The New Antiwar Populism

The War Party is running scared – and with good reason. Writing in the Washington Post, neocons Danielle Pletka and Thomas Donnelly are in a panic that the rising “tea party” movement, which upended the Republican establishment at the polls, is about to abandon “the defense of freedom” in faraway Afghanistan in favor of rescuing … Continue reading “The New Antiwar Populism”

Acts of Contrition

I hate it when I’m right, mostly because my predictions are invariably dark. We’re lost, doomed, the end is near. It’s always something. And while it may be in bad taste to say “I told you so,” I did indeed tell you so back in March of 2003, when the invasion of Iraq was nigh: … Continue reading “Acts of Contrition”

Bibi Unmasked

In 2001, Bibi Netanyahu paid a condolence call on a group of Israeli settlers in the village of Ofra, widows whose husbands had been killed in the Intifada: the videotaped conversation has just been leaked, and broadcast by Israel’s Channel 10, and it is a blockbuster. At one point, Bibi is telling the widows that … Continue reading “Bibi Unmasked”

The Real Sin of Michael Steele

“This was a war of Obama’s choosing. This is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.” Strictly speaking, Republican Party Chair Michael Steele was way off base when he made this remark at a closed-door meeting of party contributors in Connecticut. For the war began in 2001 under George … Continue reading “The Real Sin of Michael Steele”

Bill Kristol Must Resign!

Bill Kristol is demanding the head of GOP national chairman Michael Steele, who, in a moment of honesty, questioned the wisdom of invading and occupying Afghanistan. Yet Kristol has never been elected to anything: indeed, the pretentious little gremlin once threatened to quit the GOP, back in the 1990s, when the Republicans in Congress voted … Continue reading “Bill Kristol Must Resign!”

Irving Kristol, RIP

To my knowledge, the late Irving Kristol was the only self-admitted neoconservative in existence. With his death, at the age of 89, does this mean the species is extinct? Far from it. In spite of the odd tendency of neoconservatives to deny their ideological heritage, there is no escaping it. The title of Kristol’s 1999 … Continue reading “Irving Kristol, RIP”

What Price Afghanistan?

Has the U.S. lost the Afghan war, even before President Obama’s "surge" is plugged in and the "COIN" strategy is put in place? "Clear, hold, and build": – that’s the "new" counterinsurgency doctrine [.pdf] being touted by the Center for a New American Strategy (CNAS), Obama’s favorite national security think-tank, as the salvation of our … Continue reading “What Price Afghanistan?”