Locked on Course to Wider War

The American public has been deceived and locked on a course toward conscription and a wider war. On April 20 Republican Senator Chuck Hagel acknowledged the deceit when he urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to support the restoration of compulsory military service. The draft must be reinstated, the Republican Senator said, in order that … Continue reading “Locked on Course to Wider War”

A Country Destroyed

Once there was a time when American conservatives defended their country from government. No more. Today conservatives defend Bush’s warmongering neo-Jacobin government at all costs. In a recent column, “Feeling a Draft” (April 15), I reported that the US has now killed more Iraqi women and children than Saddam Hussein. Two pro-Bush, pro-military superpatriots took … Continue reading “A Country Destroyed”

An American Caesar

Intentionally or stupidly, President Bush and his neocon overlords are on track for igniting general conflagration in the Middle East. In placing America’s stamp of approval on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s annexation of the West Bank, Bush jettisoned a half century of American diplomacy and broadcast to Muslims everywhere that U.S. armed forces are … Continue reading “An American Caesar”

Feeling a Draft

Lawrence Kaplan, neo-Jacobin ideologue and shameless apologist for the carnage in Iraq, claims that Americans wouldn’t mind having 30,000 of our troops killed in Iraq if it achieves Bush’s “strategic objectives.” No one knows any longer what these objectives are unless it is to start World War III. The original strategic objectives were all propagandistic … Continue reading “Feeling a Draft”

911 Incongruities

Richard Clarke scored well with the 911 families when he apologized for the government’s intelligence failure. But why stop there? As this column is written, 590 US service men and women have died in the invasion and occupation if Iraq. Their families are due an apology. Another 3,000 or so have been wounded, some permanently. … Continue reading “911 Incongruities”

Terror War’s Legal Cost

The Bush administration believes that habeas corpus is a luxury that the US cannot afford in its war against terror. Habeas corpus is the legal principle that is the foundation of Anglo-American freedom. It prevents the government from picking up a person and holding him indefinitely without charge. Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were not … Continue reading “Terror War’s Legal Cost”

Watching Propaganda Become Truth

In 1961, I returned from the Soviet Union with a collection of propaganda posters. I used the posters to illustrate to students how government in a closed society can substitute propaganda for fact. The most dramatic poster in my collection depicts a fascist who has climbed the upraised arm of the Statue of Liberty. A … Continue reading “Watching Propaganda Become Truth”

Is Bush Doomed?

Fear must be coursing through President Bush’s veins as he realizes the Iraqi trap in which the neocons have placed him. Bush is caught between an Iraqi civil war and a wider insurgency. Desperate to extricate himself from the weekly carnage well before the November election, Bush can neither deliver on his promise of democracy … Continue reading “Is Bush Doomed?”

America’s New Agenda

Are the consequences of the US invasion of Iraq likely to be a secular, democratic Middle East and a victory over terrorism, as the Bush administration claims? Or has the Bush administration embarked on an adventure with unintended consequences beyond its imagination? Hegemonic powers are not immune from miscalculation. When Napoleon marched his Grand Army … Continue reading “America’s New Agenda”