Jon Basil Utley

The murdered Israeli leader Gen. Yitzhak Rabin opposed the First Gulf War in 1990, warning that one never knows when starting a war where it will lead. As Bush and the neocons are reportedly planning to attack Iran, we should all think of the likely consequences. Most Americans already believe that George Bush is not … Continue reading “12 Consequences of
Attacking Iran”

It’s strange that little of the news coverage of Iraq addresses this question. Doesn’t it seem obvious that some groups are fomenting the chaos? Getting tribes to fight each other is often easy. Most of them have some past injustice to avenge. The British Empire ruled much of its colonial world in this way, balancing … Continue reading “Who Might Be Shooting at Both Sides?”

“You see, we’re invading Iraq, kicking out the wicked witch, establishing democracy, and they will all live happily ever after,” explained President Bush to the White House interns, as they watched shock and awe light up the Iraqi skyline. The kids were all happy, dreaming of sugar plums, TV appearances, and big jobs in Washington. … Continue reading “The Second Children’s Crusade”

The Bush administration’s international lawlessness did not come from nowhere. Its intellectual foundations were laid long before 9/11 by neoconservative intellectuals such as United Nations Ambassador John Bolton. Now, with his Senate renomination hanging by a thread, he should be outed as a primary architect of the neocon nest at American Enterprise Institute. At the … Continue reading “John Bolton and
US Lawlessness”

Two interesting reports explain in detail why America simply cannot win wars against guerrilla terrorism. A Washington Post report details the conflict between Special Forces and regular Army units in Iraq. The Special Forces officers and sergeants speak some Arabic, know the culture, have patience over endless cups of tea, look at the long view, … Continue reading “Why We Can’t Win Against Guerrillas”

The major internal conflict for the strangest alliance in history is about what will happen to Jews who don’t convert to evangelical Christianity. The Armageddonites, those 30 million Americans who happily see Mideast chaos as hastening their one-way trip to paradise, are being increasingly questioned about the fate of Jews whom they urge to help … Continue reading “‘Dual Covenant’ Christians”

Understanding much of the Muslim world can be helped by reviewing Braveheart, Mel Gibson’s classic movie of Scottish freedom fighters. It shows how the clan chieftains were always ready to betray William Wallace and his Scottish nationalists for their narrow tribal concerns, and how the English king could so easily bribe and manipulate them. Such … Continue reading “Tribes, Veils, and Democracy”

Most Americans don’t comprehend how our nation’s foreign policy is affected by a small minority of religious fundamentalists. This Vanity Fair piece on the best-selling “Left Behind” novels provides a glimpse into their worldview: “Far from being a Prince of Peace, the Christ depicted in the ‘Left Behind’ series is a vengeful Messiah – so … Continue reading “The Brutal Christ of the Armageddonites”

Pat Robertson and 20 million American fundamentalists are not alone. The new president of Iran also believes that the end of the world is nigh and "believers" can help speed it up. His government has now allocated millions of dollars for the Jamkaran mosque to help believers prepare for the event. It is staffed by … Continue reading “Their Armageddonites,
and Ours”

Dresden In Dresden, I visited the daughter of my mother’s old friend Guenter Reimann, author of The Vampire Economy: Doing Business Under Fascism, a seminal study known to many classical libertarians. Karen showed me around and told me how the German economy strangled entrepreneurs. She had various stories of East Germans being prohibited from or … Continue reading “Dresden – Budapest – Tbilisi – Baku”