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Foreign Policy & War

The Media Distract the Public from War

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If one is to judge by the tone of the television commentators, America must be deep in a crisis. Long stretches of cable time are devoted  to the breaking news. Each detail is presented as more grave and consequential for the republic than the last. The fate of the country surely hangs in the balance. What is it? War? Fiscal ... [click for more]

Exit Afghanistan and Dismantle the Empire

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One of the U.S. Empire’s big arguments for continuing to occupy Afghanistan is the fear that the Taliban might regain control over the country. The idea is that the Taliban might harbor al Qaeda or other terrorist groups who would use the country to plan terrorist attacks in the United States. Is that a valid argument for continuing a brutal ... [click for more]

Reader Feedback

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A reader asked if we would post online reader feedback on my article “An Open Letter to the Troops: You’re Not Defending Our Freedoms.” Here it is: **** Thank you for your great article on the troops aren't fighting for freedom. I couldn't have said it any better. I don't know what it is with Americans that use this mantra of ... [click for more]

The Other Casualties of War

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It was a typical Memorial Day weekend around here. There was a ceremony with an honor guard at a local church in my town of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, while nearby Kennett Square hosted a parade. The Brandywine Creek was filled with people tubing, canoeing, kayaking, and picnicking. There were also a slew of war movies on TV. Most were WW ... [click for more]

An Open Letter to the Troops: You’re Not Defending Our Freedoms

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Dear Troops: Yesterday — Memorial Day — some people asserted, once again, that you are “defending our freedoms” overseas. Nothing could be further from the truth. Those people are just repeating tired old mantras. The reality is that you are not defending our freedoms with your actions overseas. In fact, it is the exact opposite. Your actions overseas are placing our ... [click for more]

Lessons from the Middle East, Part 1

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The widespread revolts against dictatorships in the Middle East hold valuable lessons for the American people. Time will tell whether Americans focus on those lessons and heed them or simply turn away and ignore them. The lessons involve principles of liberty, democracy, and the role of government in a ... [click for more]

Autocracy on the Run in the Middle East

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No lover of liberty can be anything but inspired by the Egyptian people’s peaceful toppling of the U.S.-armed and -financed dictator, Hosni Mubarak, last winter. The “pharaoh” is gone. Will another rise in his place? That is the question. Mubarak’s exit followed on the heels of a similar change in neighboring Tunisia. Revolutionary fervor has been spreading across the Arab ... [click for more]

Time for the United States to Confront Its Coups

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Two Latin American countries — Chile and Guatemala — are confronting coups of long ago that ousted democratically elected presidents and installed U.S.-supported unelected dictators in their stead. In 1973 Chilean Army Gen. Augusto Pinochet ousted democratically elected Chilean President Salvador Allende from office in a violent coup. Allende died during the coup, and it has always been commonly accepted ... [click for more]

The Perpetual Terrorist-Producing Machine

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The angry protests currently taking place in Afghanistan provide a microcosm of the U.S. government’s entire foreign policy and so-called war on terrorism. Afghan citizens are protesting NATO’s recent killing of four people, including two women. NATO officials are saying that the four were terrorists. The Afghan people aren’t buying it. They are angrily contending that the four people ... [click for more]

Imperialist Freedom

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Empire for Liberty: A History of American Imperialism  from Benjamin Franklin to Paul Wolfowitz by Richard H, Immerman. (Princeton University Press; 237 pages); $24.95. There are many reasons to be angry about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but perhaps the most teeth-grating moments of the launching of war in Baghdad were marked by the moralism by which U.S. officials ... [click for more]

Deference to Authority, Part 3

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The 50-year-old economic embargo by the U.S. government against the Cuban people stands as a testament to the power of the state to mold the minds of a citizenry, in this case the American citizenry. Having been inculcated from the first grade on up that the U.S. government ... [click for more]
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