Explore Freedom

Drugs and Schooling: The Meaning of State Education

by Sheldon Richman February 1, 2004

When an opponent declares, “I will not come over to your side,” I calmly say, “Your child belongs to us already.” —Adolf Hitler What do government schooling and the mislabeled “war on drugs” have in common? Both are primary mechanisms of social engineering, each designed to subordinate ... [click for more]

Iraqi Sanctions and American Intentions: Blameless Carnage? Part 2

by James Bovard February 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 While Pentagon officials bluntly admitted in 1991 that sanctions aimed to punish the Iraqi people, candor evaporated as the death toll rose. The State Department’s website announced in June 1999, Sanctions are not intended to harm the people of Iraq. That is why the sanctions regime has always specifically exempted food and medicine. This ... [click for more]

The Perils of Nation-Building, Part 2

by Doug Bandow February 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 Giving up on expansive nation-building ambitions is the only sensible course of action, for there are few successful models upon which to draw for Iraq. America’s obvious successes are Germany and Japan, yet neither looks like Iraq: both comprised ethnically homogenous populations, possessed democratic traditions, and sported an educated, professional class. The U.S. effort was ... [click for more]

A Lesson from Vietnam, Part 2

by Wendy McElroy February 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 With American encouragement, Diem defied the deadline for a national election. This signaled the beginning of a struggle to the death with Hanoi. Until then, the North had waited to see whether Ho could be voted into power. The communists themselves were brutal and had violated various terms of the ... [click for more]

Gun Control: A Poor Substitute for Good Government

by Scott McPherson February 1, 2004

Following the horrific mass murder of 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in the spring of 1999, the anti-gun Left went into overdrive to pass further restrictions on Americans’ Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Their argument was that without access to guns ... [click for more]

Book Review: Guns, Freedom, and Terrorism

by George Leef February 1, 2004

Guns, Freedom, and Terrorism by Wayne LaPierre (Nashville, Tenn.: WND Books, 2003); 246 pages; $24.99. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Nowhere is that phrase proven to be true more often than in the unending battle between those in our society who believe that the way to reduce violence is to take away from individual persons the ... [click for more]

Sanctions: The Cruel and Brutal War against the Iraqi People, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 Immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush and other U.S. officials announced that the attacks had been motivated by hatred for America’s “freedom and values.” Nothing could have been further from the truth, and U.S. officials knew it. For 12 years, they had been waging a cruel and brutal, silent and undeclared ... [click for more]

Iraqi Sanctions: Were They Worth It?

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 2004

In May 1996 Madeleine Albright, who was then the U.S. ambassador to the UN, was asked by 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl, in reference to years of U.S.-led economic sanctions against Iraq, We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that is more children than died in Hiroshima. And, ... [click for more]

Iraqi Sanctions and American Intentions: Blameless Carnage? Part 1

by James Bovard January 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 President Bush’s advisors assured Americans that U.S. troops would be greeted as liberators — with flowers and hugs — when the United States invaded Iraq. That promise turned out to be one of the biggest frauds of the Iraqi debacle. One major reason for the animosity to U.S. troops is the lingering impact and bitter ... [click for more]

The Perils of Nation-Building, Part 1

by Doug Bandow January 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 The United States easily conquered Iraq, but the war was only the beginning. Winning the peace is proving to be far more difficult. Destroying an unpopular, isolated dictatorship in a wreck of a country was one thing. Creating a liberal, multi-party, multi-ethnic democracy where one has never existed is quite another. Despite the positive tone ... [click for more]

A Lesson from Vietnam, Part 1

by Wendy McElroy January 1, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 One lesson offered to America by the Vietnam War is the folly of forcing regime change in a nation whose religion, culture, history, and politics differ dramatically from its own. As a story, the folly may begin in September 1945, when a slender figure stood on a balcony in Hanoi to ... [click for more]

The Drug War and Terrorism

by Scott McPherson January 1, 2004

On the first anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, President Bush assured the public that in fighting a cause “even larger than our country” the American government would “continue to pursue the terrorists in cities, and camps, and caves across the earth” to rid the world of the threat of terror. Unfortunately, in continuing to hold ... [click for more]