Tag: blowback

Focus on the Policy, Not WikiLeaks

To listen to Rep. Ron Paul deliver this address, click here. We may never know the whole story behind the recent publication of sensitive U.S. government documents by the WikiLeaks organization, but we certainly can draw some important conclusions from the reaction of so many in government and media. At its core, the WikiLeaks controversy … Continue reading “Focus on the Policy, Not WikiLeaks”

Off-Base America

Last year, it was Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq. This year, it’s Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Next year, it could easily be Afghanistan, Pakistan, Diego Garcia, Bahrain, and Turkey. Or of course they could choose to play in Japan (with a special stop in Okinawa), South Korea, Colombia, and for a … Continue reading “Off-Base America”

Multi-Billion-Dollar Arms Deals Could Haunt US

UNITED NATIONS – When the shah of Iran, a strongly pro-U.S. ally, was ousted from power after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the stridently anti-U.S. regime of Ayatollah Khomeini that captured power also inherited a military bonanza: billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art weapons provided by the United States. The U.S. equipment in the Iranian … Continue reading “Multi-Billion-Dollar Arms Deals Could Haunt US”

Is the War Coming Home?

Faisal Shahzad sought to massacre scores of fellow Americans in Times Square with a bomb made of M-88 firecrackers, non-explosive fertilizer, gasoline, and alarm clocks. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up a U.S. airliner over Detroit with a firebomb concealed in his underpants. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shot dead 13 fellow soldiers at Fort … Continue reading “Is the War Coming Home?”

Muslim Blowback?

It is hard to overstate just how deeply unpopular the United States is in the Muslim world. A 2008 poll of six majority Muslim countries found that overwhelmingly large portions of the population, ranging from 71 percent in Morocco to 87 percent in Egypt, held unfavorable opinions of the United States. A 2009 poll in Pakistan revealed that … Continue reading “Muslim Blowback?”

We Ignore War Crimes at Our Own Risk

When one sees an obviously grotesque action by the agents of one’s government and speaks out about it, one can count on being immediately labeled with whatever epithet is convenient to prevent any scrutiny of the state’s activities. On Monday, April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks published a classified Apache helicopter gunsite video of a shooting incident … Continue reading “We Ignore War Crimes at Our Own Risk”

Let’s Get Our Own Foreign Policy House in Order Before Criticizing Others

On March 31, 2010, the New York Times wrote an editorial that briefly expressed horror in response to the Moscow subway terror bombings, then warned that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin might yet again use terrorist attacks to further consolidate his power, and finally lectured Russia that the only way to defeat such extremism was to … Continue reading “Let’s Get Our Own Foreign Policy House in Order Before Criticizing Others”