The more things change, the more they stay the same. Our allegiances to our allies and friends change constantly. For a decade, exiled Iraqi Ahmed Chalabi was our chosen leader-to-be in a new Iraq. Championed by Pentagon neocons and objected to by the State...
The House of Representatives Must Be Elected!
I rise in opposition to H.J.Res. 83, which amends the United States Constitution to allow appointed persons to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives in the event of an emergency. Since the Continuity of Government (COG) Commission first proposed altering our...
Freedom vs. Security: A False Choice
In recent days administration officials have warned the nation about possible terrorist attacks, subjecting us once again to color-coded threat charts and puzzling admonitions to go about our lives as usual. The message is clear: grave danger surrounds us, but...
New Millennium, Same Old Foreign Aid
Though the ill-conceived Millennium Challenge Act has already become law and therefore we are only talking about its implementation, it is nevertheless important to again address some very fundamental problems with this new foreign aid program. I believe that the...
Don’t Start a War With Iran
Statement on H. Con. Res. 398: Expressing the concern of Congress over Iran's development of the means to produce nuclear weapons, 6 May 2004. I rise in strong opposition to this ill-conceived and ill-timed legislation. Let's not fool ourselves: this concurrent...
Against the Phony Resolution on Iraq Abuse
I oppose the House resolution that claims to condemn prisoner abuse in Iraq. Like so many resolutions we have seen here on the Iraq war, this one is not at all what it purports to be. Were this really a resolution condemning abuse of prisoners and other detainees, I...
Passing the Buck in Iraq
The allegations of prisoner torture by our troops in Iraq are disturbing, and clearly drastic action must be taken to ensure such conduct stops immediately. But why are we condemning a small group of low-level reservists when we do not yet know the full story? As...
The Real Lessons of 9/11
We are constantly admonished to remember the lessons of 9/11. Of course the real issue is not remembering, but rather knowing what the pertinent lesson of that sad day is. The 9/11 Commission soon will release its report after months of fanfare by those whose...
Don’t Expand NATO!
Further expansion of NATO, an outdated alliance, is not in our national interest and may well constitute a threat to our national security in the future. More than 50 years ago the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to defend Western Europe and the United...
Iraq One Year Later
The Iraq war began about one year ago with the swift and decisive overthrow of Baghdad and the Hussein regime. We are only beginning to understand, however, the true scope of our ongoing occupation of a nation rife with civil, ethnic, and tribal conflict. July stands...