Iraq

Coming Assaults on America

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2002

What do the coming war against Iraq and the pending threat to medical privacy have in common? Both give the lie to the belief that we Americans live under a system of limited, representative government. The civics textbooks are hooey, but they serve a purpose as a sedative for the next ...

Bush, Rumsfeld, and Orwell

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2002

It has long been clear that little of what government leaders say and do makes no sense unless you understand that they think we are idiots, uninformed, or both. Could there be better evidence than recent remarks by President Bush and Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld? Let’s start with the much-admired Secretary ...

Make Him an Offer He Can’t Accept

by Sheldon Richman September 16, 2002

President Bush is no Don Corleone. When the Godfather wanted something, he would make an uncooperative person an offer he couldn’t refuse. Mr. Bush, following his predecessor, makes his adversary an offer he can’t accept. Former President Clinton did this with President Milosevic of Yugoslavia before launching a war over Kosovo. Clinton made demands — including ...

What Makes a Nation Evil?

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 10, 2002

With President Bush's characterization of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an “axis of evil,” an obvious question arises: What makes a nation evil? Is it the evil nature of the ruler in a nation? Or is it the evil nature of the government itself? If it's the government, does that mean that everyone who ...

Let’s Join the Pope

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2001

After the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center, one of the convicted terrorists told a New York federal judge before sentencing that one of the principal reasons he had committed the attack was because of all the Iraqi children who had died as a result of the U.S. government's ...

What About the Children?

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 20, 2001

One of the most disturbing aspects of Osama bin Laden's October 7 videotape has been the reaction of U.S. officials to one of his charges -- that the U.S. government has killed a million Iraqi children. As far as I know, not one government official has denied the charge. Why not? It would seem to be rather ...

Is the No-Fly Zone Worth Dying For?

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 10, 2001

President Bush has said that the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were motivated by hatred of freedom, democracy, and Western values. However, so far the results of the investigation into the attacks do not support Bush's thesis. The overwhelming weight of the evidence establishes that the attacks were instead motivated by ...

Email Exchange between Barry L. Paschal and Jacob G. Hornberger

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2001

From: Barry Paschal (Opinions Editor, Columbia County News-Times, Martinez, Georgia) cnt@groupz.net To: FFF Subject: FFF Op-Ed: "What about the Children?" by Jacob G. Hornberger Date: October 10, 2001 Please direct this to the terribly misguided Mr. Hornberger: Only someone who is hopelessly obtuse, or patently stupid, would equate legal international sanctions against a government with murder ...

Is This the Wrong Time to Question Foreign Policy?

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2001

Although it is considered by many to be beyond the pale of proper discourse to discuss whether U.S. foreign policy may have contributed to the current crisis, the American people ignore this possibility at their peril. After all, if U.S. foreign policy is giving rise to terrorism against the American ...

The Continuing War With Iraq

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 1, 2001

A few weeks ago, under the leadership of President Bush, U.S. military forces again dropped bombs on the people of Iraq, purportedly to maintain strict control over the 10-year-old "no-fly zone" in Iraq. A couple of days ago, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced his support for easing the ...

U.S. War or Terrorism

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2000

"How does the U.S. government distinguish between war and terrorism? Our government continues to bomb Iraq on a regular basis, without a constitutionally required congressional declaration of war, and calls it "war." Our government also continues its embargo against the people of Iraq, which has caused untold suffering and death, especially ...

War, Peace, and Bill Clinton

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2000

SURVEYING THE HISTORY of England in The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine noted that “a bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by interest, would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars were raised to carry on taxes.” The United States government ...