavily against the former. The … Continue reading “Victimology and Foreign Policy”

I could be imagining it, but I thought I detected some notes of bitterness as Charles Gibson of ABC-TV’s "Good Morning America" interviewed the wife and twin brother of Chief Warrant Officer Stanley Harriman of North Carolina, one of seven or eight Americans killed on the ground in Afghanistan last Saturday. The family members said … Continue reading “The War Comes Home”

Does it matter if you win an important political battle with bad arguments? The natural Tory reaction, honing straight in on that evasive little word, ‘bad’, is to reply: not a bit, winning’s the thing. After all, who’s to say what being bad in this context amounts to? And as a guide to happy, or … Continue reading “How To Say No?”